Ballots are processed in the Santa Cruz County Clerk’s Office in March 2020. (Kara Meyberg Guzman — Santa Cruz Local file)

Results updated 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 19

Measure O – Scotts Valley Unified School District Bond – 55% to pass

• Yes: 5,881 votes (55.1%)
• No: 4,792 votes (44.9%)

SCOTTS VALLEY >> The Scotts Valley school bond Measure O surpassed the 55% it needs for passage in election results posted Tuesday – 11 votes ahead. More than 10,600 votes have been counted and more ballots are left to process. Updated results are expected at 4 p.m. Friday.

Santa Cruz County staff have until early December to report official results to the state. The bond would raise about $85 million to make repairs and upgrades at Scotts Valley Unified School District’s four schools.

There were about 3,400 ballots left to process countywide after vote tallies were updated Tuesday, but it’s not clear how many of those ballots included the Scotts Valley Unified school bond question, said Assistant County Clerk Rita Sanchez. Most of the ballots left to process were conditional registrations, Sanchez said.

• If adopted, Measure O would authorize bonds and implement a property tax for about 30 years or until the bonds are paid off. 
• Property owners in the school district would pay $49 per $100,000 of assessed property value, and there is no legal exemption for seniors or people with disabilities.
• The total debt to be repaid would be about $170 million over the course of the bond measure’s life, including interest, according to the county counsel’s impartial analysis. 

The school district needs about $78.6 million for future projects and another $6.5 million for air conditioners and solar panels, according to an April 2024 Facilities Master Plan.

Multipurpose rooms at Brook Knoll Elementary School and Vine Hill Elementary School are another priority. 

“Right now, there’s no big indoor gathering area at either of the elementary schools,” said Cheryl Noble, co-chair of “Yes on O” during the campaign. Noble said students have nowhere to eat during rainy, smoky or hot days, and that there’s no place to gather for assemblies, for indoor physical education or parent events.

Another priority is a new track and field at Scotts Valley High School. Tanya Krause, superintendent of Scotts Valley Unified School District, said the track and field were in such poor condition that students were regularly getting injured.

“We’re not asking to be state-of-the-art fancy,” Krause said during the campaign. “We are asking for basic foundational things that other school districts have for students and staff.”

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