November 17, 2006

Voters say yes to Measure I

Evergreen Elementary School District bond measure passes with 72.7 percent vote

By Diego Abeloos
Editor

The Evergreen Elemen-tary School District’s Measure I campaign passed the test with voters on Nov. 7, accumulating a nearly three-to-one vote in favor on election day.

The measure, passed by approximately 72.7 percent of voters, will allow the school district to sell bonds of up to $150 million to finance various facility projects, such as classroom and school facilities improvements, a proposed Arcadia school site, as well as security and technology upgrades, among other things. Increasing space for preschool and after-school programs, upgrading science labs, modernizing libraries and adding computers to classrooms are other projects that will begin to take shape with the measure, which required 55 percent voter approval to pass.

Evergreen Elementary School District Director of Educational Services Kathy Gomez said news of the measure passing was a breath of welcomed relief for school administrators.

“We were absolutely elated,” Gomez said of the measure passing. “A lot of people worked really hard on this campaign under (Director of Pupil Services) Gary Kishimoto’s leadership and the community organizations that came together and worked to get information about the bond out to the community. So when we saw that it was passing, we were absolutely thrilled.”

One of the first orders of business for the district, according to Gomez, is to form an independent Citizen’s Oversight Committee once the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters approves the final election results. The district must form the committee, which will be comprised of seven community members, within 60 days of the final election results appearing in the district board’s meeting minutes.

In fact, Gomez said safeguards, such as the Citizen’s Oversight Committee, as well as annual independent audits and annual financial audits, likely made it more appealing for voters to say yes to the measure.

“I think people want to know that their money is being well spent,” Gomez said. “They want to know that it’s being spent specifically on the things that they approved it for and voted yes for. So having this independent oversight committee is going to be that level of accountability to the community, so that they know that, yes, the district is doing what it promised.”

Although no definitive timeline has been set, Gomez said the district will get to issuing the bonds after forming the oversight committee and establishing guidelines for it. In addition, phase II construction projects at Millbrook and Norwood Creek schools will need to be finished up in the summer of 2007 as well, she said.

“One that happens, we’ll get direction about when we’re able to sell the first series of bonds, and then we’ll begin the projects,” said Gomez, who added that schools with the greatest needs will be dealt with first, in terms of facility improvements, with Meas-ure I dollars.

Gomez said the community support for the measure, and the importance the community places on having top schools, was clear with the way it voted on election day. The district has collected 17 Disting-uished School Awards and 10 Blue Ribbon Award Schools throughout the past several years as further proof, she added.

“I think the community, with a 72.7 percent pass rate, is excited about the schools here in Evergreen and they want well-maintained, safe, modern facilities for their children,” said Gomez. “…Our job No. 1 is to help students achieve and we work hard to do that. That’s reflected in the Distinguished School Awards we’ve received, and the national Blue Ribbon Awards. Those are public acknowledgements of the hard work that happens in our schools.”