San Carlos School District to Place Bond Measure on Ballot

In one of the highest scored academic school districts in the state, San Carlos must be ready to find room for a growth of 600 students over the next four years.

In the three years Superintendent Dr. Craig Baker has been on board, the school population has increased by 10 percent and is now over capacity.

The school district board voted Monday to place a $72 million bond issue on the November ballot in hopes of raising funds necessary to accomodate the extra students and to update facilities and programs.

According to a report Baker delivered to the city council last month, Tierra Linda Middle School and Central Middle School with be most impacted, as those schools have the space to expand.

"We are one of the lowest funded school districts in San Mateo County," Baker said last month. "We need new rooms, new schools. We need tech, science and computer labs and we need to repair and upgrade throughout the system."

The school board spent significant time exploring the possibility of floating a bond measure, including commissioning a study in March to understand the feasibility of such a measure.

The study revealed overwhelming support for the idea. Data taken from the San Carlos School District website showed:

* 71.6% of voters have a favorable opinion on whether SCSD is providing quality education for kids.

* When asked at the beginning of the survey if they would vote for such a measure, 62.3% said probably or definitely yes.

* Almost all of the potential features of the measure got significant support, including protecting quality of instruction, making needed repairs, upgrading classrooms and technology, and making safety improvements.

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