Several College School District portable classrooms are World War II surplus Army barracks that were brought onto campus decades ago, Superintendent Marlene Donner said.
“Our old Army barrack buildings were brought to the site and put together as the original school and they need to be replaced with new modernized buildings so the students have the opportunity to be in classrooms up to code,” Donner told the Sun.
The College School District serves about 196 students and oversees two Santa Ynez Valley elementary schools and one charter school. The College Elementary School site serves transitional kindergartners, kindergarteners, charter school students, and preschoolers, and Santa Ynez Elementary School site serves first through eighth graders, Donner said. Students then feed into Santa Ynez Valley Union High School alongside other elementary school districts in the valley.
In order to make needed upgrades to older facilities, renovate and add air conditioning to its multipurpose room; provide faculty and staff with their own restrooms; become ADA compliant; and remove hazardous materials like lead piping and asbestos, the College School District is asking voters to approve Measure L, an $18 million school bond during the November 2024 general election, she said. The 30-year bond would be $19 per $100,000 of assessed home value, and the district needs a 55 percent approval rate or higher.
“It’s the lowest amount we could ask for, and we hope it will be more favorable to the community based on the economy and circumstances we are facing,” Donner said. “As we know, things cost a lot, and it will probably get us a start. We’ll probably need more later on, but at least we are aware of the community needs and we feel it’s more favorable than asking for a larger amount.”
The Santa Ynez Valley school district is one of four North County districts going before voters this November with bond measures on the ballot, with three of the four districts looking to allocate funds solely to upgrade old facilities. The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District is looking to build a new comprehensive high school.
College School District voters haven’t approved a new bond measure since 2004 with Measure Z, a 25-year, $9.7 million general obligation bond that helped modernize the Santa Ynez elementary campus and provided the charter school with new and modernized facilities, she said. Residents will continue paying off the bond for the next decade.
“The College campus was never touched. We did what we could do, but it’s time for us to be able to complete our projects. Since then, it’s been 20 years, the portables have reached their age limits,” Donner said.
Prior to Measure L, three previous College School District bonds failed by 2 percent, with the most recent on the ballot in 2022 asking for $23 million—the highest the district could ask for, she said.
“This time around we went for a lower amount that would be favorable to the community and it would help us get some projects started,” she said. “We felt if we went during a presidential election—we have about 4,500 voters—we’re hoping we’ll have more voters come out and support.”
College School District board President Peter Wright said that the board approved the bond with a 5-0 vote, and it was a decision they took very seriously. He added that the school district will be working on engaging and educating voters on the bond measure and the issue, and the community will be involved in the bond’s oversight if approved.
“We just knew it was dire; we really don’t have a choice,” he said. “We are going to be working so hard because we just can’t lose.”
