San Diego

SDUSD Sets Priorities for $3.5 Billion in Measure YY Funding

The promise to improve security at San Diego Unified School District schools and fix the problem of lead in the drinking water were the main topics of conversation Tuesday as the board met to discuss the district’s first steps after the passage of Measure YY.

The measure was the third SDUSD bond put before voters in the last the last decade and more than 60 of voters approved it.

The bond called for a property tax increase of $60 per $100,000 of assessed home value for 39 years. The SDUSD called Measure Y-Y part of its master plan to make all schools a place where students can feel safe.

Its first two priorities are campus security and fixing lead contamination found in drinking fountains at several campuses.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the school board gave its stamp of approval on the framework of what' s to be done with the money generated from the bond.

Among the first things on the to-do list is replacing two buildings at Crawford High School in El Cerrito.

“Wait, we’re getting a new school? I didn’t know that,” one student said.

The district said it isn’t building a “new school,” but the new buildings might make it seem so. The project should break ground in 2020, with a targeted completion date of 2022.

The SDUS will also begin improving campus security at all schools by adding state of the art technology like cameras and controlled entry points, new fencing, and locks.

It’ll also continue replacing plumbing at schools where lead has been found in the drinking water supply.

Sustainability is the district’s third priority. It wants to add solar panels to achieve the goal of net zero energy by 2030.

Measure YY along with Proposition S and Z will bring in a total of $8.4 billion for the district to spend on improving schools. Since 2001, the district has spent just shy of $2 billion of that total on classroom and student technology and installing air conditioning in schools.

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