With bond measures totaling $480 million approved, county school districts eager to get improvements started

Leaders at four Santa Cruz County school districts say they’re grateful for voters’ support for their bond measures and are taking the next steps toward making much-needed improvements at their schools, from fixing leaky roofs and adding new athletic fields, to building housing for staff.  

Pajaro Valley Unified School District, Soquel Union Elementary School District, Scotts Valley Unified School District and Bonny Doon Union Elementary School District all passed their bond measures, totaling $480 million. 

Scotts Valley Superintendent Tanya Krause said she was eagerly waiting for the county elections department to send an official certification of the vote as the district’s $85 million bond measure was narrowly above the needed 55% approval rating, with 55.26%. District officials received the official word at 4 p.m. Tuesday with the county’s final vote update. 

“I am incredibly relieved on behalf of the district, especially for the students and the staff in the district,” Krause said. “We are now able to make some facility improvements that have long been needed.” 

While four school districts had successful measures, one district – Live Oak School District – fell short of a victory. Intended to fund a workforce housing project, Live Oak’s $45 million bond measure earned just 48.1% of voters’ support. In March, voters approved the district’s $44 million bond measure for school facilities improvements. 

The four school districts with successful bonds will now begin the painstaking process of working with attorneys and consultants, seeking bids for projects, forming oversight committees and figuring out which projects will be prioritized. 

“I literally have a three-page task list of all of the things to get started,” said Krause. “We have to go through a number of steps: project managers go out for bids for architects. Then, once we get architects, we have to develop plans.”

The range of need, bond amount and projects is large: Pajaro Valley Unified passed the largest with a $315 million bond while Bonny Doon passed the smallest bond at $7 million; Soquel Union Elementary’s bond is $73 million. Pajaro Valley Unified and Soquel Union Elementary school districts both included plans to use some of the funding toward building workforce housing.  

Scotts Valley Unified School District plans to do basic infrastructure improvements at its four schools, including repairing leaky roofs and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and modernizing classrooms. Krause said the district’s two elementary schools need multipurpose rooms for indoor cafeteria spaces and also new playground equipment. 

The high school, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, is also in need of infrastructure improvements because it hasn’t had significant upgrades since it was built, according to Krause. The school’s track and field complex and some of the outdoor facilities might also be improved. 

PVUSD school board trustee Daniel Dodge Jr. said he’s very happy the district’s bond passed. He emphasized that the district sorely needed this funding to modernize its 31 schools, at least four of which are nearly 100 years old. 

“These projects need to be worked on right away,” Dodge said, adding that air conditioning systems are high on the list for the district’s schools.

He spoke to Lookout from a school board conference in Los Angeles, where he was to learn about workforce housing projects. Dodge added that there’s no timeline yet on the district’s plans for workforce housing. 

PVUSD Superintendent Heather Contreras said the district is “incredibly grateful” for the community’s support in passing the bond. 

“This bond will provide crucial funding to address the needs of our older facilities and ensure our schools are equipped to provide the best possible learning environments for our students,” she said in an emailed statement. “With this funding, we will focus on modernizing classrooms, upgrading aging facilities, addressing the use of portables and look at staff housing.”

She said the district will involve students, families and staff to determine how projects at each school will be prioritized. 

Soquel Union Elementary School District Superintendent Scott Turnbull said he thinks the district’s $73 million Measure P funding will first go toward refurbishing its schools’ athletic fields, which are in bad shape due to gopher holes. 

“Our next step is to continue to refine our master facilities plan, which is going to our next board meeting for consideration for approval,” he said via email. “We do not want to waste any time in order to maximize this funding opportunity.” 

The district also plans to do general maintenance, such as repairing roofs and modernizing classrooms, at all its schools.

Bonny Doon Superintendent Mike Heffner said the single-school district hopes it can complete its projects within 2½ years, and will start work in the summer. 

He’s not certain yet what the first projects will be, but the district organized its Measure L projects into three categories: school campus projects like improving accessible pathways and the field; school building projects like upgrading HVAC systems, windows and restrooms; and community facilities projects like improving the multipurpose building that serves as a community resource center and Red Cross shelter.

“While at this point I can’t really speak to what projects will get the first go-around, certainly we’re going to pay attention to what projects might require less demand and approval from the Department of State Architecture,” he said. “That can be projects like ADA [Americans With Disabilities Act] access and pathways, and could be our community field.” 

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