The Merced City School District likely will have two new school board members and the ability to tap into $80 million to upgrade school facilities after early election results show probable approval of the Measure O bond.
Preliminary results Tuesday night showed high school teacher Annie Delgado breezing past Trustee Birdi Olivarez-Kidwell in the race to represent Area 4, surpassing the incumbent by 25 percentage points.
Olivarez-Kidwell attended an election party for the Yes on Measure O campaign, where she said she left a phone message conceding and congratulating Delgado on her win.
“She worked really hard, and I know she’ll put in the same amount of work on the board,” Olivarez-Kidwell said. Olivarez-Kidwell also expressed her enthusiasm for the Measure O results so far.
Olivarez-Kidwell said she underwent a major surgery over the summer that limited her ability to campaign. After a tough last two years on the board, she said she’s looking forward to spending more time with her family.
But, she promised to stay involved in the district: “I’m not going anywhere.”
Delgado could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Tsia Xiong took an early lead in the race to represent Area 2 on the board over Audrea Tuhn. The seat was vacated earlier this year by the previous trustee, Jessee Espinosa. Xiong so far received about 55% of votes.
As of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, Measure O received a solid 61.9% of yes votes. The bond measure requires 55% approval to pass.
The district will use the money from the bond to make upgrades at all district schools, such as replacing portable classrooms with permanent ones, renovate restrooms, build janitorial and custodial facilities, install new shade structures and walkways, repair or replace roofs, make technology improvements and more.
None of the bond money will be used for administrator, teacher or staff salaries.
Measure O supporters said that while they’re excited about the likely approval, work remains to keep the community informed and educated about the many projects to come.
“It’s not just for students,” said Carolina Meraza, co-chair of the Yes on Measure O committee. “Our schools are so much more of a component to our community as a whole than just for students and just for small students because they use our facilities for things like community events, classes, trainings and sports.”
Bryan Behn, the district’s director of facilities, said the bond will give students the same opportunities – no matter where they live or go to school.
“We’re trying to balance equity not just based on project cost but based on what the end result is going to be,” Behn said. “We want to make sure that any project we do is going to stand the test of time…We want to make sure that what we’re doing is actually investing in schools and investing in the community.”
The district’s new superintendent, Julianna Stocking said: “We’ll wait for the final results, but we’re waiting to get to work.”
Passing a bond measure means that taxes will increase for all residents in Merced. Property owners will see an increase and so will renters. Landlords will just pass the increase on to the renters. Business owners will pas it on to their customers. My major concern is how will the money be monitored and only valid expenditures will be paid. Will any of this measure be used for administration expenses and California Teacher Union expenses? It seems that the top executives seem to get a portion of funds that will dwindle the further away from the “top of the ladder”. How will the public know that the intent of the measure is being meet? Voters have experienced such bond measures before but have not seen the promised results.
My previous comment is being moderated. By whom? Is this a form of censorship of a public comment?