The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Measure H volunteer June Vath looks through the phone book, preparing to call voters for their support. Voters will decide on the $144 million bond, which would pay for facilities repairs and improvements at high schools in the Fremont Union High School District, during an April 14 special election.

Proponents of Measure H poll support at 75 percent

By Steve Enders

With the special election for Measure H less than a week away, the results of phone polls by the district's campaign group show strong community support for the bond.

"The response has been excellent," Kevin O'Reilly, the Yes on H co-chair, said. "We're getting about three out of four, roughly, in support of the measure. Some aren't interested, and others are still undecided."

Campaign spokeswoman Alice Freund called the campaign's spirit "very positive" and "upbeat." She also said that she hasn't seen any organized opposition to the measure and remains cautiously optimistic that it will pass.

Nightly phone banks have been packed with volunteers from throughout the district preparing for the April 14 special election. Also, campaign volunteers have been canvassing local neighborhoods, spreading the word about the issue.

O'Reilly said that since the measure is the only item on the special election ballot, it shouldn't be too difficult to get the measure passed.

People, he said, don't normally come out to cast a "no" vote, but they do take the time to vote "yes."

"We're contacting people to let them know, but the problem is to mobilize that vote and get them out to the polls."

The volunteers working the phones and sidewalks are the core of Yes on H, a campaign run by the Oakland-based Tramutola Company, which was hired by the district because of its successes in previous bond issues. Individual and corporate donations are funding the campaign, which will end up costing nearly $140,000. State law also prevents school district employees from campaigning during work time.

Kenny Gallardo, a 16-year-old student at Fremont High School, chose to volunteer his time at Measure H headquarters.

"I'm doing it because I care about the future of Sunnyvale, and this will impact it greatly," he said. "The schools need it, I think the students need a better environment. If everything was clean, I think attendance would go up."

If the measure passes, the Fremont Union High School District stands to gain $144 million from Cupertino and Sunnyvale homeowners, who will pay about $30 each year per $100,000 assessed value of their homes over the next 25 years.

Repair Costs: A closer look at the costs of needs.

Even though there is no organized opposition to it, not everyone is happy about Measure H. In letters written to The Sun and The Cupertino Courier, some members in the community have expressed concern that the district is paying to put the measure on a special election ballot, which costs significantly more than if it was on the June or November ballots.

Holding the special election will cost the district about $200,000, instead of the $60,000 it would have cost if the bond measure were on a general election ballot. According to Gene Longinetti, the district's property management coordinator, the district will get the money spent on the election back if the measure passes because of interest earned on the bonds.

He said that the district chose a special election because voters might have confused the issue with another bond measure that was expected to be voted on in June.

"It's the most prudent thing to do," Longinetti said. "We were concerned because we were looking at the fact that the governor's $8 billion bond proposal was supposed to be on the June ballot. That, and we want to get this thing going."

Measure H is a facilities bond from which the money can only be used for building construction costs and repair or replacement of the schools' faulty infrastructure. The money can not be used for teachers' salaries, instructional aides or classroom supplies.

The district will use the money to renovate the aging buildings at its five operational high schools: Homestead, Cupertino, Lynbrook, Fremont and Monta Vista. None of the money will go toward the old Sunnyvale High School, which shut down in 1981. The school district currently leases the site.

Supporters say the buildings at the five high schools are in desperate need of renovation, including roof repairs, electrical system overhauls, seismic safety upgrades and new boilers and pipes (see related story).

"The bond will cover everything," Freund said. The district could be eligible for an additional $13 million from the state if Gov. Wilson's $8 billion school-construction bond passes, according to Longinetti.

Legislators have yet to accept the proposal and missed the deadline to place the state bond on the June ballot. The soonest it would appear is November.

Fremont's bond would allow for $119 million worth of renovations over the next eight years, and $25 million for upkeep and maintenance over the following 25 years. The district wrote this "capital replacement" provision into the bond after Palo Alto Unified School District passed a similarly worded measure in 1995, Longinetti said.

"Districts [usually] go out for a bond and plan for eight years, then the money runs out. If something comes up, which it typically will-- like maybe a boiler falls apart and you don't have any money--you've got a major problem you can't fix," he said.

Such problems aren't unique to Fremont, according to district officials. They said that even at 30-year-old Monta Vista--the district's youngest school--pipes are breaking and classrooms are overcrowded.

A portion of the bond money will cover the construction of about 55 new permanent classrooms, which will alleviate some of the crowding, Longinetti said.

In September 1997, the district sent out questionnaires to area homeowners to gauge interest and help prioritize the needs of the schools. The district got more than 1,500 responses. Nearly 75 percent said they'd support a bond.

In other nearby school districts, bond measures over the last few years in Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos have passed.

This week, voters in school districts in Los Gatos, San Jose, Morgan Hill and Mountain View will also be voting on bond measures.

"The various communities near us that have passed bonds make it so the people in these communities have good ideas of what schools need," Freund said. "I'll bet the kids could make up their own list of bad things [at the schools]."

Some of the buildings on the Fremont High School campus are 70 years old, and are showing their age, according to Principal Pete Tawana.

On a recent walk around the campus, Tawana pointed out rusty and broken asbestos-wrapped pipes connected to outdated boilers, dim lighting in hot, stuffy classrooms and leaky roofs that caused circuit breakers to malfunction during heavy winter rains.

Tawana said in February, a drinking fountain pipe broke in the school's gymnasium during a basketball game, causing gallons of water to gush onto the floor.

"Had [administrators] not been there and known how to shut off the water, we would have lost the hardwood floor," Tawana said, emphasizing his point by gesturing to a rusty pipe in a boiler room. "If [the pipe] doesn't go today, it'll go in three weeks."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 8, 1998.
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