S.F. school leaders eye $790M bond measure
San Francisco school leaders acknowledge the district faces massive challenges such as a severe fiscal crisis and imminent school closures, but they warn educational conditions will get even worse if voters don’t approve an upcoming $790 million bond to fix aging classrooms and campuses.
The school board is expected to approve a resolution Tuesday to place the bond on the November ballot. The bond would upgrade and modernize dilapidated facilities that are already beyond their expected lifespans and also pay for a $225 million central food hub, where fresh meals would be assembled, officials said.
The measure would require 55% of voter support to pass and is not expected to raise current tax rates, given the expiration of previous bonds.
The timing of the request might appear less than ideal.
Earlier this month, state officials questioned the board’s ability to pay its bills in the coming years and took the extraordinary step of giving fiscal advisers control over expenditures to ensure the district remains solvent.
At the same time, the school board is expected to vote on school closures by the end of December, a response to declining enrollment that has led to empty seats across the district. And the district will now have to replace a payroll system that never worked right despite its $34 million price tag.
“There is no denying there are materially substantial challenges,” said the measure’s campaign cochair Phil Halperin.
Yet, the bond program has historically not been one of the district’s problems, he added, noting that the four previous bonds dating back 20 years have been on time and on budget, something few public agencies can say when it comes to bond-funded construction projects.
Of the four previous bonds, the first two were primarily used for disabled access, which was dictated by a court order. The next two, approved in 2011 and 2016, included modernization and other work at 48 schools, including 107 new classrooms and 3.2 million square feet of renovated school buildings, officials said.
Many parents can see the need for improvements every day when they take their children to school, said Meredith Dodson, executive director of the San Francisco Parent Coalition, but there is a lot to process in terms of what’s happening within the district.
Family members have often complained at school board meetings about a lack of heat, leaky roofs, vermin, bad ventilation and a litany of other facilities issues.
“So many of our schools need more investment, even in the most basic repairs. And now we’re looking at the previous bond sunsetting, so I think parents do understand the importance of these funds continuing,” she said. “It’s just so much happening all at once. We know parents are looking to learn more about the specifics of how it will impact our schools, our kids, and the quality of the education they receive.”
The 2024 bond would pay for the modernization of one large high school, as well as three major and four mid-size modernizations at other district schools, according to an overview of the proposed measure shared with the Chronicle prior to the Tuesday school board meeting.
None of the schools have been identified yet and would be selected through a needs-based process if the bond passes.
In addition, the bond would pay the food hub, offering students access to more locally grown produce and a wider variety of food. This would be the first phase of what officials hope to be a central kitchen, where meals would not only be assembled, but prepared.
The bond would also pay for a “complete security suite” at all school sites, as well as other basic upgrades to bathrooms, electrical systems, roofing and window projects, ensuring that the proceeds are spread across the district, officials said.
If the measure doesn’t pass, the upgrades and repairs needed would have to come out of operating funds — which means they’d impact classrooms, said school board member Jenny Lam, the other cochair of the campaign.
“I don’t think there is any question about the need for this investment,” said the school board’s president, Lainie Motamedi. “We don’t have another option.”
While school districts use their general funds to cover basic repairs and maintenance, bonds are the only way they can pay for large capital expenditures, including building new schools or modernizing old ones.
The Legislature is considering placing a statewide school facilities bond on the November ballot as well, offering matching funds to districts that raise funds locally. San Francisco Unified was able to leverage more than $45 million in state funds from the 2016 bond.
The board expected to ask voters to approve another bond in 2021, but delayed the request because of the pandemic. It has been eight years since the last bond measure.
“We’re already spending the very last of those remaining funds,” Lam said. “This bond is going to be instrumental. Our students are counting on us.”