Committees made up of school officials and parents from each school in the district have a few weeks to tweak certain budget items in their favor before it comes before the district's board of trustees on July 1. That's when the trustees vote to approve the "implementation plan," which is a draft and subject change.

This plan is also divided into three priorities: health and safety, building protection and lastly educational programs.

Voters approved Bond Measure F—a $429 million bond package to be used only for facility improvements—in March 2002. The bond taxes property owners $60 for every $100,000 worth of their assessed property value during the next 30 years. The measure will generate the necessary revenue to renovate the district's schools making them safer and more productive by upgrading plumbing, electrical, heating and ventilation systems, replacing portable classrooms, renovating restrooms, new roofing, and removing asbestos.

The district believes each school needs, regardless of status, to be brought up to state health and safety standards, which the implementation plan is earmarked to accomplish.

During the week of June 9, a series of community meetings was held for the general public to meet with district officials and bond oversight committee members to review a draft of the implementation plan.

Not surprisingly, some individuals felt that money going to some schools could be better spent elsewhere.

"These numbers don't match up," said Heidi Hobbs, a concerned parent of a Willow Glen High School student. She was comparing Leland High School's allotted funds for resurfacing its playing field to the cost of resurfacing Willow Glen High School's field, which needs more work but is getting fewer dollars.

"It doesn't seem right that one school is getting more money to fix something that isn't as high a priority as it is for us," Hobbs said.

Hobbs was one of about 100 concerned parents and school officials who attended the June 12 public information meeting at Willow Glen High School's cafeteria. The meeting was the last of the area-specific community meetings and this one focused on Willow Glen elementary, middle and high schools.

During the meeting, those attending broke into focus groups for each school to discuss what projects will get how much money and when during the next few years.

What concerns Kathryn Billington, a parent activist with Gardner Elementary, was the scheduling of work. Construction at Gardner isn't slated until July of 2006, and a construction of a new multipurpose building won't begin until 2008.

"That multipurpose building is the most important project to us," Billington said. "Gardner has traditionally been left behind in major projects and we're afraid that tradition will continue if we have to wait so long for what is needed most."

For Gardner to get its multipurpose building, the school must first finish being modernized through Measure C—a $165 bond approved by voters in 1997—intended to fund repairs and modernize all the schools in the district, said Charles Corr, the district's director of facilities and construction

Before the most recent measure was placed on the ballot, each school was evaluated to determine priorities. Once the measure passed the district spent the next 15 months working with a bond oversight committee to draft a work schedule for each campus, simply called the "implementation plan."

Bond oversight committees are citizen watchdog groups comprised of parents, senior citizens and business people who monitor how the district spends its bond money.

Corr and district officials stress that the implementation plan, as it is now crafted, is only a draft. The district, which collected comments and concerns at the community meetings during June, promises to look into making changes to the plan based on community input.

But the district will need to respond quickly to any changes if it is to satisfy the community and board members like Carol Myers when she and her fellow governing board of trustees vote on the plan.

"I would vote no right now because the plan's incomplete," said Myers, who represents Willow Glen schools.

She sympathizes with Willow Glen Elementary School's need for a two-story modular classroom and updated science equipment for the high school, which are not slated until late 2005, timetable she thinks is too far off.

And she's also concerned that the district is not taking enough time to consider all the community input, and racing toward approval only three weeks after the community meetings.

"It bothers me that the district wants to rush through this," Myers said, "because it's right at the beginning of summer vacation when everyone will be gone."

As to whether three weeks is enough time for the district to review all the comments and change requests: "we'll see," Corr said. "Everybody says 'we want to be first' but not everyone can get what they want first or even at the same time, so some people will not be happy."

Even if the board approves the plan that Myers feels is incomplete, changes to it are still allowed.

"It's a 'living' project," said Fred Schorr, a member of the bond oversight committee. "The scope of the any of the projects can change."

Myers, however, would prefer an implementation plan more to her liking before she approves it. She'd prefer a plan that prioritizes schools with the most need for repairs first.

"We may not see money like this for another 20 years," Myers said.