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Measure P – Soquel Union Elementary school bond

Voters in Soquel Union Elementary School District will decide whether to approve $73 million in bonds to install artificial turf fields, renovate classrooms, upgrade food-service facilities and repair roofs and other infrastructure.

Property owners in the school district would pay up to $30 per $100,000 of assessed property value annually until the bonds are paid off in about 35 years. Bond measures like Measure P cannot legally include exemptions for seniors or people with disabilities.

The measure needs 55% of the vote to be adopted.

The school district serves about 1,500 students and covers most of Capitola and Soquel, along with parts of Live Oak, Aptos and Seacliff.

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Who will vote on Measure P? 

Voters who live in Soquel Union Elementary School District will consider Measure P.

Voters in Soquel Union Elementary School District will consider Measure P. (Soquel Union Elementary School District)

What would Measure P do?

If Measure P is adopted:

  • The school district would issue up to $73 million in bonds for maintenance and new construction. The bond money could be used only for school facilities projects. It could not legally be used for teacher or administrator salaries.   
  • Property owners in the school district would pay up to $30 per $100,000 of assessed property value annually for about 35 years. Assessed property value usually changes when a property is sold, and it is nearly always lower than the market value.
  • As required by law, the school district would create a citizens’ oversight committee for Measure P money and complete annual audits of bond expenditures. 

Including interest, the total debt to be repaid would be about $147 million over the course of the bond measure’s life.

What does a “yes” vote mean?

A “yes” vote would authorize an annual property tax within Soquel Union Elementary School District to fund $73 million in bonds.

What would a “no” vote mean?

A “no” vote would not authorize a new property tax or bonds.

What are the plans for Measure P money?

Soquel Union Superintendent Scott Turnbull said his top priority is to revamp the fields at the district’s three elementary schools. He said they were in “deplorable condition,” largely because of gopher holes.

“I think everyone can agree kids should have a place to run around and be safe without tripping over a gopher hole,” Turnbull said. “And there’s no way we can afford to renovate those fields without going out to the community for a bond measure.”

He said the fields’ condition “is not due to a lack of effort or skill of our amazing maintenance team, [but] we just cannot win the battle with those gophers with the means we have available to us.”

Turnbull said the district is already renovating the sports field at New Brighton Middle School, and that it would like to do the same at the elementary schools — replacing grass with cork-based artificial turf. 

Other priority areas for the district include repairing leaky roofs, replacing outdated windows and rotting wood siding, painting the exteriors of at least two schools, upgrading food-service facilities and improving IT infrastructure, Turnbull said. 

Another priority, he said, was modernizing the interior of older classrooms so that they could be raised to the “same modern standard” as the classrooms built following a 2016 bond measure. In general, he said, updates are needed with electrical wiring, wall finishes and flooring. 

The bond’s project list states that money could be used for: 

  • Repairs and replacement of leaky roofs, plumbing and sewer systems, electrical systems, and heating and air conditioning systems.
  • Safety and security improvements.
  • Renovations of classrooms and restrooms.
  • Playground and PE-related upgrades.
  • Replacing athletic fields.
  • Installing solar panels and making energy-efficiency updates.
  • Removal of hazardous materials.
  • Repaved parking areas and roadways.
  • Acquiring and constructing housing for faculty and staff.
  • Landscaping.
  • Accessibility upgrades for students with disabilities.
  • Increasing student access to computers and other modern technology.

Soquel Union’s schools are:

  • New Brighton Middle School.
  • Soquel Elementary School.
  • Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary School.
  • Main Street Elementary School.

What are other recent ballot measures for Soquel Union Elementary School District? 

In 2016, voters in Soquel Union Elementary School District approved a $42 million bond measure, which led to the construction of a new wing at the middle school and new two-story buildings at two of the elementary schools. That bond measure enabled the school district to get rid of all its portable classrooms, said Superintendent Turnbull.

Voters in the district rejected school-related parcel taxes in 2013, 2018 and 2020. In each of those elections, the parcel tax received over 60% of the vote but fell short — in one case by less than 0.5 percentage points — of the required two-thirds majority. Unlike bond measures, parcel taxes need a two-thirds majority to pass.

“The focus of those was to get music and art into the schools,” Turnbull said of the prior parcel tax bids. He added that they would have also gone toward teacher salaries. “We all know how expensive it is to live here,” he said. 

Another bond measure was approved in 2002.

What is the Measure P ballot language?

To improve the quality of education; repair or replace leaky roofs; make health, safety and security improvements; and modernize/renovate outdated classrooms, restrooms and school facilities; shall Soquel Union Elementary School District’s measure be adopted authorizing $73,000,000 of bonds at legal rates, generating on average $4,000,000 annually as long as bonds are outstanding from levies of approximately 3 cents per $100 assessed value, with annual audits, independent citizens’ oversight, NO money for administrative salaries and all money staying local?

Proponents and opponents of Measure P 

Official ballot arguments in support of Measure P were filed by former Capitola Mayor Gayle Ortiz, County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah, Capitola Planning Commissioner Gerry Jensen and two others.

Official ballot arguments against Measure P were filed by four residents: Edwin Tonkin, Kris Kirby, Michael Lelieur and Carmen Bernal. They expressed their opposition to paying more taxes for a third active school district bond.

Lelieur said he feared that higher property taxes would lead to higher rents in a county that is already an expensive place to live. “We cannot afford more taxes,” Lelieur wrote in an email to Santa Cruz Local.

The bonds are expected to be paid off in about 35 years. “Why do we want future generations to pay for our debt?” Lelieur asked. “What happened to financial planning 101? Why are property owners always expected to solve budget problems?”

Lelieur and Tonkin also formally oppose Measure R, the Central Fire District bond.

More information on Measure P

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—Jesse Greenspan

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