Central Unified aims to address aging schools with $109 million bond measure

Central Unified School District is asking voters to approve a $109 million bond measure this fall, aiming to upgrade aging facilities and address infrastructure issues across its 88-square-mile territory.

Central Unified’s Measure X would increase property taxes by roughly $50 per $100,000 of assessed value.

The district, which serves about 16,000 students in both suburban and rural areas on the western edges of Fresno, faces unique challenges due to its diverse geography and aging infrastructure. Its 75-year-old facilities in its rural western area would get addressed with Measure X, said John Rodriguez, the facilities chief at Central Unified.

“We’re going to be focusing on our older schools, which would be first in line for the funding,” he said.

Central Unified has experienced significant shifts in enrollment patterns over the past few decades. From 1988 to 2000, the district added about 5,000 students a decade, expanding from 4,283 students to over 11,000 by the turn of the millennium.

In the run-up to the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, district officials hoped that enrollment would boom to 25,000 students by 2020. However, growth in suburban sprawl never came back with the same vigor after the fall of Lehman Brothers, with the district adding fewer than 5,000 students in the past 25 years.

Despite the slower growth, the district is grappling with new problems. “One of the things that we’ve had a challenge with is TK enrollment,” said Rodriguez. “We’re having to update our facilities…we’ll be using the bond money to update most of the [outdated] sites with new electrical systems, plumbing, roofing.”

If approved, Central Unified’s Measure X funds would target 10 schools for upgrades, focusing on McKinley Elementary School and Herndon-Barstow Elementary School. Measure X would modernize classrooms at both sites, including a new administration and library at Herndon-Barstow.

Some of Central Unified’s western-area schools were built during the post-World War II boom, leading to significant challenges in maintaining these aging facilities.

“Both of those sites are from the 1950s. McKinley was built in 1951 and Herndon-Barstow was built in 1955.”

What upgrades will Central Unified’s Measure X fund?

Rodriguez detailed some of the planned work: “Some of the bond money we’ll be using for updating electrical systems, the plumbing, the roofing, the security systems.”

Measure X also includes plans to relocate the district’s maintenance and operations departments. “[The relocation] will allow us to expand and provide necessary fire access and additional parking for parents,” he said.

If approved, Measure X funds would target 9 schools for upgrades. The project list includes:

1. McKinley Elementary – Classroom modernization

2. Herndon-Barstow Elementary – Modernization (classrooms, library, and administration)

3. District Service Center – Phase 1 maintenance and operations/grounds upgrades

4. Central High School – Modernization (replace portables with permanent classrooms, administration)

5. Central High School – New construction of agricultural lab

6. Central East High School – Modernization (replace portables with permanent classrooms and gym)

7. Teague Elementary – Modernization (32 classrooms)

8. El Capitan Middle School – Classroom modernization (classrooms, parking lot, library, wrestling, and music)

9. Biola Elementary – Modernization (9 classrooms, new cafeteria/library conversion)

The district plans to use Central Unified’s Measure X funds strategically, combining them with state funding to maximize the impact of the bond measure.

“So we have currently [9] on that list we’re hoping to use … with Proposition 2. So it’s going to be like a 60/40 match.”

What will oversight look like?

Central Unified will use an independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee to review and report on all bond fund expenditures. A third-party auditor will also double-check all bond fund expenditures as well, according to district bylaws. 

The oversight committee will ensure that bond funds are not used for administrators’ salaries, pensions or benefits.