BOARD REPORT: Special SVUSD Board Workshop-April 29, 2014

On April 29, 2014, the SVUSD Board of Trustees met for a Special Board Meeting-New Technology Bond Workshop. The purpose of this workshop was to update the Board on what the process would be for placing a voter-approved bond on the 2014 election. There were also two action items that the Board members decided upon. Three Board members were present for the meeting: Arleigh Kidd, Dan White and Rob Collins. Trustee Debbie Sandland called into the meeting from out of town. Trustee Jeanne Davis was absent. A full transcript of the meeting agenda and back up materials is available HERE.

 ACTION CALENDAR:

Personnel Services, Action #1:
By a 4-0 vote (Davis absent), the Board agreed to rescind three certificated staff development furlough days from the six originally scheduled for the 2014-15 school year. Money expected from the State of California to help fund the implementation of the Common Core State Standards will be used to for these staff development days for a cost of $981,912.09, as is allowed under the State’s guidelines.

Personnel Services, Action #2:

By a 4-0 vote (Davis absent), the board approved the agreement with Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS) to manage a supplementary retirement plan (SRP) for eligible employees. (More commonly referred to as the district’s early retirement plan.) The board also agreed to extend the deadline for SRP applications to May 9 to allow for additional applicants. This will not affect the standing applications. The District reported that a total of 94 eligible employees applied for the SRP, including nine from certificated management, 40 from certificated, 6 from classified management and 39 from classified. Early numbers estimate that the District will save $1.2 million over the next five years.

UPDATE:

Superintendent Dr. Kathryn Scroggins said Wednesday that there was more than enough participation in the SRP to rescind almost all of the Reduction in Force (RIF) notices sent out in March. In other words, almost no RIF layoffs are expected as there was enough participation to offset the cost savings sought from the RIF.

“Most of the people who have received RIF notices are being contacted that the PARS has been approved by the board, and based on that action, their RIFs will be rescinded on May 13,” she said.

NEW TECHNOLOGY BOND WORKSHOP:

BACKGROUND:

In 2004, voters approved the $145 million Measure C4 bond by 62 percent of the vote. As of now, all of the bonds have been issued and almost all of the funds from the bonds have been spent. Every campus in the SVUSD has received some improvements from the bond, but almost every campus also has remaining projects that could not be completed because there was not enough money from the original bond, mostly due to rising construction costs and changing needs.

In November of 2011, a poll showed that there could be enough voter support for a new bond that included a modest tax rate increase to fund unmet and new technology needs. Another poll was conducted in December 2013 and January 2014 again showing voter support for a new bond.

The SVUSD Board asked District staff to further explore the potential for launching a new bond effort, targeted for the November 2014 election to meet technology needs and other facility upgrades not met by Measure C4.

As this was only a workshop and not a formal board meeting, District staff only asked the Board if there was enough interest in continuing to gather information on a new bond to move forward in the process.

The District has until Aug. 6 to file the required documentation with Ventura County to establish a campaign and election for Nov. 4. The District’s bond consultant told the Board that at this point in the process, overriding categories and estimated amounts needed for what the bond could pay for were all that would be required; the District and Board would have time after a potential bond was passed to decide on specifics.

The amount of the bond is determined partly by how much the tax rate could be. The bond consultant proposed a range from $10 to $18 a year per $100,000 of property value, which is charged through District’s homeowners’ property tax bills. For example, if you own a house within the District valued at $300,000 and the bond passes with a $10 assessment, your property tax bill would increase by $30 a year for the term of the bond.

There are about 72,000 voters in the District. The bond consultants also estimated that a November 2014 election would bring about 41,000 voters (based on 2006 and 2010 voter turnout). Passing a bond based on these numbers would require about 22,600 votes.

The Board did ask the District to return in May with more detailed information about what items were slated for funding through a potential bond and how much money was being sought. From the information provided in the agenda report (link above), some of the items on the needs list were funded from an $8 million allocation the Board made last year for technology needs. Also, Trustee Dan White asked that a committee be created among community members with technology expertise to better define a long-term plan for the District’s tech needs, and preferred a November 2016 election. Trustee Arleigh Kidd also asked about a November 2016 election for the bond instead of one held later this year. Trustees Debbie Sandland and Rob Collins supported moving forward with a bond this year.