Lemoore Union High School District seeks $26 million bond measure, second levy in four years

By Ed Martin, Editor
The Lemoore Union High School District will place a $26 million bond measure on the March 3, 2020 election ballot for modernization and renovation projects within the district.
The Lemoore Union High School District will place a $26 million bond measure on the March 3, 2020 election ballot for modernization and renovation projects within the district.

Four years ago, the Lemoore Union High School District convinced the district’s voters to approve a $24 million bond measure for new facilities and upgrades to its classrooms and buildings.

Barely four years later, district officials are asking for another $26 million bond measure because “more work needs to be done.” The election needed to pass the new measure is coming up fast, and district officials are betting that local voters will adopt the new bond measure on March 3, 2020, the date of the California Primary Election.

General obligation bonds are similar to home loans and are typically repaid over 25-30 years. The loan repayment derives from a tax on all taxable property: residential, commercial, agricultural, and industrial, all located within the school district’s vast boundaries. Superintendent Debbie Muro said that the property owners' tax burdens will be reduced this year thanks to the expiration of a 1997 bond measure that helped build Lemoore High School's Event Center. That bond measure was based on a $41 levy per $100,000 assessed property value.

The 2016 bond measure was expected to cost the typical property owner about $27.50 per year, based on every $100,000 of assessed valuation. The new measure, if passed, will ostensibly be used to improve and modernize the district’s four schools: Lemoore High School, Middle College High School, Jamison High, and the district’s Online College Preparatory High School. 

Voters easily approved the 2016 measure, which needed just 55 percent approval for passage. The school measure passed with 63 percent of the vote, continuing a long tradition of voter-approved tax and bond measures supporting the local district. District officials, citing a phone survey, said local voters appear to be in favor of the proposed measure. The survey indicated 61.8 percent of those contacted approve of the measure.

As of 2020, the 2016 bonds have paid for the renovation of Tiger Stadium (including new restrooms and snack bars, a locker room facility, and press box), renovation of the school’s pool and improvements at Jamison High School. A pair of classrooms were added at the school’s agricultural farm, and construction on new tennis courts was expected to begin in December. The old shop areas were converted into engineering classrooms and the historic main building got a $183,000 paint job.

Work is also expected to begin soon on the demolition of the old gym and the home economics building, both located in the heart of the campus. In its place is a proposed classroom project. The school's library will be remodeled and the district will repave the student parking lot.

Voters historically have been generous with school bonds. The only school bond that failed was a 1923 measure. Fortunately, voters, just the following year, managed to pass a $325,000 measure providing funding for a new main building, an edifice that still stands nearly 100 years later.

According to a mailer, recently mailed to Lemoore-area residents, the “scope of improvements needed in the Lemoore Union High School District is far more than the current funding sources available. The per-pupil funding which the district receives from the state is intended for the day-to-day business of educating students and not the cost of upgrading, modernizing, and repairing facilities.”

Muro hopes voters will approve the latest measure for the district’s 2,266 students and its four sites.

“Some of our facilities have recently been modernized,” stated Muro in the mailer, “and the results of the work have been great for our students. However, more work needs to be done to provide excellent facilities throughout our district.”

On that note, school officials, over several months, have quizzed staff, teachers, parents, and community leaders as to additional needs. The result was a School Facilities Needs Analysis that identified several projects:

  • Modernizing outdated classrooms, restrooms, and school facilities.
  • Modernize and construct facilities for the school’s ag program, including the Ag farm, classrooms, and shop areas.
  • Making safety and security improvements to fire alarms and surveillance cameras.
  • Replacing outdated heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
  • Improving student access to computers and modern technology.

And like the 2016 bond measure, an independent citizens’ oversight committee will ensure that bond funds are appropriately spent, and according to law, there must be annual audits, and none of the bond proceeds may be used to pay teacher or administrative salaries.

 

Lemoore Union High School District seeks $26 million bond measure, second levy in four years

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