More than 13,000 residences received an oversized blue and green cardstock mailer from the Sonoma Valley Unified School District last week. It went to all registered voters in the school district and to all district parents regardless of their voter status.
The mailer began with a letter from Sonoma Valley Unified School District Superintendent Louann Carlomagno asking for input as the district assesses its next steps for school facility improvements.
“Many of our local schools are between 50 and 94 years old and have aging classroom and science labs that need to be upgraded for safety and to support quality academic instruction,” the mailer reads.
The public is being asked to rate the importance of the following school facility priorities:
* Repair or replace leaky roofs
* Improve student access to computers and modern technology
* Repair/replace deteriorating plumbing and sewer systems
* Replaced outdated heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems
* Make energy efficiency improvements
* Modernize/construct classrooms, restrooms and school facilities
* Make health, safety and handicapped accessibility improvements
Residents can tear off a postcard reply or enter their input online at svusdca.org. Superintendent Carlomagno also invited feedback by email to feedback@sonomaschools.org or by phone to 935-4246.
According to the flyer, the district “is currently evaluating options for funding the next phase of improvements to our schools.” And Carlomagno added, “It’s really important that we hear back from the community as to what their priorities are. We want to know what people want.”
The primary option on the table to fund proposed Master Plan improvements is a new bond measure on the Nov. 8 ballot.
The district’s $40 million in Measure H bond funds from 2010, which were assigned largely to energy efficiency (solar) and technology initiatives, have now been spent or committed to current projects.
The projects in the current campus master plans amount to a total of $219 million – $113 million at the high school and $106 million at the rest of the campuses.
In fall 2015, the Sonoma Valley Unified School District board approved a contract with Greg Isom, of the financial and campaign advisory firm Isom Advisors, to conduct opinion polling on whether or not to proceed with a new school bond measure. Isom has a strong track record of helping dozens of school districts pass tax or bond measures.
Isom told the SVUSD board that the district, by statute, could ask for a bond measure of up to $143 million based on the current assessed value of district property, but Carlomagno was quick to point out, “that doesn’t mean that is the number that will be decided on.”
Contact Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.
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