In a tiny, cramped classroom on Pajaro Valley High School’s sprawling campus on Tuesday, a group of students was taking turns on a makeshift stage expressing various emotions and personalities as dictated by their drama teacher.
One by one, the students met their challenges to the applause of their classmates, ranging from emotional to miserable to melodramatic to giggling.
But there is one emotion that none of them—or any of their fellow students—need to feign: frustration at the lack of a performing arts center, an asset their peers at Watsonville and Aptos high schools have long enjoyed.
That could change on Nov. 5 if voters approve Measure M, a $315 million general obligation bond that would fund construction and renovation projects at all of the district’s schools.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Heather Contreras, who has spearheaded an ongoing series of student-led superintendent advisory councils, said she hears those concerns whenever she visits PVHS.
“They feel really deeply that they don’t have what other high schools have,” she said.
The district is ready to move forward with a feasibility for the performing arts center if the measure garners the required simple majority vote. That $78,000 study would be paid for with developer fees.
If passed, Measure M would raise $18.3 million annually by placing $60 per $100,000 of assessed value on properties within the district.
Other projects throughout PVUSD include new roofs and plumbing and expanded career and technical education programs including robotics and coding.
The measure comes during a presidential election, which typically draws more voters and gives such issues a greater chance of passing.
But it also comes just after the March election, when voters approved Measure N, a bond that is funding several projects at Watsonville Community Hospital by placing $24 per $100,000 of assessed value on properties within the Pajaro Valley Health Care District.
Contreras said that she understands voter reluctance to approve a measure that would raise taxes, particularly at a time when inflation is hurting many people.
Still, Contreras pointed to studies connecting student academic performance to the quality of their schools’ facilities. And with an estimated $1.2 billion in unmet maintenance needs, the need is enormous, she said.
“What I’m telling people is that one, the taxable amount is on the assessed property value, and not the market value, so I think people’s property taxes would be less than what they might assume,” she said.
PVHS Principal Todd Wilson said that the school’s plays are put on in the wrestling room, a slightly larger space than the drama room that also holds both rolled-up wrestling mats and the smells of high school athletics. In addition, Students who want to use a pool must travel to Watsonville High School.
The lack of those facilities has in many ways stunted the school’s growth, he said.
“We make it work and we do a phenomenal job; we have great people in place, but having that performing arts center is going to be all the difference in the world,” Wilson said.
For information on Measure M, click here or visit bit.ly/47ZBQxk.
The state of Calif has a 20 Billion bond to support our public schools. PVUSD will get a cut of t hat.
We taxpayers can’t afford another hike on our property taxes. We just got one due to the hospital and there are two bond issues, on for PVUSD and one for Santa Cruz country that will jack up our taxes even more. Frankly I can’t afford it.
Any reputable business budgets for building maintenance and is able to handle their issues. PVUSD isn’t doing a good job of managing their budget and educating the kids. They keep asking for more money. Money to pay teachers rend, (teachers only work 35 weeks a year and their income is fair based on not working the full year like the rest of us do). They want to spend over 2 million on lock changes.
All schools should be secured with key code locks rather than spending millions on lock changes. Federal buildings use computer chips in ID cards to open the doors rather than using keys. PVUSD wants us to pay for teachers electric cars charging. Why should we? Your car isn’t our responsibility.
Think before you vote. Is your retirement income going up so fast you can afford 500 more a year in property taxes?
As someone who works in education, I see the enormous salaries and pensions paid out to to the top heavy administrators. Not to mention goofy expenditures of money on items that leave many of us scratching our heads over….
I currently pay for the following PVUSD bonds on my Tax bill:
2002 B PAJARO VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOND
2012 PAJARO VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOND
2020 REF PAJARO VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOND
2023 PAJARO VALLEY SCHOOL REFUNDING
I chose to send my children to private school at a great financial sacrifice, as the school district did not offer dual immersion programs (bi-lingual/bi-literate) and I still voted to support these bonds (as well as paid a hefty sum to the school district when I remodeled my home)
The above are in addition to the other line items that cost me an additional $614 on top pf my actual property taxes! I am now retired on a fixed income after devoting myself to more than 50 years of public service. As resources and programs for seniors are shrinking, and we will be the majority demographic in 6 years, what is going to happen to our community? How many times are you going to come back to the taxpayers?