Bond measures for school district fund repairs, improvements
Atascadero Joint Unified School District Superintendent Tom Butler.
Contributed by Atascadero Unified School District Superintendent Tom Butler
–With the holiday season well into swing it’s the perfect time of year to be thankful. I’d like to personally thank the Atascadero Unified School District community for their wonderful support. Looking back 6 years to November of 2010 the historical support of the community was demonstrated through the successful passage of the Facilities Bond Measure I-10. Subsequently Measure B-14 was successfully passed in November of 2014. This provided AUSD with $117,000,000 for truly needed school reconstruction.
The Atascadero Unified School District Board of Trustees have worked diligently to be outstanding stewards of this tremendous financial resource provided by our community. In addition to being fiscally responsible the trustees have provided clear direction that whenever practical this funding be invested in local architects, engineers, contractors, and tradespeople. As of the fall of this year $63,000,000 have been expended on Facilities Bond Projects, of which $48,000,000 have been spent on contracts with local companies in San Luis Obispo County (a substantial amount of that within our school district boundaries). This evidence demonstrates the strong investment of bond funding into our local economy. This is quite an accomplishment and something that our school district and community can be proud of.
As community members we can see the bond dollars hard at work with the following elementary school sites being completed: Monterey Road, Carrisa Plains, Santa Rosa, and San Gabriel. The following sites are currently under reconstruction: Santa Margarita Elementary, the Fine Arts Academy, Atascadero Middle School, and Atascadero High School. Funding is secured for Del Rio Continuation High School, Creston Elementary, and San Benito Elementary; all of these sites are on the near horizon for reconstruction. Providing all of our students with world class learning environments has been the guiding force behind our school reconstruction, as such, virtually every classroom will be improved through the facilities bond efforts.
Once again I’d like to thank our community and share how much we recognize and appreciate the support you provide the Atascadero Unified School District. If you have any questions please contact me directly at (805) 462-4217. Wishing all of you the happiest of holidays. Go AUSD!
