Measure M, which will raise millions of dollars for construction, rebuilding and maintenance projects at each of Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s 35 schools has passed, and officials are starting to make plans for the money.
As of Friday, the measure garnered 57.5% of the votes in Santa Cruz County, and 63.6% in Monterey County, both above the 55% margin required for passage.
High on the agenda, district officials have said, is a performing arts center at Pajaro Valley High School.
“We are incredibly grateful for the trust and support our community has shown in passing the $315 million bond,” Superintendent Heather Contreras stated in an email. “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.”
Contreras says that the funds will go toward “modernizing classrooms, upgrading aging facilities, and addressing the use of portables.”
Plans also include improvements to HVAC and wiring infrastructure.
Measure M will raise $18.3 million annually by placing $60 per $100,000 of assessed value on properties within the district.
Contreras said that the district will involve students, families, and staff in prioritizing projects.
A Citizens Bond Oversight Committee made up of community members will soon be formed.
“Their role will be to monitor the use of the funds and ensure that every dollar is spent efficiently and effectively in support of our schools and students,” Contreras said.
I wonder why the author of this article didn’t mention how much it will hurt senior home owners who depend on SS for their income. COLA for SS won’t cover this insane bond and with deportments coming to town, how many fewer kids will be attending the local schools. Totally insane.
“Deportments”? How will “manners” coming to town mean fewer kids attending local schools? Except for some drivers, I think Watsonville residents have pretty darn good deportment.
Thank you for correcting me. I appreciate it when I make a mistake.
I meant how many people who have broken the law by coming into our country illegally will, be deported along with their kids. School enrollment at PVUSD schools was already dropping and with fewer students that require more the more costly education learning how to read and speak English, why did PVUSD ask for so much money? Because they can.
We will now be paying for our poor teachers electric car charging stations at schools, their housing and their extra long vacations they get every year while we suckers work every day with very poor health insurance and high property taxes. Our special teachers have the best health insurance money (our taxes} can buy while most of us struggle to pay for ours along with high property taxes.
Never fear, if you rent, your rent is going to go up. If you’re on SS, own your home, your property taxes are going up and hopefully seniors won’t lose their houses, since seniors on fixed incomes aren’t exempt from paying higher property taxes. I just wish the schools, would instil some manners on school kids as I watch them throw garbage all over the school grounds and neighborhoods, Obviously the parents of these kids aren’t. When we went to schools in our fine town, the administrators made sure the schools were good neighbors and kept the grounds clean, by having clean up days. Now, I see the people who cut the lawn, just run over the paper garbage strewn all over the campus, shredding it so it blows all over the neighborhood. This is the height of laziness.