Voters residing in the Saugus Union School District’s boundaries will decide in November on a $187 million bond measure to improve school facilities.
The district’s governing board approved putting the measure on the ballot at a special meeting with a 4-0 vote Thursday. Board member Anna Griese was not in attendance.
“I want to thank the team here at the district for all of their work,” said Superintendent Colleen Hawkins. “I want to thank the team of our experts who’ve been helping us out. We couldn’t have done this without them … I want to thank the governing board. I work with you so closely and you are always so professional and so caring about this community.”
The proposed bond measure would see a $30 tax levied per $100,000 of a property’s assessed value, the maximum allowed under a general obligation bond measure. For example, a homeowner with a property assessed at $500,000 would pay $150.
With interest, the total amount of debt expected to be repaid should all bonds be issued would be approximately $415 million, according to estimates.
Voters will be asked on Nov. 5 the following:
“To retrofit classrooms/ schools, improve preparedness for earthquakes, wildfires, natural disasters; upgrade secured school entries and safety systems; expand early childhood education classrooms; and construct/ repair sites and facilities; shall Saugus Union School District’s (SFID 2014-1) measure be adopted, authorizing $187 million in bonds at legal rates, levying $30 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, generating $13 million annually while bonds are outstanding, requiring audits, oversight, and all funds for local schools?”
The School Facilities Improvement District represents nearly the entirety of the school district, save for approximately 2% of it located west of Interstate 5 near Six Flags Magic Mountain.
That section of land is being developed, and a mitigation agreement was struck between the developer and the district before Measure EE passed in 2014.
Under that agreement, taxes would not be levied on the undeveloped land until a final tract map has been recorded, according to Nick Heinlein, assistant superintendent of business services.
The agreement was brought to the district’s attention Monday night, prior to Tuesday’s regular governing board meeting, but not soon enough for the proposed ballot language to be changed to represent what the district could procure in taxes from the SFID.
On Thursday, Keith Weaver, director of services for Government Financial Services Joint Powers Authority, said the change was minimal and dropped the total bond amount from $190 million to $187 million.
It will cost $350,000 for the measure to be placed on the ballot, Heinlein said. The tax, if passed, would likely run through 2058.
How the bond money will be used
The main goal of the district, Hawkins said, is to retrofit buildings that have been identified through Assembly Bill 300 as potentially needing rehabilitation. After that, the district is also looking at projects related to safety and security at school sites, as well as creating quality learning environments.
According to Heinlein, a total of 25 buildings at five school sites have been identified as needing either rehabilitation or replacement: six at both Cedarcreek and Skyblue Mesa elementary schools; five at both Rosedell and Rio Vista elementary schools; and three at Emblem Academy.
Those buildings are not necessarily unsafe, Hawkins said, but the district is having them assessed by the Division of the State Architect. Once that assessment is complete, the district would have a better idea of how much each project would cost, Heinlein added.
“I think we can all agree, and we would all say to the community that addressing these seismic safety needs is our No. 1 priority,” Hawkins said. “That will take us a little bit of time. And then once we have a better idea of what that’s going to cost us, then I think we can sit down with the rest of the projects.”
Other projects listed in the ballot measure that the district is hoping to complete, but are not assured of being done, include the following:
- Improve student safety and campus security by installing, as necessary at each school site, security (perimeter) fencing, mechanical surveillance and lighting systems, upgrading front office entryways, security access doors, secured single points of entry and other building security/access control systems, and modernizing basic safety systems, including, without limitation, smoke detectors, fire alarms, sprinklers and emergency communications systems, window film, automatic blinds and signage.
- Improve student/staff/driver safety and traffic circulation around schools by upgrading school parking lots and/or reconfiguring or adding school pick-up/drop-off areas and parking lots and adding bollards to all drop-off and pickup areas,
- Repair, reconfigure and/or upgrade student support spaces at school sites for improved use and accessibility including restrooms, kitchens, library/learning centers, multi-purpose/multi-use spaces and other school facility spaces that can be upgraded for flexible teaching/learning/training uses.
- Upgrade school site walkways, paths of travel, grounds, physical education/play surfaces, playground equipment, and fencing to improve accessibility, safety, drainage, and security and to add or expand green space at school campuses.
- Construct and install solar photovoltaic (PV) systems mounted on outdoor shade structures to be used for outdoor classrooms, gathering places, and/or lunch, and replace old, inefficient electrical, plumbing, sewer, heating, lighting and ventilation (HVAC) systems with modern, more efficient systems that save energy; Purchase and/or install and maintain systems, equipment, vehicles, and facilities to improve energy efficiency and implement sustainability and best/green energy practices.
- Replace counters and cabinets and upgrade equipment and furnishings in older classrooms, labs, restrooms and other student spaces at all school facilities to meet current academic standards and building health and safety codes; and
- Replace portable classrooms with permanent school facilities.
- Modify existing classrooms to create appropriate space for childcare, preschool and other early education (transitional kindergarten/kindergarten) students.
The district is also looking at securing funding through a statewide bond measure that is on the November ballot, but those funds would only be reimbursements for projects and the district would have to pay for projects up front, Hawkins said.
Board member Patti Garibay said a lack of state funding to meet requirements puts the district in a place where it has to seek money through bonds.
“There’s very limited options. There’s grant funding and things like that, but not enough to cover the buildings at schools and things like that,” Garibay said. “It’s a difficult decision, but again, I believe our job as a board is to keep kids safe and that’s what I always go back to.”
Hawkins added that these would all be different than the projects than what was done with Measure EE funds. Those, she said, were used to upgrade the district’s technology and bring school sites into the 21st century, while the new funds would be focused on safety and security.
Community members raise transparency issues
While not against the idea of a bond measure, Mark White, a resident within the district, said the public was not provided enough time to assess the full scope of the measure before the governing board chose to put it on the ballot.
He was one of three people to speak up about that issue on Thursday.
He referenced a 2022 community survey in which only 56% of respondents said they would support such a measure, just more than the 55% that is required for the measure to pass.
Board member Katherine Cooper said she remembers hearing about needing funding to retrofit buildings since November 2021.
“We have been hearing about it and so I personally feel like not only is it not rushed, it’s time that we do this and address the AB 300,” Cooper said.
Steve Petzold, a former Santa Clarita Valley resident who now lives in Georgia, said via Zoom that the total amount of $415 million, including interest, should be included in the ballot language.
Lori Raineri, CEO of Government Financial Services Joint Powers Authority, said the ballot label fits what has been outlined in election code and comes directly from the statute.
“This is dictated to us from the Legislature, and you can imagine that lots of people have ideas about how this should be done,” Raineri said. “And I think that’s why we’re given such very clear guidance from the statute. It literally tells us these numbers need to be in the ballot label and these numbers need to be in the tax rate statement. And believe it or not, it even dictates the format of the numbers, like dollars versus cents.”
Hawkins said additional non-advocacy information will be sent out to voters through fact sheets that will also be posted on the district’s website.
To read the full measure being placed on the ballot, visit tinyurl.com/5ch3xaxb.