Local School Measures Allow School Districts To Tap Into State Funds

-

By passing school bond measures San Leandro has obtained millions from the state for school construction. Without a local funding match, these monies would have gone to other school districts. 

The most recent state funds have been spent on upgrades and modernization work at four elementary schools: Garfield, Halkin, Washington and McKinley. 

The photo is from a presentation on the construction work at the last school board meeting. 


--------


School District Press Release - 

SLUSD Receives Over $4 Million in Matching State Funds for Facility Improvements

Funding highlights the impact of local and state partnerships on student learning environments.

November 14, 2024 - San Leandro, CA — San Leandro Unified School District (SLUSD) is pleased to announce the receipt of over $4 million in state-matching funds for completed improvements throughout the district. These payments, provided through the School Facilities Aid Program, are made possible through community-supported bond measures that funded these essential upgrades.

Thanks to the foresight of district bond director Aaron Kerrigan in prioritizing eligibility for this funding, SLUSD received $2,275,681 in June 2024 for improvements at Garfield and Halkin Elementaries and recently secured two additional payments: $1,028,386 for Washington Elementary and $714,546 for McKinley Elementary. These funds offset costs for completed upgrades that have enhanced safety, accessibility, and learning environments for San Leandro students.

“We could not have secured these funds without the backing of our community in passing local bond measures,” said Dr. Michael McLaughlin, SLUSD Superintendent. “This partnership allows us to stretch every dollar further, creating safe, inspiring spaces for our students.”

The upgrades include structural and accessibility improvements, modernized classrooms, and expanded spaces that support today’s educational needs. By securing these matching funds, SLUSD has been able to responsibly manage district resources and continue providing improved learning environments.

The combination of community-approved bond funds and matching funds from the state demonstrates the value of collaboration between local and state partnerships, creating lasting benefits for students and families in San Leandro.

Location: San Leandro, CA, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking Back: Measure B Transformed San Leandro Public Schools

-
Image
Our tax dollars can make a real difference in the lives of our children and prosperity of a community. Twelve years ago San Leandro High School was grossly overcrowded leading to discipline problems and undermining academic performance, no theater in the school district existed for student performances, and many restrooms at schools were in such poor condition that the students would not use them. That all changed in August 2006 when the School Board voted to place Measure  B on the ballot. The largest school construction bond in San Leandro’s history, Measure B received overwhelming support and led to the physical transformation of San Leandro public school (combined with the passage of two subsequent bond measures and one earlier measure). With better public schools, San Leandro has become a more desirable city to live, helping attract and retain families who previously would have never moved to San Leandro or moved away when the children were in middle school. Here is a
Read more

How Juan Gonzalez won the San Leandro Mayor's office at the end of the counting of votes

-
Image
On November 18, 2022, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters released the vote count for nearly all votes cast in the November 2022 general election. After being behind for the entire vote count, Juan Gonzalez effectively won the race.  How did this happen? First, from election night through 11/17, the Registrar had reported a total of 13,746 first choice ballots in the Mayor's race. On 11/18, the number of votes reported increased by 6,436 to 20,185 total votes. That was a nearly 47% jump in the reported votes. Another way of looking at the data is that prior to 11/18, all previous vote counts released by the Registrar did not include roughly one-third of the votes that were cast in the race. Second, Gonzalez  decisively took the lead in the the first choice ballots that were released by the Registrar on 11/18. Gonzalez took these votes by 39% to 33% margin. With the exception of the first vote count released by the Registrar on election night right after the polls closed when Br
Read more

San Leandro's Unsustainable City Budget

-
Yesterday, I attended a meeting of the San Leandro City Council Finance Committee. The committee consists of Mayor Santos and Councilmembers Prola and Gregory. Gregory was absent. In short, if significant action is not taken, the city will burn through all of its reserves, including eventually reserves for natural disasters and other emergencies. By 2015, San Leandro could join the City of Vallejo in declaring bankruptcy. Summary of Finance Committee Presentation Perry Carter, the Interim Finance Director, gave an update on the budget. In analyzing a budget, you need to examine at least three years of data - the previous, current and next fiscal years. Carter first reported on the "preliminary actual" numbers for the fiscal year which just ended on June 30, 2009. Illustrating how quickly the city finances collapsed last year, the original city budget for fiscal year 2008-09 assumed $76.2 million (hereafter simply "M") in revenues and $81.6 M in expenditures.
Read more