Oakdale trustees move to place school modernization bond on November ballot

The Oakdale Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees advanced a resolution to place a general obligation school modernization bond on the Nov. 5, 2024, ballot, presenting a facility master plan, cost estimates and a voter-information packet including a tax-rate statement.

The board’s presentation said the district’s 2002 bond is nearing expiration and that aging buildings show “systemic failures beyond the ability to keep up with the cost and schedule of those repairs,” prompting a district-led facilities needs assessment and a long-range master plan. Superintendent/lead speaker Larry told the board the resolution meets legal requirements and describes projects listed in an appendix and a tax-rate exhibit for the voter information guide.

Feasibility consultant John, who led the district’s outreach, said the district used both quantitative surveys of registered voters and qualitative stakeholder conversations to shape the proposal. “This resolution is a summary of that listening process,” he said, noting tax-rate exhibits that show how levies would phase as older bonds expire and new levies begin.

Public commenter Brian White urged the board to let voters decide. “Let’s give the community the opportunity to choose what they would like to do,” he said, describing facility conditions he observed on site walks and asking for community consideration of the measure.

The materials before the board included a resolution described in the meeting as a “$15.5 million measure” and separate exhibits and staff comments describing an authorization figure later stated in the presentation materials as $105.5 million if subsequent authorizations proceed (the transcript includes both numbers in discussion; the board packet lists appendix exhibits and a tax-rate statement for voters). The resolution materials also note statutory timelines for election filing with county elections officials (deadlines cited in the meeting) and the required voter-approval thresholds discussed by the consultant.

Board members asked procedural questions about required board votes for Proposition 39 bond measures and conducted the roll-call sequence; the transcript records that the board moved to a roll-call vote after discussion. The transcript does not provide a full, explicit roll-call tally text for the bond item in the recorded segment.

What happens next: the board presented the resolution for consideration and proceeded to roll-call voting during the meeting. If the resolution moves forward, the district will publish the appendix and tax-rate statement in the voter information guide and the measure will appear on the consolidated November ballot if county filing deadlines are met.

(Reporting note: the meeting transcript contains both a $15.5 million figure and a $105.5 million authorization figure in different parts of the presentation; the article reports both figures as presented in the meeting materials and discussion.)