New school receives a cash boost
by Mary Bustamante on Jul. 20, 2006, under Education, LocalA tax levy and funds from an increased budget this year will help complete an elementary school in Sunnyside Unified School District.
The South Side district’s maintenance and operations budget rose $7.6 million to about $90.4 million this year on a 3-0 vote by the board. The tax levy passed by the same vote.
Members Eva Dong and Robert Jaramillo were absent from the July 11 meeting.
The district will levy $700,000 in taxes for the new school. That means the owner of a $100,000 home has to pay an extra $12.60 a year, said Gene Repola, assistant superintendent of operations and facilities planning.
Decreases in other property taxes unrelated to the school district will result in overall property taxes remaining at or below the current rate for those who live in the district, according to Superintendent Raul Bejarano..
The district will spend $550,000 in capital funds for the new school, which will be built just south of Chaparral Middle School, 3700 E. Alvord Road.
“The total $1.25 million for the school will be used to extend cabinetry in classrooms, add sinks to third-, fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms, add phone and closed circuit systems and wrought iron fencing,” Repola said.
“If we had built the school when it was first approved two years ago, it would have cost $2.1 million less,” Repola said.
He noted that the state School Facilities Board postponed construction until the district had about 800 more students.
Increases in construction costs and the price of cement and steel drove up the school’s price, and it will cost about $8.1 million, Repola said.
The district will get about $7 million for construction from the state board, he said.
Repola said kindergartners are counted as half-time students, even though they attend school for the full day in Sunnyside. The half-count works for districts that split their kindergarten students into morning and afternoon sessions, because those districts need only half the space for them, he said. But for districts that offer full-day kindergarten, “we have to find the space for all of them.”
Construction of the school will begin next month and it will open at the start of the 2007-08 school year.
An expected 400 more students this fall, coupled with increased funding from the state resulted in the bigger district budget, said district spokeswoman Monique Soria.
Most of the higher budget will go to employee salaries and benefits.
