Oak Park schools and taxpayers to have a bonding experience

The Oak Park Unified School District Board of Education approved a pair of bond measures for the June ballot that would provide $106 million for campus upgrades.

The money raised by the two bonds, known as Measure A and Measure B, plus $9 million of state funds, will pay for the district's new $115 million facilities master plan. Two bonds allow the school district to raise the necessary funds without exceeding their bonding capacity, a monetary cap placed on the amount of money that can be raised with a single bond.

The master plan calls for the update of all six school district campuses.

Improvements include architectural work to increase the appearance and functionality of the local schools as well as technology upgrades. District officials are hoping to include enhancements such as ceiling projectors, wireless network access, digital televisions and digital video surveillance systems.

At a recent meeting, school board officials were presented with three bond options. While all the options were designed to raise the necessary amount of funds, the amount of time needed to raise the money varied with each plan.

School board officials decided to place the most aggressive option on the June ballot. If both Measure A and Measure B are approved, construction for the project is expected to be completed in 2014.

The funding option that the school board approved includes a tax rate extension on a bond measure currently in effect, as well as the introduction of a new bond.

Measure A, the tax extension, will increase the rate that homeowners must pay from $140 to $174 per $100,000 of assessed value. Tax rates fluctuate on a yearly basis and reached an all time high in of $205 in 1999.

Funds raised from Measure A will be used to upgrade buildings and infrastructure throughout the district.

Measure B will levy a new tax rate of $24 per $100,000 of assessed value. These funds will be used for district-wide furnishings and technology upgrades.

Measure A requires a twothird vote of approval while the new bond, Measure B, only needs 55 percent to pass.

Judging from recent survey results, the school board is optimistic about getting both measures approved in June.

Three hundred people who are likely to vote in the election were asked to rate the importance of issues relevant to the community. Two issues that were deemed highly important included "improving quality of education" and "renovating school facilities." Both were considered more important than "preventing new local taxes."

While Measure A received an approval rating of approximately 70 percent, Measure B was less popular. But school board officials hope Measure B's lower cost will make it more attractive.

The school board plans to begin a campaign for the bond measures soon.