Santa Maria-Bonita
In the 2023-24 school year, Santa Maria-Bonita School District had more than 17,000 students enrolled in its 17 elementary schools, four junior high schools, and one combined elementary and junior high.
By 2029-30, the district expects more than 18,000 enrolled students, not accounting for students who might come from housing projects currently in the city of Santa Maria’s development pipeline, Deputy Superintendent for Business Services Matt Beecher told the Sun.
In order to address its growing student population and update older school facilities, Santa Maria-Bonita’s school board voted to add Measure K to the November ballot—a $77 million, 30-year bond measure that would fund site upgrades.
“In some of our campuses, there’s broad differences [in] services available for students on one campus versus the other. Our hope is we can address those disparities so we can provide an inclusive learning environment regardless of where they live in the city,” Beecher said.
If approved, funding would help the schools meet health and safety codes; provide proper access for students with disabilities; remove asbestos and lead piping; repair leaking roofs, deteriorated gas lines, HVAC, ventilation, and electrical systems across sites; construct new classrooms and facilities in order to accommodate student enrollment; replace aging portable classrooms; and improve campus security, according to school district staff.
District voters passed Measure T in 2014, a $45 million bond that funded Bill Libbon Elementary’s construction and congestion and safety projects on multiple campuses, Beecher said.
“I think we expected Libbon to cost $31 million to build. By the time we had it designed, built, and equipped, we were north of $45 million, between $41 and $45 million,” he said. “That just had to do with the cost of building a school in California.”
Residents will pay for Measure T until August 2044, Beecher said.
Measure K would cost less than $30 per $100,000 of assessed value of a resident’s home based on the Santa Barbara County Assessor’s Office rate.
“We would hope, as we found in Measure T, to find continued support and participation across our community to make our schools excellent and to provide the best education to our students so they can reach their maximum potential,” Beecher said.
Lompoc Unified
Lompoc residents haven’t approved a school bond measure since Measure N in 2002 for $38 million.
Most of Lompoc Unified’s 16 school sites were built 60 years ago and received upgrades 20 years ago, according to the school district’s website. The district would need additional funds if it wanted to make “basic upgrades” for student health and safety.
“For example, thousands of students attend class in 136 portable classrooms that are decades old, falling apart, and most have structural damage or water leaks,” according to Lompoc Unified. “Older schools have hazardous materials like asbestos and lead that need to be removed for student health and safety.”
In order to make needed improvements, the district is putting a $160 million bond on the ballot, known as Measure M. The bond would levy 5 cents per $100 (or $50 per $100,000) of assessed home value for 40 years.
“I think the biggest thing is helping people to understand that it’s all connected to where we live, how we live. It all matters,” Lompoc Unified School District Director of Communications and Engagement Sally Kingston said. “I see the need; I’ve been in the schools. If there was a different way to do it, I think we’d be trying to figure that out too, but we really need that support of the community.”
In 2022, Lompoc Unified asked voters to approve a $125 million bond with a similar proposal (known as Measure A) but it failed with a 54.46 percent approval rate—a couple of hundred votes shy of the required 55 percent approval minimum, Kingston said.
“I don’t know what’s more important than the kids and the community, but I’m coming to you as an educator for 36 years focusing on issues of inequity and finding ways to make these kids be successful,” Kingston said. “It’s an investment in not just the kids but the community because the kids are the community.”
Santa Maria Joint Union
With 9,000 students enrolled in the district, Santa Maria Joint Union High School District sites are seeing between 2,300 and more than 3,000 students per school across its four campuses, which were originally built for 2,000.
“Right now, we bus students from Guadalupe to [Ernest] Righetti High School and [students from] the northwest part of town to Pioneer Valley and Santa Maria,” former board member Diana Perez told the Sun. “The biggest challenge is the number of students per classroom. When you have over 30 students, it’s very difficult for teachers to teach that many students.”
As a result, the district is adding a $194 million bond to the November ballot to fund building a new comprehensive high school and make some improvements at current sites, she said. Known as Measure J, it would cost residents $24 per $100,000 of assessed value at the time residents purchased their home, and it would take 30 years to pay off.
“It’s the best investment they can make in any city,” Perez said. “I hope they support it. It’s a great gift to any community.”
Voters approved Measure C in 2004, a $79 million bond that updated Santa Maria High School’s football field, built a swimming pool on campus, and added 14 classrooms. The district replaced portable classrooms at Delta High School, built a 38-classroom building at Righetti, and a performing arts center at Pioneer Valley High School.
In 2016, voters passed a $114 million bond (known as Measure H) to help rebuild Santa Maria High’s 80-year-old campus; modernize and upgrade Righetti’s classrooms, science labs, and support facilities; and to build the career technical education center, Perez said.
Many residents thought that Measure H funds were also supposed to invest in building a new school site at the district, Perez said, but there were many challenges that set that goal back.
“The No. 1 is locating 45 to 60 acres to build a comprehensive high school was difficult. We looked at various land locations, it was not easy to find, and at the time the community wanted to bring back the trade schools, and we did that with the CTE center,” Perez said. “The other reason is that the city is responsible for collaborating with the school district to earmark land for future growth, and they have not done that.”
While there are no plans for where the school could be located yet, Perez said that she anticipates it’ll be built on the northwest side of town to accommodate the students who are being bused in from Guadalupe or across town.
“We need it today; the best thing [the school district] can do is immediately start the planning, working with the city leaders to find the best location for the high school,” Perez said. “I’m positive it will start immediately.”
Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at [email protected].
