The governing board of the Del Norte Unified School District voted Oct.10 to back Assembly Bill 48, which would put a $15-billion construction bond before voters in March 2020.AB 48, “The Public Preschool, K-12, and College Health and Safety Bond Act of 2020,” asks voters to provide funding for the renovation and upgrade of existing classrooms, construction of new classrooms to accommodate growth, career technical education facilities to provide job training to meet the trained workforce needs of California’s employers, testing and remediation of lead levels in water at school sites, disaster assistance, the replacement of 50-year-old buildings, and assistance for small school districts.Del Norte Superintendent Jeff Harris said the California Coalition for Adequate School Housing was asking school boards to approve resolutions in support of the measure, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 11.#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');Harris said it is the board’s hope to get a piece of that funding to help the aging Del Norte School District. “Without these funds, we have very few resources to really address our aging buildings and infrastructure. The board felt strongly this was a partial solution for our needs,” Harris said.Of the $15 billion in AB 48, $9 billion would be allotted to K-12 funding. The rest would be split equally among community colleges, California State University and the University of California.The bill further breaks down the K-12 spending:— $5.2 billion for modernizing schools— $2.8 billion for new construction— $500 million for career technical education facilities— $500 million for charter schools.Harris said funding for the last voter passed bond, $9 billion in 2016, has been spent or allotted. That’s why, he said, the local board of supervisors would be happy to get any amount of the pie if approved by voters.Unfortunately, he said, even that pie isn’t big enough. “Regardless of what comes out, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to needs we have,” Harris said.“A construction and modernizing (outlook) of almost eight years ago estimated a cost of almost $50 million.” And needs have only increased, Harris said, with estimates of $50 million to $60 million necessary to completely renovate campuses that are so old they’re not designed for current power load needs.“Honestly, we could use $200 million to $300 million to remove the old buildings and build new ones.”SCHOOL “START TIME”In other state school news, Harris said the start-time law Newsom signed Oct. 13 will be a “non-starter” for Del Norte schools. Senate Bill 328 prohibits middle schools from starting before 8 a.m. and high schools from starting before 8:30 a.m.“Since we’re a rural community, (the start-time bill) does not apply to us, only urban and suburban areas,” Harris said.He said that when the bill first came through, there was considerable discussion about the adverse impacts on rural buses, which have much longer routes. In addition, rural areas have fewer options for parents if school times change but not their work hours.“Families here relying on transportation to get to work don’t have a vast array of services, like the Boys and Girls Club or youth centers, to drop off their kids before school starts,” he said.TEACHER NEGOTIATIONSthe Del Norte Teachers Association and the Del Norte Unified School District agreed Sept. 26 to return to the negotiation tables, but those talks have yet to resume.Colleen Parker, district director of human resources, said the two sides are still working on settingl dates for the two sides to meet at the table. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });