Charlotte Boisvert Khandelwal directs a voter to a polling location on Summit Road during the final hours of voting Nov. 5. (Nik Altenberg — Santa Cruz Local)

BONNY DOON >> A measure that would allow Bonny Doon Elementary School District to issue $7 million in bonds held a strong lead as of 4 p.m. Tuesday Nov. 12, with 67.61% approval.

If Measure L is adopted by voters, the bond money would be used for maintenance and construction upgrades at the district’s one school, Bonny Doon Elementary, partly to help reduce vulnerability to power outages and winter storms.

More vote tallies are expected through the month until the election must be certified in early December.

Measure L money can be used only for school facility projects and cannot legally be spent on teacher or administrator salaries. Property owners in the school district would pay an annual tax of $29 to $30 per $100,000 of assessed property value for about 30 years. Bond measures like Measure L cannot legally include exemptions for seniors or people with disabilities.

Bonny Doon Elementary School at 1492 Pine Flat Road serves about 100 students. A facilities plan released this year identified a total need of $15.7 million for the school. The plan also included a narrower, prioritized list of projects for approximately $7.6 million.

Last school year, Bonny Doon Elementary School had three power outages from two to six days and several shorter outages, said Mike Heffner, superintendent of Bonny Doon Union Elementary School District and principal of Bonny Doon Elementary.

The school has solar panels, and the bond would fund more energy storage to keep heaters and lights on during outages. When winter storms knock out power, classroom temperatures can dip into the low 50s. “That’s not conducive to student learning and staff morale,” Heffner said.

Other priorities include fixing the school’s drainage system and roofs, modernizing classrooms, repairing walkways, installing air conditioning, upgrading fire alarms, building an amphitheater and revamping the track and field, Heffner said.

“Bond funding won’t mean we’ll be able to do everything, but it would allow the district to be proactive in making improvements rather than taking a Band-Aid approach where we just fix issues as they pop up,” Heffner said.

Heffner added that he wanted residents to feel confident that, as long as they can get there, the school will be open during storms.

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