At a Special Meeting of the Board of Education on September 18, 2019, the 18-member Facilities Advisory Committee (FAC), chaired by Mrs. Jeanie Caldwell, made numerous recommendations in unanimous support of pursuing a capital improvement program and the necessary funding to address facilities needs throughout the District.  The Board has asked Mrs. Caldwell to attend its regularly scheduled October 8, 2019, meeting at 7:30 p.m. to provide a second presentation of the FAC recommendations.  Parents, teachers, staff, and community members are encouraged to attend and provide input through Public Comment. 

The FAC's unanimous findings and recommendations are as follows:

The Board thanked the FAC members for their dedication in attending 13 public committee meetings, touring the school sites, and lending their expertise in reviewing and assessing the District's major maintenance and facilities needs.  The Board especially thanked Mrs. Caldwell for her leadership, Mr. Jeff Morris for creating and maintaining the project database, Board member Mr. Corey Barberie for his financial expertise and serving as the Board liaison, and Superintendent Dr. Jeff Wilson and District staff for coordinating the FAC meetings and providing educational support.  Click here for a list of the FAC members, who represented diverse constituencies in San Marino and who brought varied professional skills and experiences to the Committee.

 

At the end of this Update is a summary of the hour-long presentation by Mrs. Caldwell. I encourage you to take the time to listen to the digital audio recording of the presentation and entire meeting ( please click here) and to read through the informative and comprehensive 45-page presentation and supporting documents, including a draft listing of potential projects with preliminary cost estimates that will need to be further defined if the Board moves forward with a capital facilities program, and the 2007 Final Report of the Citizens' Oversight Committee from the bond projects approved by San Marino voters in 1996 and 2000 ( please click here).  Please note that the FAC's project list is a draft with costs and estimates that are subject to review and change.

 

Next steps:

 

This FAC report is just the second step in what may be an extensive process to address the District's facilities needs.  The first step was for the Board to convene the FAC and ask them to do the tough work of learning about the District's facilities needs and making findings and recommendations.  After hearing the FAC's recommendations, Superintendent Dr. Jeff Wilson and District staff are now in a better position to identify possible next steps for the Board's consideration at its next meeting on September 24, 2019.   

 

Mrs. Caldwell will attend the Board meeting on October 8 so that community members, parents, teachers and staff will have another opportunity to learn about the FAC's findings and recommendations and to provide input through Public Comment. 

 

Depending on what the Board decides to do with the FAC's recommendations at its October 8 meeting, the Board may take the next step of directing Dr. Wilson and District staff to prepare a proposed resolution calling for a bond election. 

 

If the Board does in fact request that Dr. Wilson present a resolution calling for a bond election, there will be a first reading, a second reading and several opportunities for public input.  If the Board decides to approve a bond resolution, which sets the date for an election, there would be approximately three additional months for education of parents, teachers, staff, students, community groups and key stakeholders before an election.  

The FAC  Presentation includes the following information:

• Creation, charge and composition of the FAC
• Successes of the SMUSD that both rely on and compel San Marino community support
• Key areas of FAC study, such as:
  • Review of existing studies and reports on facilities needs, safety and security, finances, deferred maintenance and traffic
  • Site tours of all District facilities
  • Past construction and bond history
  • School site needs according to principals
  • Funding sources and expenses relating to facilities
  • Future vision of educational spaces
  • Deferred maintenance needs and plans
  • 2016 community survey results
  • Possible bond election dates and related issues
  • Existing bond obligations and financing options
• History of 1996 and 2000 bonds, including lessons learned
• Per pupil funding data that demonstrates that the SMUSD receives 35% funding than the average student in the United States and 24% less than the average student in California
• Parcel tax revenue figures, including a loss of $252,000 in revenue to the District due to an additional 191 requests for senior waivers in 2019-2020 alone.
• History of deferred maintenance funding over the years, including the State's current practice of not providing local school districts with additional monies for deferred maintenance needs
• FAC observations during school site visits, noting that while the exterior appearance of the schools is excellent, there are substantial infrastructure needs, such as heating and air conditioning, roofing and plumbing repairs, and fire/life safety needs
• Capital improvement priorities
  • The FAC studied, evaluated and prioritized 97 projects on the extent to which they involved safety or security issues and were important to providing a world class education
• Capital improvement financing alternatives, including a general obligation bond
  • Charts showing data about:
    • SMUSD's strong and steadily increasing assessed valuation history, which supports better bond rates
    • 2018-19 per parcel assessed value of single family homes in San Marino
      • Almost 10% of San Marino homes have an assessed value of less than $200,000
      • The average assessed value of a single family home in San Marino is $1,361,180
      • Tax rate history and projections, which show that although San Marino voters approved an estimated tax rate of $99.97 per $100,000 of assessed value in 1996 and 2000, current and projected tax rates are less than $70 per $100,000.
      • Interest rates showing that municipal bond interest rates are near historic lows
      • Sample tax rates for a hypothetical general obligation bond in 2020
• Findings of the 2016 community survey to gauge community support for new capital projects
  • San Marino voters' level of support exceeded the 55% threshold to pass a general obligation bond under Proposition 39, especially if the tax did not exceed currently approved levels
• Possible bond timing scenarios for a potential March 2020 election

For more information on the FAC, its meetings, discussions and recommendations, please click here .