Local News Comments

Forget the Bond and eliminate Joe Silvas job along with all district superintendents and pay for the improvements in a year!!! Ah maby a few more.

A Much Needed New Pool Maybe?

Would anyone like to bet that the board will vote unanimously for it.This is not the time to be taking on more debt. Come on...we have to build a new jail for these kids first!
Unify the district, cut out all but one superintendent, reform teacher tenure,increase the shared cost of retirement and medical for all teachers, and then pass the bond. Until then no way.

Come on all you anti tax people---- write comments against, and vote no, on this blatant tax increase for property/homeowners. Or is it that you are only against taxes that might affect you? As long as someone else pays more taxes thats OK? Where are the true Tea Partiers, no comment?

Sonora High just raised the school tax for new construction while nearly every other jurisdiction has left the fee alone or lowered it, trying to stimulate the economy through new construction. Keep in mind the fee is for the expansion of facilities needed due to growth. Tuolumne County and Sonora High has declining enrollment and we have grown 1.2 % in ten years, mostly retirees with no school aged children. Now they want a bond measure ? How about living within your means like everyone else ? Any school board member that votes to raise taxes (lets call it what it is) during this recession, should be recalled. Just my .02

Vote NO!
Unify all the schools!
This is NOT the time for this!
I am a tax payer and I will have two there in a few years but I don't think this is the answer.

@dougl: Only those affected by the tax (residents within Sonora High's district boundaries) will have the chance to vote on it.
"Funds could also be used for payment and/or prepayment of school facility leases." - Does this mean they don't have the money to cover current obligations? If they get the bond, will they overspend that money too?

How about we start spending money on the better of the two public high schools?

Hey TripleT - I admire you for being consistent. You were against Measure C and you're against the Bond. I too am wondering about the "expansion of facilities". Enrollment is down, and I don't think they're using the portable buildings along the creek. What other buildings/rooms aren't they using? If they truly need to fix things like H/VAC, plumbing and electrical, I can see that but only if they consolidate the building usage and shut down excess buildings. Can anyone enlgihten me on this?

crmdgn

They don't have the money for current facilities.
The fake grass has to be replaced every few years (kindly given to them FREE) (never take gifts without looking at the COST) costs a few million.
The track needs to be fixed every few years...800,000 at least.
We need to let go teachers while raising the perks for the admins.
Bullpucky.
The maintenance building has boarded up windows....while the high school built a COSMETOLOGY building on john's old store site.
COME ON!
We're NOT that stupid.
NO!
They can't spend money on things that matter, why should we let them rob us of more.
NO NO NO NO NO

The meeting agenda is publicly available online http://sonora.csbaagendaonline.net/cgi-bin/WebObjects/sonora-eAgenda.woa/wa/showMeeting there is a link to the budget info and a link to the pdf of the full resolution. The list of what the bond money will fix see page 7 (too long to post)
http://sonora.csbaagendaonline.net/cgi-bin/WebObjects/sonora-eAgenda.woa/wa/showMeeting

The part about facility leases is on page 6.

christine1051

I don't CARE what they want to fix now...it's what they DID with the money in the PAST that floats my boat....so why should we pay through the nose for what should have been done earlier, whilst the school THREW it away.
NO.

Modernizing facilities a bad idea? This is to specifically improve the teaching in this 100year+ old facility. No track, No field, just facilities.
Classrooms are already being consolidated and no wages are coming out of this bond.
Maybe some of you good ole folk don't mind throwing a new tarp on your mobile home for the winter...it just doesn't work for the kids.
BTW crmdgn, Cosmetology does not lose money.
Bummer that the High School gets blamed for being proactive.
The High School should actually first start by bulldozing the cafeteria and the hideous mural.
Go to the meetings and educate yourselves.

Why don't they use that money to keep teachers.Teachers are kind of important.

This is what the Public schools are doing in tuoulumne county.

http://solutions-for-schools.com/stop-spending-stupidly/

WOW you all have great points.. I agree NO on this one as I am tired of paying for everyone's spending. NO NEW JAIL either. Stay with in your means.

I don't think most of you guys even understand what a bond measure is. If you even bother to read the article, or, god forbid, the bond document itself, you'll see that it is to be used for capital items like building refurbishment, not for wages and salaries. I'm rather tired of writing "do your homework before you post stuff", but I think it is particularly relevant in this case. So, do your homework before you post stuff.

""Modernize, construct and renovate outdated classrooms, restrooms and school facilities; repair or replace leaky roofs; increase student access to computers and modern technology; repair or replace deteriorating plumbing systems; make health, safety and handicapped accessibility improvements; and modernize the library."

The administration of the bonds would be by an independent citizens' oversight committee. As currently proposed, the bonds would not be used for teacher or administrator salaries or other school operating expenses."

@dougl

YES, you got it. I am only against taxes that affect me. If I don't pay the tax, I'm all for it. Not too hard to figure out is it?

Let's see, the last restroom project cost 600k,,, look it up. Waste of taxpayer money. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I'm sorry but taxpayers have had it with over designed, over built and poorly administrated projects when they are having a hard time putting food on the table. Please come back to reality. When the private sector is hurting, the public sector cannot continue business as usual.

mcarden

They should have been factoring in maintenance...not let it all PILE UP.

leaperman - well, there's maintenance, like keeping things clean and stocking the bathrooms with soap and TP, and then there is MAINTENANCE, of the construction/rebuilding variety. It's easy to save money by deferring the latter, which I imagine is what has happened. Like getting the oil in your car changed but neglecting the instruments that don't work, or the dings in your paintwork. The dividing line is usually the cost of the work and the disruption that it can cause.

I own rental property in Sonora but do not live within the high school's district boundaries so therefore I do not have a say in the issue (which in my opinion amounts to taxation without representation). However, my tenants will all be notified that if the bond does pass their rent will increase accordingly to cover the cost of paying the new tax. Hopefully all landlords within the district will do the same so the residents realize that it is coming out of their pocket not just the landowners. If the residents want to pay for it that's their choice.

@KTM/DUMB
"BTW crmdgn, Cosmetology does not lose money."
Be more careful in your reading: I did not say anything about Cosmetology.