Out of three school bonds on the ballot this year throughout the county, only one of them is set to pass, based on preliminary voting results.
Atascadero Unified School District‘s Measure B had just enough votes to beat the 55 percent of votes required to pass, sitting at a 55.3 percent approval rate, according to most recent vote counts from the SLO County Clerk-Recorder’s Office, which were released on Nov. 8.
Measure B asks voters to approve a $110 million general obligation bond that promises to renovate vocational and career technical facilities; upgrade science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) classrooms and labs; expand workshop classrooms; improve campus safety; and create greater accessibility.
If passed, Atascadero property taxes would increase $46 annually per $100,000 of assessed property value. This increase would be in addition to the $177 million school bond voters passed in 2010 that’s estimated to be fully paid for by 2042.
Atascadero school board member Matthew Pennon said he is pleased with the preliminary results and hopes the bond will come to fruition.
“As a current trustee and community member and parent, I am definitely grateful that the community has decided to throw their support behind this bond, and it’s much needed for our district,” he said. “We have quite a few infrastructure projects and facility projects that are in dire need of assistance on a variety of our campus locations.”
Pennon, who was losing in his bid to sit on the board again as of Nov. 8, said that in a world of ever-changing technology and education, the bond would help the district keep up with student ambitions.
“We’re seeing more and more students deciding to go into career technical pathways, and we want to be able to support that as an addition to, you know, supporting our students that are going into higher education,” he said.
Templeton Unified School District’s Measure D and Lucia Mar Unified School District’s Measure H were just short of the votes they need to pass.
Templeton’s Measure D had 54.3 percent voter approval, less than a percentage point from passing as of Nov. 8. It asks voters for a $52.3 million school bond, increasing property taxes by $60 annually per $100,000 of assessed value and aims to renovate classrooms and update STEAM facilities.
School board member Janel Armet said the district still has hope.
“We are hopeful that the ballots that still need to be counted will be ‘yes’ ballots, and that we will be able to move forward with all of the projects that we had slated for our students,” she said.
However, if the measure doesn’t pass, she said the district is preparing to reprioritize its projects.
“We are now looking at ways to prioritize, and it’s a hard position to be in as a school district knowing that we have so many needs,” Armet said. “But we will prioritize and use what money we have for facilities, and we obviously know that it’s not going to reach all of the students’ needs that we have with the amount that we have, unfortunately.”
About 53.5 percent of the votes counted so far in Lucia Mar were in favor of Measure H, an estimated 1.5 percent shy of the votes it needs.
The bond asks for $143 million to repair, upgrade, and expand school facilities and infrastructure. According to previous New Times reporting, the district passed a $170 million bond in 2016, which is still being paid off. Δ
This article appears in Nov 14-24, 2024.