$35 Million Sought for Simi District : Schools Hopeful on Bond Vote

Simi Valley Unified School District officials said they are optimistic that voters in Tuesday’s special election will approve a $35-million general obligation bond to renovate the district’s 27 schools.

A two-thirds vote is necessary to pass the property-tax increase.

Officials said they believe that voters will respond to the need to extensively repair the schools. On the average, the schools are 25 years old.

The repairs are necessary to protect the community’s $200-million capital investment in the schools, said Supt. John Duncan. According to the district, the added tax would cost the average homeowner $69.47 annually at the peak of the tax rate schedule. The bonds would be paid off in 25 years.

Included would be $22 million in improvements, with 77% of that going for air-conditioning and heating units. About $4 million would be used to repair cracked blacktop and sprinkler systems. The rest would finance the bond.

Don’t Need Prodding

Many of those interviewed said little persuasion is necessary to convince voters of the need for physical improvements.

“I think the schools and the conditions of the schools speak for themselves,” said Ilsa Shelton, a vice president of the Simi Valley Parent Teacher Assn. Council. “I don’t think the parents need too much prodding. Once they are aware of the problems, they have to take the matter into their own hands.”

To be on the safe side, the district has been getting the word out.

Since January, PTA members have phoned thousands of homes, spelling out the facts and encouraging parents to register to vote, said Shelton.

At the district’s request, volunteers contacted about 8,000 parents whose 18,600 children attend district schools, she said. Simi Valley has 40,000 registered voters.

1,000 Parents Registered

About 1,000 parents registered to vote during the registration period ending at the beginning of March.

Volunteers also took absentee ballots to parents who requested them, said Shelton, 42.

District officials themselves conducted 27 “town hall” meetings to explain costs and answer questions.

The need for repairs was illustrated with a video in which students, teachers, parents and others talk about their schools’ needs.

Rust-Colored Water

In one scene, a concerned member of the PTA council places her foot into a hole in the cracked and crumbling blacktop at a school. In another segment, a little girl haltingly describes how the roof leaks, the ceiling tiles stain and students have to move their desks to avoid dripping rainwater. Another shot shows rust-colored water gurgling from a drinking fountain at 61-year-old Simi Elementary School.

And, in an unusual move, district officials softened the impact on taxpayers. Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) sponsored legislation for the district allowing schools to extend repayment of state loans if local voters approve general obligation bonds.

The state Senate passed an amended bill, AB 3151, that applies just to Simi Valley, on a 29-0 vote March 24. Gov. George Deukmejian signed it March 29.

As a result, school district officials were able to advertise that a vote for the bond is a vote for a tax-rate decrease.

So far, the school district has encountered little opposition to issuing the bond.

Among the most vocal of the few critics is Thomas Ely, a member of the Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees since 1979 and a 1986 Simi Valley mayoral candidate. Ely says negligence by the administration caused the district to fall $35 million behind in maintenance.

District officials say that employee salaries and benefits take up 85% of the $58.6-million operating budget and that only about $1.2 million is available for day-to-day maintenance.

Ely said: “I’ve never said that the bond should not be approved. I’m just saying that let’s not forget who got us into this situation. I say, next election, let’s throw them the hell out of office.”

Lincoln Demyan, 62, a real estate broker who says he represents “hundreds of grass-roots people” in a group called Simi Citizens Against Taxation, also criticized administrators for the shortfall.

The bond issue has been endorsed by Wright, state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) and the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn.

The Simi Valley Chamber of Commerce also endorses the bond issue. Nancy Bender, chamber executive director, said information about the school district is frequently requested by businesses considering locating in Simi Valley.

If the bond issue does not pass, Duncan said, “it would be necessary to go to another bond. And, then, there could come a time when we would have to close schools because of disrepair.”