Study Approved for School Bond Plan

Unsure when or if they want to pursue a bond issue for school projects, Ventura school board members have agreed to get the action rolling in case they want to place a bond measure on the June ballot.

Board members Tuesday night authorized a company specializing in bonds to begin a feasibility study. Ventura Unified School District Supt. Joseph Spirito plans to meet sometime next week with Dale Scott & Co.’s financial advisors, who will start examining the level of support the community has for a school bond.

After the study the company may “say no to us if they think [the district] is a loser,” Spirito said. “They are not going to invest time and energy if they don’t think we are going to win.” The company doesn’t charge the district up front but takes a percentage of the bond money if it passes, Spirito explained.

If the bond measure is the only item in the June election, the district will have to pay $150,000 for the cost of the ballots, trustee John Walker said.

The financial advisors, however, have recommended avoiding the November ballot, when several competing measures such as the library tax or baseball stadium may reduce the district’s chance of winning, Walker said.

District officials said they would wait for recommendations expected in mid-December from their long-range planning committee before deciding whether to ask voters for permission to borrow money for school projects.

Though district officials said they may have to consider selling surplus property, they say it is unlikely they can complete the third-grade class size reduction, new school construction, renovations and technological improvements without a bond measure.