Keppel District hopes bond can aid facility fixes

PEARBLOSSOM — Keppel Union School District administrators will look to Measure SF, a $17.9 million general obligation bond measure on the March 3 presidential primary ballot, to modernize District facilities and potentially qualify for matching state funds.

The District’s school facilities need to be modernized and upgraded to meet 21 st century needs. Measure SF, if successful, would also pay for upgrades to plumbing, electrical systems, improvements to student health and safety, and construction of support facilities.

It would put the District in line for matching state funds if Proposition 13, the $15 billion School and College Facilities Bond also on the March 3 ballot, is successful.

The District’s governing Board will consider the establishment of a community benefit agreement at a future meeting that could help the District to potentially get matching state funds should both the district’s bond measure and the state measure pass.

“There is a priority if the state bond passes and we want matching grant funds if our bond passes,” Keppel Superintendent Ruben Zepeda said.

School districts that have a community benefit agreement, or project labor agreement, as it is called in the state bond, would get priority consideration for their projects, along with other factors such as projects that address earthquake risks and districts with financial hardships.

Zepeda updated the Board about pursuing a potential community benefit agreement at Thursday’s meeting.

“My recommendation as we move forward is we want every effort to be

able to receive state bond funds once available,” Zepeda said.

The District could receive about $12.7 million in matching state funds if Measure SF and Proposition 13 pass on March 3.

Measure SF, if successful, would cost property owners within Keppel Union School District boundaries about $30 per $100,000 of assessed value.

The average taxpayer is expected to pay about $90 per year.