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| School bond survey shows support from local voters |
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| Written by Maddy Houk | Patterson Irrigator | |
| Friday, 27 June 2008 | |
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At a glance
Results of PUSD’s school bond survey included the following:
Patterson voters would support a bond measure to upgrade existing schools and build new campuses in the Patterson Unified School District, a telephone survey of 360 voters found. William Berry Campaigns Inc. of Sacramento, a political consulting firm, conducted the phone survey in May, and Berry reviewed the results with school board members Monday night. “The folks in Patterson are a ‘fix-what-you-have group,’” Berry said. “Voters are with the needs of the district all the way through.” The survey found that 58.3 percent of those who responded would support a school bond, and 6 percent were leaning towards supporting the bond. The proposed bond would relieve school overcrowding, provide more modern technology, build new classrooms and science and computer labs, improve safety conditions, replace aging heating and electrical systems and modernize schools. “The basics were by far and away the most important to the voters,” Berry said. Patterson Unified School District has 8,643 voters. Of those, Berry said, 6,078 are likely to cast ballots in the November election. That means the bond measure needs 3,342 “yes” votes, 55 percent, to pass. While 38.7 percent of respondents said “yes” and 5.3 “leaned toward yes” to support a tax increase of $60 per year for each $100,000 of assessed value, the number dropped to 8.9 percent “yes” and 4.8 percent “leaning toward yes” for a $45 tax for every $100,000. “I don’t think any bond measure in the Central Valley, especially during a recession, is ever going to be easy to pass,” Berry said. “Last time (in 2001), it showed voters’ trust and how they directly connect to the success of students.” Homeowners made up 72.9 percent of respondents, while 14 percent said they rented and 13 percent didn’t answer the question. About half the respondents, 50.8 percent, had children in the district schools. The survey also broke down respondents by gender, income and ethnicity. Of those who answered, 45.7 percent described themselves as white and 34.7 were Latino. African-Americans, American-Indian and those of mixed race made up the remaining fifth of the group. School trustees will get more information about the proposed bond at their July 7 meeting. Trustee Michele Bays said she worried about putting a bond on the ballot in tough economic times. “What about gas prices going higher?” Bays said. “We have large commuter population. The extra money they play with starts shrinking.” But Berry affirmed that the survey results are encouraging. “The poll gives you the green light to move forward,” Berry said. “You have community support. Making a specific local argument trumps any state, national or global trends.” Superintendent Patrick Sweeney agreed it is not a great economic climate to ask voters to support a bond, but board members believe it has good benefits for the district. “We would have to work really hard to pass this,” Trustee Susan Scheuber said. To reach Maddy Houk at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail her at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
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