In a bold move, the Fremont Union High School District board unanimously agreed to put measures for both a school bond and a parcel tax extension on the general election ballot this November.
The board is proposing a $295 million bond measure that would have a tax rate of $21 per year,per $100,000 of assessed valuation of taxable property. The second measure would extend the district’s current $98 annual parcel tax for another six years beginning on July 1, 2016.
Board members expressed nervousness over the decision at a July 8 board meeting, as school bonds and parcel tax measures are usually done individually to ensure their success, but ultimately decided it needed to be done.
“We have upgraded our facilities; however, we know we are going to be seeing a very large growth in student population over the next several years, and this was above and beyond what we saw coming a few years ago,” board president Bill Wilson said. “We need a bond program to give us the funds primarily to build new classroom space for those students who are coming along.”
Between 2010 and 2020, demographers told the district to expect an additional 1,850 students.
“It’s like having another high school,” district spokeswoman Sue Larson said of the anticipated growth. “This 18 percent increase means that we will need 37 additional classrooms throughout the district. The passage of the bond measure would enable us to add these classrooms and to renovate our aging facilities and complete additional projects to better support our students.”
As a basic aid district, all of FUHSD’s general purpose funding comes from the local property tax. The state does not provide any general purpose funding. Unlike revenue limit districts, basic aid districts do not receive funding based on district enrollment.
Extending the current parcel tax, scheduled to sunset on June 30, 2016, would serve an uninterrupted continuation of funds.
It was on Nov. 2, 2004, that voters approved the original parcel tax assessment of $98 per parcel for six years. In 2010, voters approved a six-year extension of the parcel tax at the same amount. The tax is assessed against each parcel of taxable land in the district.
Parcel tax funds are separate from bond funds in that they allow the district to preserve core academic classes, maintain qualified and experienced teachers and school employees and continue programs that help students qualify for college. Bond funds are strictly used for building construction and rehabilitation.
“We’re not looking to change it or increase it in any way, but we want to extend it,” Wilson said. “So although it’s a bit unusual, we’re asking to continue the same amount of the parcel tax, which helps us attract and retain good teachers, and a bond program that will help us build new classrooms above and beyond what we have at this time.”
On June 3, 2008, voters passed Measure B, a $198 million school bond to construct and renovate classrooms and science labs, construct solar electricity systems, replace aging infrastructure, create a long-term technology fund, modernize tracks and fields and implement other long-term facility improvements.
A list of projects that the previous bond measure funded can be found at the district’s website fuhsd.org under “Bond Program.”
