The Lemon Grove School District is seeking to place a $13 million bond measure on the November ballot.
The board Tuesday voted 5-0 to direct district staff members to do the advance work. The board could vote to call for an election as early as next month.
Proceeds from the proposed sale of bonds would be used mainly to pay for upgrades and repairs.
But more than $4 million would be used to pay off what the district still owes for the installation of a solar energy system at some of its schools and a modernization project at another. Officials said the district is now using money from its general fund to make these payments.
In 1998 the district passed a $12 million bond measure, which along with $9 million it raised in state matching funds paid for classroom renovations and other projects.
The board briefly discussed seeking a $20 million bond measure to help build a community library, but the idea was dropped because voters might not support it.
“There's a concern for a very cautious bond,” trustee George Gastil said.
If voters approved a $13 million bond, property owners would be taxed an additional $18 per $100,000 of assessed property value for an undetermined number of years, officials said. Lemon Grove joins other East County districts that are considering or have passed bond measures in recent years.
The Cajon Valley Union School District passed a $156.5 million bond measure in February. The Santee School District passed a $60 million bond in 2006.
The Lakeside Union School District also wants to place a bond measure on the November ballot. Grossmont Union High School District Superintendent Robert Collins last week proposed that the district ask voters to approve another bond measure to complete construction projects that the last bond measure can't cover as well as some new ones.
The Lemon Grove district has been discussing another bond measure since last year. A survey of district residents in December showed that 60 percent supported a school bond. Superintendent Ernest Anastos cautioned that the survey was taken before the state's fiscal crisis became more pronounced.
He said the proposed bond would pay for the most urgent facilities needs, including infrastructure repairs, air conditioning and heating systems for multipurpose and auditoriums, shade structures, and upgrades to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. About $1.5 million would be spent on landscape, playgrounds, fencing and other visible projects, he said.
Leonel Sanchez: (619) 542-4568; leonel.sanchez@uniontrib.com
