Banning Unified Seeking $74M In Bonds With Measure O

This November, voters in the Banning Unified School District will be asked whether or not to approve Measure O, a $74 million bond package that will be used to address the district’s aging facilities.

“Just looking at our campus from the exterior, not even going in the interior, we are focusing and prioritizing on modernizing roofs,” Victor Herrera, assistant superintendent for Business Services, said. “That is one expenditure that is very interesting, because it’s super costly, but no one sees it.”

Herrera said the district would also focus on retrofitting or upgrading the heating, ventilation and air conditioning units, electrical systems, increasing safety at the schools and improving technology infrastructure throughout the district.

In addition, Herrera said the district was also looking to replace some of its portable buildings with more permanent structures and find ways to better serve those who work at and attend the district’s elementary schools.

“Many of our elementaries, with the exception of one, actually, do not have libraries,” he said. “And also our largest elementary school in terms of student population, has the smallest multi-purpose room and no kitchen, and it’s one of the oldest buildings in the school district here.”

It’s admittedly a lot of projects with not a whole lot of funding, but Herrera said the district was working with the Facilities Master Plan Committee to set the priorities for this funding in order to best serve the district.

“We have to plan right,” he said. “We have to work with architects, and we have to time the issuance of those bonds and make sure that we are running like clockwork.”

Prior to heading out for bond, the district conducted polling with voters and found that, after providing them information about the bond, 56% said they would support the effort with another 12% leaning toward supporting the measure, giving the district the confidence that it would be able to meet the required 55% threshold to pass.

“I think it’s positive overall that people feel that the district wants to improve the spaces for our kids and our staff,” Superintendent Terrence Davis said. “That’s the feedback that I received pretty much across the board.”

According to Herrera, the district originally considered putting the measure on the ballot in 2022, but decided against it, calling the timeframe a “little bit too rushed.”

“We obviously identified the needs, but then decided to postpone that, use our current funding to get us through the day, if you will, and then move forward with this initiative,” he said.

Previously, voters approved Measure R in 2006 and reauthorized a portion of the unsold bonds in 2016 with Measure M, which provided the district with $25.5 million to provide a performing arts and career and technical education workspace at the high school.

“It was all really targeted to one of our school sites and only those few programs there,” Herrera said. “What we’re trying to accomplish with Measure O is modernization across the district and all of our other school sites.”

When it comes to property taxes, the district is seeking to levy up to $51 for every $100,000 in assessed value for all residential, commercial and industrial properties. Herrera said the average property owner would see an increase of approximately $110 to $150 per year.

“We’re being very mindful and being transparent about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and how we look at the overall benefit to our community,” Davis said.

Both Herrera and Davis said that with all of the work that has been done over the past few years to build trust among the community, parents, staff and students, now is the right time to ask the community to support this bond measure.

“We’re good, honest people, and we’re here to do the work for our students in our community,” Davis said. “And that’s where that comes from, our heart, and we want people to know that.”