BUTTONWILLOW, Calif. (KERO) — The bond measure of 4 million will go towards building, technological, and pedestrian infrastructure and is estimated to cost taxpayers under $15 per $100k off assessed valuation each year.
- 23ABC spoke with several members of the Buttonwillow Union School District, all who noted the repairs are necessary to improve student and staff safety. The focus of the bond is the roof of a building that houses classrooms with a Spanish tile roof. According to staff, underneath the roof is infested with bats, and during rainy days and evenings, it leaks into classrooms causing disruptions.
- The estimated payoff date of the bond is slated for 2045-46.
- According to District Superintendent Hiedi Witcher, the last time the district requested a bond measure was in 2002, and passed.
- The full description of the bond, in both English and Spanish can be found on the Kern County Elections website.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Election season can be difficult to digest because there is a lot of information, so I'm only going to throw one thing at you in this story. I'm Sam Hoyle your neighborhood reporter, on the ballot this year is Measure I, a bond measure that concerns the Buttonwillow Union School District and improvements they want to make to their safety.
"It would be nice to get something replaced where we won't have to worry about that at all," said Steven Santillan, the District's Maintenance, Operations and Transportation Supervisor.
The bond measure is for $4 million dollars and according to the impartial analysis for the measure: "The District estimates that the average annual tax rate required to fund the bond issue over the entire duration of the bond debt service is $14.62 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, and the final fiscal year in which the tax is anticipated to be collected is 2045-46."
In talking with staff at the district, the bond if passed with 55% approval, would go towards repairing the roof of a nearly 100-year-old building, improvements to technology to increase student and teacher access to digital teaching mediums, and replacing aging physical infrastructure like sidewalks.
District Superintendent Hiedi Witcher said the last time the district requested a bond measure was back in 2002, and they've done all that they can to preserve and maintain the building and roof, but the price tag for the projects they'd like to undertake is higher than they'll be able to do on their own in the immediate.
"It is a tile roof, which is full of bats, and the infrastructure is deteriorating, our Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation folks have done a great job of keeping the building up and running and safe, but we've come to a point where we're no longer able to maintain that without some major renovations to the roof of this building," said Witcher.
Steven Santillan, the Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation supervisor for the district says while he and his team have worked to maintain the building and keep issues like leaky roofs, internet issues, and busted sidewalks from affecting students and staff, the problems that are mounting are posing issues that they're unable to completely take care of.
"There are several things that it's just ran it's course of time and it needs to be totally 100% repaired."
Richard F. Garcia, who started as a teacher with the district, has been a board member within the district for over 30 years, said while the district receives money from the state, in some cases, it's not enough.
"We get funding for our classrooms, for the materials, and for any deferred maintenance, a lot of times the money that we get from the state is not sufficient enough to keep up with some of the bigger projects that we have," said Garcia.
This measure will only be on the ballots of those who live in the district boundary.
Election day is Tuesday, November 5th.
In Buttonwillow, I'm Sam Hoyle, your neighborhood reporter.
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