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Voters
around the state on March 2 approved more than $7.7 billion in local school
bonds, in addition to the statewide $12.3 billion school construction bond. The
$20 billion total of state and local school bonds made it the second-richest
election in state history for school construction.
The percentage of success
for the local measures was down, however. If three measures
considered too close to call wind up losing, 74 percent of the 67
measures will have passed. If they win, the success rate will be 79
percent.
The record for school construction
bonds passed in one election was in November 2002, when voters approved $9.4
billion along with a $13 billion statewide bond, for $22.4 billion. The success
rate in November 2002 for local school bonds was 81 percent. In March 2002, the
first statewide election after voters in November 2000 approved Proposition 39,
lowering the threshold for local bond approval from 66.67 percent to 55 percent,
84 percent of 76 measures passed, worth nearly $6 billion.
Los Angeles Unified’s $3.87 billion
bond was the largest local K-12 construction measure ever put before California
voters. It received 63 percent approval. This measure increases property taxes
by $120 for a home with assessed value of $200,000. L.A. Unified has passed
three bonds since 1997 that total $10 billion for construction and renovation.
According to the Howard Jarvis
Taxpayers Association, about nearly $29 billion in local school bonds have
passed since the approval threshold was lowered, including a large number of
measures in local elections held at various times other than the statewide
primary or general elections every two years.
In addition to the bonds, voters on
March 2 decided 21 parcel taxes for schools, approving about half of them. (See
story on Page 4 for a rundown on parcel taxes, including those for schools.)
One of the bond measures, for McSwain
Elementary in Merced County, was proposed to be financed from a parcel tax, and
it failed by not getting two-thirds support.
In Tuolomne County’s Columbia
Elementary School District, election officials said 83 ballots were given to
people who don’t live in the district. It is impossible to separate them out
now, they added. Since the measure is so close, with 55.14 percent in favor, and
with 157 absentee ballots still to be counted, the illegal votes could affect
the outcome. According to The Modesto Bee, no one knows what to do. One
suggestion that has surfaced is to throw out the entire precinct with the
infected ballots.
Here is a county-by-county rundown of
the local school bond measures, including the close races in counties of San
Joaquin (Delta Community College District’s $250 million bond), Shasta and
Tuolomne:
|
Alameda County |
|
Chabot-Las Positas Community College |
$498 million |
YES: 58.8% |
|
Alameda Unified |
$63 million |
YES: 71.9% |
|
Calaveras County |
|
Calaveras Unified |
$8.44 million |
NO: 44.9% |
|
Mark Twain Union Elementary |
$9.6 million |
YES: 61.9% |
|
Fresno County |
|
Clovis Unified |
$168 million |
YES: 62.2% |
|
Washington Colony Elementary |
$400,000 |
YES: 70.0% |
|
Central Unified |
$40 million |
YES: 60.5% |
|
Kingsburg Elementary Charter |
$7.5 million |
YES: 70.4% |
|
Imperial County |
|
Calexico Unified |
$30 million |
YES: 77.0% |
|
Imperial Unified |
$12 million |
YES: 77.1% |
|
Kern County |
|
West Kern Community College |
$39.8 million |
YES: 58.0% |
|
McFarland Unified |
$8.3 million |
YES: 78.8% |
|
Arvin Union |
$11 million |
