Saugus District to Decide on $48-Million Bond

Voters in the Saugus Union School District will consider a $48-million bond measure in Tuesday’s special election that district administrators say would help build two new schools and fund improvements throughout the Santa Clarita Valley elementary school system.

If Measure E gains the two-thirds vote required for passage, district officials will use the money, along with matching state funds and developer fees, for a $120-million project that will include new security fences and Internet capability for all 13 schools in the district.

Assistant Supt. Bob Cutting said renovations at four campuses--Rio Vista, Rosedell, Highlands and Emblem elementary schools--may involve plumbing, air conditioning and electrical systems.

In addition, two 750-student schools on the western side of the 94-square-mile district would be built by 2005--one on Wellston Drive near existing Bouquet Canyon School and another in the Plum Canyon neighborhood, near a new 2,400-home development, Cutting said.

With 9,600 students enrolled and a 14th school opening in July, Cutting said the district is not crowded.

But the city of Santa Clarita saw a nearly 37% population gain in the 1990s, and officials expect hundreds more students in the district, which includes both city and unincorporated Los Angeles County neighborhoods.

Because the measure is being decided in a special election, the recent state law that lowered the level of support to 55% for some school bonds does not apply.

There are no other items on the Saugus ballot.

Laurie Ender, a parent who has been organizing support for Measure E, said she is optimistic.

Though two bond proposals for the local high school district have failed in the last four years, a third attempt for $158 million passed in the November election, along with an $82-million bond measure for nearby College of the Canyons.

Cutting said that under Measure E, homeowners in the district would be taxed $28 per $100,000 of assessed value for 30 years.