Quick Take
The majority of Santa Cruz County school district bond and parcel tax measures secured victories after a 4 p.m. Tuesday voting update. Live Oak School District's Measure N was the only bond measure to fail.
Tuesday, Dec. 3, 5:10 p.m. — The majority of Santa Cruz County school district bond and parcel tax measures secured victories after a 4 p.m. Tuesday voting update. Live Oak School District’s Measure N — to fund a workforce housing project — was the only bond measure to fail.
County Clerk Tricia Webber’s office said Tuesday’s update was the last and the results are now official. All totaled countywide,136,505 votes have been counted.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s $315 million bond measure passed, with 58.2% of combined vote between Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. In Monterey County, 63.6% of voters approved the bond. Support was lower in Santa Cruz County, where fewer than 57.8% of voters supported the measure.
Scotts Valley Unified School District narrowly secured a victory with 55.3% of voters approval for the district’s $85 million Measure O as of Tuesday, slightly above the 55% needed to pass. The bond would pay for new sports facilities, playgrounds and other improvements to the district’s schools.
School bond measures require at least 55% of ballots cast in order to pass, while parcel taxes need approval from at least two-thirds of voters (66.7%). Lakeside Joint School District is the only district with a parcel tax, while all the remaining districts have bond measures.
Bonny Doon Elementary School District’s $7 million bond passed with 67.5% approval, and 32.5% of voters rejecting the tax.
Measure N, Live Oak School District’s $45 million bond measure, failed after earning 48% approval and with 52% of voters rejecting it. On Monday, district superintendent Pat Sánchez conceded defeat in an interview with Lookout. “I think we’ve accepted that we didn’t pass the measure,” he said. “I think it didn’t pass. It was very close.”
Measure P, Soquel Elementary School District’s $73 million bond measure also narrowly passed after winning 56.3% of voters’ approval, with 43.7% voters rejecting the bond.
Aromas-San Juan School District’s $44 million bond measure, which has voters in Santa Cruz County, San Benito County and Monterey County, passed after earning 58.7% of voters’ approval.
Lakeside Joint School District’s parcel tax, Measure HH, which has voters in both Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties, passed with 69.6% of voters approving the parcel tax and 30.4% rejecting it.
Five districts in the Santa Cruz County public school system asked voters to support bond measures this election to fund repairs to leaky roofs, replacement of aging heating and air conditioning systems and modernization of classrooms. Three of those districts were also seeking funding to build workforce housing.
Two additional districts based in neighboring counties, but with school districts that overlap into Santa Cruz County, had measures on the ballot as well.
Aromas-San Juan School District, located east of Watsonville in San Benito County, has 91 Santa Cruz County registered voters. In addition, the district has voters in San Benito and in Monterey counties. The district is asking voters to approve a $44 million bond to improve its three schools.
Lakeside Joint School District, based in Santa Clara County, is the only district seeking a parcel tax. It has 841 registered voters in Santa Cruz County.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.