With missing mirrors, cracked walls, Atascadero USD to get $117 million in bonds

Posted: Nov 4, 2010 5:49 PM by Nancy Chen
Updated: Nov 4, 2010 9:14 PM

Measure I alots $117 million in bonds to Atascadero USD

A total of $227 million is now coming to local school districts at a time they say the money is desperately needed.

Three bond measures to improve school districts in Atascadero and Santa Barbara were approved Tuesday.

One of them means $117 million in bonds for the Atascadero Unified School District.

Administrators say the terrible conditions of the schools there are actually affecting children's learning.

It's supposed to be an educational environment, and students at Atascadero Junior High School are learning which sidewalks not to trip on along with algebra.

Administrators say conditions have gotten so bad in the district's buildings they've had to close classrooms--and that's why they're so excited about Measure "I" passing.

"We've been doing a lot of band-aids and patching," said Jackie Martin, the assistant superintendent of the Atascadero Unified School District. "This will give us an opportunity to come in and do what really needs to be done."

Atascadero voters said "yes" to the $117 million bond Tuesday, which means a $59 property tax for every $100,000 dollars a house is worth.

The money is dedicated solely to infrastructure and vocational programs.

The gym at the junior high--with its scruffed floors, musty smell and torn walls--is used every day, and Lori Thomas-Hicks, the principal of the school, says it's just one of the many things that needs to be repaired.

"The tile is broken and the paint is chipping, and it just starts wearing away at the energy you're trying to create in an educational environment," Thomas-Hicks said.

One elementary school had to use Porta-Potties for a day when a pipe from the 1950's broke.

The new $59 tax is coming in just as a current $95 tax on the same Atascadero properties expires next year.

The district is hoping to get more money now from federal and state grants.

Ten teachers and about five other employees were laid off from the school district this year because of budget cuts, but Measure "I" won't help them.

The school district says it's required by law to use the bond money on infrastructure and vocational programs.