Poll worker Tracy Baker receives a ballot outside the Santa Cruz County building on Ocean Street in Santa Cruz on March 5. (Natalya Dreszer — Santa Cruz Local)

SANTA CRUZ >> School measures in Live Oak, Happy Valley and Davenport have been adopted by voters, according to official election results certified April 2.

Live Oak’s Measure H got 64.7% of the vote and needed more than 55% to be adopted. In Happy Valley School District, Measure G needed more than 66.6% of the vote to be adopted and got 84.0%.

Pacific Elementary trustees placed Measure I and Measure J on the March 5 ballot in hopes that at least one would be adopted by voters, school district leaders said. Measures I and J needed more than 55% of the vote and both measures were adopted with 61.3% and 67.7% respectively.

Live Oak School District

Measure H in Live Oak School District allows the district to issue $44 million in bonds to replace and repair school buildings and other facilities. Property owners in the district will pay about $30 per $100,000 of assessed property value annually for 30 years or until the bond is paid.

Live Oak School District faces a $2.9 million budget gap and could be taken over by state authorities unless it stabilizes its finances. Layoffs have been proposed for some teachers, administrators and other staff. 

The revenue from Measure H can only pay for building and facilities repair. It cannot legally be used for teacher or administrative salaries by state law.

Happy Valley School District

In Happy Valley School District, Measure G is an annual $99 flat-rate tax on property owners. The measure received more than two-thirds of the vote and was adopted. 

A $99 parcel tax approved in 2018 is set to expire this year in Happy Valley. Measure G will extend the tax until 2032 and continue to raise about $61,000 annually. Because it is a parcel tax, the money could be used for staff and teacher salaries, student technology, and school programs. It would not be spent on buildings or other facilities.

The tax legally could be spent only on purposes listed in the measure. Those purposes include:

• Supporting art and music programs.
• Supporting classroom instruction. 
• Integrating technology into classrooms. Purchases could include laptops, iPads, science lab materials and other technology. 
• Attracting and retaining qualified teachers and staff. If voters approve Measure G, the district may hire an extra teacher to support math or science, Stewart said.

“Our General Fund is running at a deficit for the next three years,” said Happy Valley School District Superintendent Michelle Stewart, during the campaign. “Without the parcel tax, we just will not be able to offer the same quality.” 

Parcel tax money is held separately from the General Fund, Stewart said.

Pacific Elementary School District

Pacific Elementary School District is on the North Coast roughly from Davenport to Año Nuevo State Park. It includes one school, Pacific Elementary School.

Pacific Elementary trustees placed Measure I and Measure J on Tuesday’s ballot in hopes that at least one would be adopted by voters, school district leaders said. 

• Measure I is expected to raise $1.3 million in bonds. Property owners in the district will pay about $30 per $100,000 of assessed property value annually for 30 years or until the bond is paid off.
• Measure J is expected to raise $675,000 in bonds. Property owners in the district will pay about $18 per $100,000 of assessed property value annually for 30 years or until the bond is paid off.

Both measures received more than the needed 55% of the vote and were adopted.

State law allows money from bond sales to be used only for purposes related to:

• Facility construction or repair.
• School equipment.
• Purchase and lease of school property. 

The elementary school needs the money for urgent roof repairs, said Eric Gross, principal of Pacific Elementary and superintendent of the school district, in February. 

“As of the last rain, we had leaks in nine different places, and so we have buckets and trash cans in classrooms to catch the rain,” Gross said. In another building, steel supports are rusting through, he said.

Read more

• Election Guide, March 5, 2024: Measure G – Happy Valley School District parcel tax
• Election Guide, March 5, 2024: Measure H – Live Oak School District bond
• Election Guide, March 5, 2024: Measure I – Pacific Elementary School $1.3 million bond
• Election Guide, March 5, 2025: Measure J – Pacific Elementary School $675,000 bond

• District 1 supervisor
• District 2 supervisor
• District 5 supervisor

• Santa Cruz City Council
• Measures G, H, I, J
• Measures K, L

• Measure M
• Measure N
• State, regional races

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