WHAT ARE KEY POINTS ABOUT THIS BOND ISSUE?

Post date: Jun 26, 2016 6:46:52 PM

• Focused on saving teaching positions and preserving class sizes in the midst of a state funding crisis

  • Our district has been forced to cut staff and raise class sizes due to state funding cuts despite increasing enrollment.

  • This bond cannot save positions we have already lost due to state funding cuts, but it would save 15 or more teaching positions to preserve class sizes in 2017-2018 when we expect state funding will drop yet again.

  • 71% of the bond goes to operational expenses (which helps save teachers and class sizes), 28% for renovation of existing spaces, and only 1% for additional square footage.

• Prioritizes student instruction

  • Since the state has now cut ALL funding for textbooks, this bond would provide some traditional textbooks while supporting a shift to digital devices.

  • The bond would ensure that every classroom has instructional technology and every secondary student has access to a personal computing device for use at both school and home, with classroom devices in the lower grades.

  • Funds STEM* education in 6-12 and begin expanding it into elementaries.(*STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)

• Focused on using the facilities we already have

  • Almost 1/4 of the bond would go to maintaining our existing sites.

  • 95% of the facility projects money in the bond goes to renovating and reconfiguring existing spaces to make them more efficient and usable for modern-day needs and programs.

• Promotes student safety

  • Replaces all buses purchased prior to 2000 for a safer and more reliable fleet that costs less to operate and maintain and is less likely to strand students.

  • Includes facility safety upgrades such as safety glass in shelter areas, lockdown blinds for classrooms doors, and safer playground surfaces and borders.