YES: 78.2% |
|
Elk Hills Elementary |
$7.905 million |
YES: 72.7% |
|
Kernville Union Elementary |
$5.6 million |
YES: 67.8% |
|
Midway Elementary |
$7.8 million |
YES: 70.2% |
|
Kings County |
|
Aroma Union Elementary |
$2.785 million |
YES: 64.0% |
|
Lemoore Union |
$7.1 million |
NO: 49.6% |
|
Traver Elementary |
$0.7 million |
YES: 70.0% |
|
Lassen County |
|
Lassen Union High School |
$5 million |
NO: 50.6% |
|
Madera County |
|
Chawanakee Joint Unified |
$7.4 million |
NO: 43.3% |
|
Los Angeles County |
|
Rio Honda Community College |
$245 million |
YES: 62.5% |
|
La Canada Unified |
$25 million |
YES: 63.3% |
|
Bonita Unified |
$56 million |
YES: 61.9% |
|
Cerritos Community College |
$210 million |
YES: 57.4% |
|
Citrus Community College |
$121 million |
YES: 57.5% |
|
Los Angeles Unified |
$3.87 billion |
YES: 63.1% |
|
Acton-Agua Dulce Unified |
$13 million |
NO: 49.1% |
|
Marin County |
|
Kentfield |
$11.9 million |
YES: 70.0% |
|
Merced County |
|
Atwater Elementary |
$11 million |
YES: 58.0% |
|
McSwain Elementary (Parcel Tax Bond) |
$4 million |
NO: 58.2% |
|
Mono County |
|
Eastern Sierra Unified |
$7 million |
NO: 53.7% |
|
Monterey County |
|
Chular Union Elementary |
$1 million |
YES: 62.0% |
|
Orange County |
|
Orange Unified |
$200 million |
NO: 48.7% |
|
Saddleback Valley Unified |
$180 million |
YES: 59.0% |
|
Huntington Beach Union High |
$238 million |
YES: 57.8% |
|
Placer County |
|
Sierra College |
$394 million |
NO: 49.0% |
|
Riverside County |
|
Moreno Valley Unified |
$50 million |
YES: 67.3% |
|
Desert Community College |
$346.5 million |
YES: 68.6% |
|
Riverside Community College |
$350 million |
YES: 60.4% |
|
Perris Union High School |
$38 million |
NO: 53.2% |
|
Sacramento County |
|
Galt Joint Union High School |
$16 million |
NO: 48.3% |
|
San Bernardino County |
|
Apple Valley Unified |
$36 million |
YES: 58.1% |
|
San Bernardino City Unified |
$140 million |
YES: 60.6% |
|
San Diego County |
|
Grossmont Union High School |
$274 million |
YES: 61.9% |
|
Rancho Santa Fe Elementary |
$4.8 million |
YES: 63.0% |
|
San Joaquin County |
|
Delta Community College |
$250 million |
?: 55.2% |
|
Manteca Unified |
$66 million |
YES: 55.7% |
|
San Luis Obispo County |
|
Lucia Mar Unified |
$21.35 million |
YES: 63.0% |
|
Santa Barbara County |
|
Buellton Union Elementary |
$6.5 million |
YES: 60.8% |
|
Santa Maria Joint Union High School |
$98 million |
NO: 50.3% |
|
Santa Clara County |
|
Gavilan Joint Community College |
$108 million |
YES: 56.1% |
|
Santa Cruz County |
|
Cabrillo Community College |
$118.5 million |
YES: 61.9% |
|
Live Oak Elementary |
$14.5 million |
YES: 72.8% |
|
Shasta County |
|
Grant Elementary |
$1.7 million |
?: 55.75% |
|
Sonoma County |
|
Rincon Valley Union |
$23.9 million |
YES: 62.9% |
|
Stanislaus County |
|
Riverbank Unified |
$14.1 million |
YES: 60.4% |
|
Valley Home Joint Union |
$1.4 million |
YES: 61.4% |
|
Sutter County |
|
Franklin Elementary |
$2.2 million |
YES: 61.8% |
|
Live Oak Unified |
$8.4 million |
YES: 63.2% |
|
Tulare County |
|
College of the Sequoias Community
College |
$95 million |
NO: 51.9% |
|
Visalia Unified |
$25.6 million |
NO: 52.7% |
|
Cutler Orosi Unified |
$6.4 million |
YES: 64.6% |
|
Tulare Union High School |
$45 million |
YES: 69.2% |
|
Tuolumne County |
|
Columbia Union Elementary |
$3.7 million |
?: 55.1% |
|
Ventura County |
|
Simi Valley Unified |
$145 million |
YES: 61.7% |
|
Yolo County |
|
Washington Unified |
$52 million |
YES: 68.5% |
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