Council to Support School Bond Measure

The Ventura City Council is poised to adopt a resolution Monday night declaring its support for an $81-million school bond measure scheduled to go on the ballot in June.

The measure is the outgrowth of an intense five-month effort by city officials, residents and the Ventura Unified School District to prepare a long-range plan to deal with school overcrowding.

On Jan. 13, the City Council and the board of education held a joint meeting to adopt that plan.

“The master plan is recognized as one of the most important local public policy undertakings of the last quarter century,” City Manager Donna Landeros wrote in a report to the City Council, encouraging it to support Measure M, the June 3 school bond initiative.

The master plan lays out $120 million in recommended projects, including constructing four new schools, repairing existing school facilities and installing more computers and technology in local classrooms.

The plan also recommends that the city try to use a bond measure as the main source of funding for the projects. The report recommends that the school district raise the rest of the money by means such as selling off unused school properties and vigorously pursuing state funds. Both Mayor Jack Tingstrom and Supt. Joseph Spirito have publicly embraced the plan.

If the $81-million bond measure passes, it would be the largest bond measure in Ventura County history.