BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
A campaign promoting a $350 million bond measure for the Los Altos School District has raised $48,000, with most of the money coming from contractors who could benefit if the measure is approved, campaign finance forms show.
A fundraising committee supporting Measure EE has received donations from MK Pipelines in Brisbane ($3,500), Quattrocchi Kwok Architects in Santa Rosa ($9,500), Lathrop Construction in Benicia ($5,000) and three San Jose-based companies: Aedis Architects ($5,000), Blach Construction ($10,000) and the Best Electrical Co. ($3,000).
Blach Construction oversaw the renovation of five elementary schools in the district, the company said on its website.
Board members Jessica Speiser and Bryan Johnson also donated $5,000 to the “Yes on Measure EE” campaign, along with the Covington Elementary School PTA, campaign finance forms show.
Nobody has organized against the measure.
The board voted 4-1 on Aug. 5 to put Measure EE on the ballot, trying to fund the construction of a new campus for Bullis Charter School at the San Antonio Shopping Center in Mountain View, where Kohl’s is now.
The board’s had many discussions over its 20-year history about where to put Bullis and its 1,000-plus students, currently split in portable classrooms at Blach Intermediate School and Egan Junior High School.
If the bond passes, then a new campus could open at Kohl’s for the 2027-28 school year, Johnson said in an interview last month.
The $350 million school bond is the largest in the area. For comparison, the Menlo Park City School District is asking voters to approve a $124 million bond, and the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District is asking voters to approve a $171 million bond.
Board member Vladimir Ivanovic voted no, accusing his colleagues of putting Bullis Charter School before public schools in Los Altos.
“If I had $730 million to spend to improve educational outcomes, facilities would not be on my list,” Ivanovic said on Monday. “It would be teachers and instructional programs and those things.
The $730 million figure refers to the total cost of the bond, paid back by property owners until 2061.
Property owners would be taxed $30 for every $100,000 on the assessed value of the property, or $1,200 a year for a $4 million home.
The district is required by law to hire contractors through a competitive bidding process, where companies make an offer and state their qualifications.
Supporters of the bond said it would allow the district to move its sixth graders from elementary schools to middle schools, giving them more access to electives like foreign language, music and robotics.
“Our students, as the years go by, deserve newer and better and more exciting things,” board member Vaishali Sirkay said.
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