> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Seizing the moment - URL: https://www.smdp.com/seizing-the-moment/ - Published: 2006-05-01T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T17:40:42.000Z - Author: Kevin Herrera - Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import *District is involving community in drafting facilities master plan* SMMUSD HDQTRS. — Looking to capitalize on the momentum created by a series of community meetings regarding the future of school facility upgrades, officials are seriously considering placing a multi-million bond on the November ballot. The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified school board seems to be leaning in favor of authoring a ballot question, having instructed staff last month to come back with a timeline of when such a measure could be drafted. The board will discuss whether or not to form a bond committee, the first step in the process, at its next meeting, set for May 4 in Malibu. “I think it’s time for the school district and for us to put our students first and make (the repair and construction of new facilities) a priority, and I think the community supports that view,” said school board member Oscar de la Torre, who is in support of a November bond measure. The district is currently involved in a massive effort to involve the community in drafting the district’s facilities master plan, which will guide school use and construction over the next 20 years. It is unknown what the amount of the bond would be but as district officials determine whether it’s feasible, they also will decide how much the plan would cost. There is concern that if the school board fails to place a bond on the November ballot, the next opportunity may not come until 2008, which could make the master planning process a wasted effort and the data collected obsolete. “The only impact the facilities master plan process has on the bond is to help us identify what we might need and, therefore, the pricing,” said Winston Braham, assistant superintendent and chief financial officer for the school district. However, “whenever you go to voters, it’s always best to have the most recent information available,” Braham said. Placing a bond in 2008 also may conflict with the possible renewal of two parcel taxes — Measures S and Y — which expire at the end of June 2009 and 2011, respectively. The district can ask voters to renew them in June 2008, consultants hired by the school district said. Some wonder how voters would respond were the bond to appear on the same ballot as the parcel taxes. Will they vote for the taxes or the bond, or all three? Worse, perhaps, there could be voter fatigue and nothing will pass, leaving the district without funds to ease overcrowding, which is a steady complaint of students, particularly at Santa Monica High School. “It really depends on what the voters want,” said Richard Bernard, Ph.D., an analyst with Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates, a Santa Monica-based firm that conducts voter sentiment surveys. “By finding out what voters want, you can better draft a bond to meet those needs. Perhaps a bond wouldn’t be their first choice since bonds are somewhat limited in what the money generated can be used for. In that case, voters may want to go with a parcel tax, which gives the district more flexibility.” To place a bond measure on the ballot this fall district officials would have to act fast. According to consultants, a ballot statement and a list of specific projects must be handed over to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder no later than Aug. 11 — just 88 days before voters go to the polls. That gives the board just three months from its next meeting to conduct a voter survey, identify the most feasible projects identified in the master plan workshops and draft a bond proposal. A citizen’s task force would be responsible for campaigning in the months leading up to the Nov. 7 election. Bernard said there is still plenty of time to conduct a survey. “In some communities, they wait until the last minute, literally days before a bond has to be placed on the ballot,” Bernard said. “If we did a survey now or in the next few weeks, it would be fine. This would not put us at a disadvantage.” David Casnocha, an advisor to the district on finance and bond measures, said “there is still ample time for (the board) to meet (the Aug. 11) deadline, and I believe they will have sufficient information about their projects to satisfy the requirements of Proposition 39.” Proposition 39 allows for bond measures with specific projects to be approved by only a 55-percent vote of the public instead of the two-thirds majority needed for parcel taxes and other bonds, Casnocha said. If the bond were to pass, the district could apply for matching funds from the state. However, those funds are only available for a limited time, so missing the November ballot could mean the district losing out on millions of dollars, Braham said. School board vice president Kathy Wisnicki said what’s important is to get the community involved now to see if they are interested in a ballot measure. “We need to send this to an ad hoc committee to investigate whether this will be the appropriate time or whether we should wait,” she said. “If we don’t do that, then we lose our opportunity to even consider a bond for November.” Wisnicki said as long as the district does consider a bond measure “in the next few years, we’re in good shape,” in retaining the momentum created by the facilities master plan workshops. “If we wait five years, that’s too long,” she said. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 1, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050106.pdf?ref=smdp.com)