GALT, CA (MPG) - Voters living in Galt Joint Union Elementary District will decide in November whether to approve bonds for the district. The board of education voted at its June 18 meeting to place a $27 million bond measure on the general election ballot.

The district has said the bonds are needed in order to refurbish aging facilities, update technology and address safety issues at all school sites.

The board’s unanimous decision came a month after the completion of the district’s facilities master plan, which lays out areas of potential improvement at each school, such as replacing portable classrooms with permanent buildings, reconfiguring parking lots and installing new bathrooms.

A staff report said the master plan sets up a new phase in the district’s long-term facilities plans, with the Measure K bonds passed by voters in 2016 as the first phase.

“The updated Facilities Master Plan readies the District for the next phase, in order to continue the work started with Measure K,” the report read.

Superintendent Lois Yount presented the results of an informal survey that the district conducted to supplement a scientific opinion poll that found there may be enough support among voters to reach the 55% passage threshold.

The district sent out mailers to 9,300 district residents asking for their participation in the informal survey; 67 people responded by the day of the board meeting.

Based on the answers, 52 respondents, or 78%, would vote for bonds, Yount said, while the other 22% would vote against. She emphasized that the survey was not scientific, so its results can’t be generalized to the broader electorate.

Yount showed a sampling of responses, including a supportive one that read, “Had children in GJUESD 40 yrs ago. Students are our future — we need to provide for them!”

A comment opposing the measure read, “We already pay a high number of taxes. How many bonds do we need?”

According to measure language, the bonds would create a tax of 3 cents per $100 of assessed property value and provide the district with nearly $2 million in revenue per year over the bond term.

Trustees expressed disappointment in the low response rate. Trustee Wesley Cagle was concerned that some people would say they hadn’t heard about the bonds.

“I feel like we’ve done what we could to try to get the word out there,” Yount said, noting that most survey responses were from people who returned the mailer.

“Nobody wants to have more taxes or pay more, but I think the schools need it and, you know, the money’s probably not going to come in any other way,” board President Traci Skinner said, adding that she was leery about spending the money to get on the ballot. “I feel a little better that the high school (district) is not doing it because I was kind of worried that, if both districts did it, that might hurt us.”

Trustee Annette Kunze supported putting the measure before voters.

“We were sort of on the fence about it and then hoping that we would get some additional information to help push us one way or another, and I think since then we’ve seen the facilities master plan, which definitely identified some needs,” Kunze said. “And then also, although we didn’t get a lot of responses, there’s nothing to me that’s saying blaringly ‘stop’ at this point, so I am OK with moving forward.”

Trustee Casey Raboy agreed, saying that the district doesn’t “have any other sources that we’re going to be able to handle maintenance, unfortunately.”

The trustees voted 5-0 to place the bond measure on the ballot.

In other business, the board approved the budget for fiscal year 2024-25, and the Local Control and Accountability Plan describing the district’s educational priorities for students.

The board recognized Robert L. McCaffrey Middle School student Angel Velazquez for his “heroic” actions after being involved in a school bus crash in May. 

A suspected drunken driver collided with the bus that he and 14 other students were riding in on May 15, injuring the bus driver. None of the students had significant injuries, and Yount said video footage showed Angel telling his classmates to get to safety.

“You could see him on the bus. He’s … firmly telling kids, ‘Get off, get off.’ He’s letting them get off before himself,” Yount said.