On June 3, local residents will head to the polls to decide whether to approve a $99 million bond measure that would raise money for facilities improvements at Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools.

If the measure is approved, the district estimates the average annual cost to property owners would be $18 per $100,000 of their property's value. That's on top of the approximately $35 per $100,000 property owners are already paying annually for a $79 million bond that was approved by more than 80 percent of voters in June 1998. Those payments will continue through 2024.

That measure initiated repairs and improvements to Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools, but nearly two decades later, district officials say many of the classrooms and school facilities that were not in need of repair in 1998 have aged and now need repairs and upgrades.

A list of improvements includes repairing leaky and aging roofs, replacing or fixing old heating and cooling systems, making safety repairs to classrooms, labs and other school facilities, upgrading classrooms and educational technology, and adding a classroom at Los Gatos High to accommodate a projected enrollment increase of 200 students by 2018-2019, according to district superintendent Bob Mistele.

Funds from the Measure E bond would also be used to modernize science labs at both high schools.

Specifically, the measure would retrofit an engineering classroom at Saratoga High to a science lab and allocate $2 million to each school for technology upgrades, such as the schools' wireless infrastructure network.

"We have excellent high schools, high-performing schools, and we're trying to maintain that strong foundation in science, math and English, and we believe that our students deserve 21st century facilities," Mistele said.

Additionally, some money would be used at both high schools to build new classrooms for the music departments.

"We've got expanding programs, and we need to accommodate the growth of those programs," Mistele said.

The district will also allocate money for expanding theater facilities on both campuses. At Los Gatos High, the funds will be used to build a room for prop storage.

Here is the original post:
Los Gatos: Bond Measure would raise funds for high school improvements

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