By LESTER CHANG
For years, thousands of Sunnyvale Elementary School District students have tolerated school buildings with leaky roofs, poor exterior lighting, and inadequate heating and ventilation equipment.
But 1996 may mark the end of those problems.
Sunnyvale residents will be asked June 4 to approve Measure A, a $34 million bond to renovate and repair the district's seven elementary and two middle schools.
Most of the facilities are more than 40 years old and have not been renovated because of the lack of state funding.
If the latest measure isn't approved, future generations of students run the risk of having the quality of their education compromised, district officials have warned.
"We think it is absolutely critical that it passes," said Superintendent Doris Wilson, who oversees the district of 5,800 students. "We need the money to make basic changes that will benefit our district for years to come."
A 66.67 percent vote is required for passage.
If the measure is approved by voters, construction bids will be let out and work would start as early as summer, said Linda Kilian, president of the Sunnyvale school board and co-chairwoman of Friends.
Most of the construction work would be done over the next ten years, she added.
The funds will be generally used to construct or renovate libraries and classrooms, renovate existing classrooms and school buildings, repair or replace leaky roofs, inadequate plumbing and heating and ventilation systems, and modernize electrical systems for computer use.
The improvements are also needed to meet future growth in the district, representatives from Friends said. With more families moving into the district, partly due to the availability of affordable housing, the district anticipates an enrollment of 7,000 within the next ten years.
Of all the schools, Sunnyvale Middle School requires the most work.
An estimated $5.6 million will be needed for the construction of classrooms, renovation of restrooms, replacement of a 20-year-old roof, expansion of a library, replacement of asbestos tiles and the installation of carpeting and the renovation of administrative offices.
The school district has also pushed for Measure A because it will not seek any funding from Proposition 203, recently approved by voters.
That bond measure provides $3 billion for the construction and repair of schools statewide and for other education-related projects.
The Sunnyvale district wouldn't qualify for those state funds, Kilian said. Its school buildings are in poor shape, but are still in better condition than those in poorer school districts.
The district also hasn't applied for any of the Proposition 203 funds because if it qualified for any, it would have to deal with state funding restrictions, Kilian said.
The district hasn't been able to properly maintain its buildings because of budget cuts of more than $8 million in state funding to the district over the past ten years, Kilian said.
So far, $14 million from the sale of Benner School and other district funding sources have been used to partially renovate Columbia Middle School and Vargas and San Miguel elementary schools.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, May 22, 1996.
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