CABOC Planning for 2024
The California Association of Bond Oversight Committees (CABOC) was incorporated on September 19, 2019 and is now entering its fifth year of operations. There are 515 active Proposition 39 Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committees (CBOCs) in California K-12 and Community College districts.
Voters have approved $198.7 billion in Proposition 39 Bonds.
“CABOC is the trusted and independent source of information, education, training, and assistance on school bond oversight to CBOC members and California taxpayers. Proposition 39 (2000) lowered the threshold for local voter approval of school bond measures to 55%. It was accompanied by the mandate to establish independent CBOCs to oversee school bond expenditures and report findings to governing boards, taxpayers, and the general public.
--- Our mission is to develop the tools: training materials, newsletters, workshops, and conferences to enable CBOC members to engage in rigorous independent oversight and fulfill their obligations to ensure and report that bond money has been spent adequately for the benefit of students, families, their communities and all Californians and to represent our collective interests at the statewide level.” (Articles of Incorporation January 14, 2023)
As an advocate for the effective performance of school bond measures, we track and measure compliance.
We have found:
■ In California:
- County of Education Offices: 58
- Total number of Districts: 1,055
- Total number of bond measures: 515
■ Non-compliance with Education Code:
- Over 25 districts with active Proposition 39 bond programs do not have a CBOC.
- Many CBOCs have vacant positions, including the required Taxpayer position.
■ 86 districts have refused to provide CABOC with the CBOC members' email
--- addresses citing privacy. While these concerns are legitimate, they can be
--- resolved with a district-provided email address. CBOC's are committees of the
--- district board, and the CBOC mission is to provide information to the public on
--- district performance in managing Prop 39 school bond programs. CBOC
--- members' contact information should be posted on the district's website,
--- just like trustees and administrative staff.
CABOC efforts:
- Attendance at our August 2023 Conference was 40, and in Oct. 2023, it was 30.
- Total Constant Contacts email contact list is 3,553, of which 981 are the most engaged readers, and the rate of people opening our email newsletters is 43%.
- The number of CBOC members in CABOC’s database is 2,103 or 58% of the total CBOC members in California.
- The total number of Newsletter subscriptions is 3,075.
In my opinion, CABOC is not meeting its purposes as stated in our Article of Incorporation.
I want this week to get a pulse on your thoughts on the California Association of Bond Oversight Committees. I have a series of questions below that I invite your reply to assist us in planning our activities for 2024:
■ How can we do better?
■ What type of training should be provided?
■ Would having a weekly one-hour training session on Saturday morning or
--- other day(s) of each week be of value?
■ How could we recruit more CABOC voting members?
■ How can we improve the website?
Carolyn Castillo, CABOC President
