BOND MEASURE PONDERED SOUTHERN KERN UNIFIED SEEKS WAY OUT OF DEBT.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

ROSAMOND - Southern Kern Unified School District trustees are exploring whether to pursue a bond measure to help pay off the district's long-term debt, build an elementary school and do other campus improvements.

The district already makes payments of about $500,000 a year on debt it incurred from installing portable classrooms to accommodate student growth in the late 1980s and modernization projects in the late 1990s.

The debt payments had been covered by developer fees on new homes, but that source of funds is drying up as housing construction has slowed, officials said.

``If we don't pass a bond to help pay off the debt, we are going to be in a situation where we have to come up with $500,000 from other areas. That may mean drastic cuts in programs,'' board President Ralph Nelson said.

The board at Tuesday's meeting approved contracts for hiring a bond underwriter, financial adviser and bond counsel. If the district does not decide to go for a bond or if the bond fails, the district will not have to pay the consultants, Nelson said.

The board is considering whether to try for a bond measure under Proposition 39, which lowered the approval level needed from a two-thirds majority to 55 percent but also limits the amount of the property tax that can be assessed to $30 per $100,000 assessed valuation.

Passing a bond measure with two-thirds of the vote will allow the district to sell about $15 million worth of bonds, double what it could under Proposition 39, Nelson said.

The district failed to pass a $13.3 million bond measure in November 1999, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed by only 67 votes.

If the district tries for a bond measure under Proposition 39, trustees must make a final decision by the end of July in order to have the measure placed on the November ballot, Nelson said.

Under a Proposition 39 bond measure, the district could pay off some of its long-term debt, which is more than $9 million, build West Park Elementary School and make improvements at Rosamond High School, such as building a larger cafeteria, Nelson said.

A bond passed under a two-thirds vote would allow the district to pay off all of its debt and also do the other construction projects, Nelson said.

Faced with a $1.1 million shortfall this coming school year, the district in April dropped year-round schedules at its elementary schools and reduced the high school schedule from seven periods to six, resulting in longer periods and fewer elective courses.