DISTRICT MAY CONDUCT BOND SURVEY; PHONE POLL, CONSULTANTS CONSIDERED IN NEWHALL EFFORT TO FINANCE AN EIGHTH SCHOOL.Byline: Mary Mary, the mother of Jesus Mary, in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos). Her name is the Hebrew Miriam. Schubert Daily News Staff Writer To gauge voter VOTER. One entitled to a vote; an elector. support for or opposition to a bond measure, a fund-raising fund-raising, large-scale soliciting of voluntary contributions, especially in the United States. Fund-raising is widely undertaken by charitable organizations, educational institutions, and political groups to acquire sufficient funds to support their activities. mechanism that failed locally its past two tries, the Newhall School District The Newhall School District is a school district in the Santa Clarita Valley that serves the Valencia and Newhall communities within the city of Santa Clarita, California, as well as the Stevenson Ranch community in unincorporated Los Angeles County. might conduct a telephone survey and hire consultants. The seven-school district, with an enrollment of more than 6,000 students divided into a four-calendar year-round schedule, is short of the money to build a badly needed eighth campus. District administrators and the school board have been considering a bond for about two years, but a decision is expected this month in order to make the deadline to qualify for the June June: see month. ballot. On Tuesday Tuesday: see week. , the school board will hear presentations from consultants the district could hire to conduct research about a potential bond measure. The most recent times the Newhall School District tried to pass a bond measure were in June 1991 and November 1991. Both times, the proposed property tax - $20 million, to be repaid over a 20-year period - failed. Among the presenters will be InfoPoll, which proposes surveying 400 of the 29,135 registered voters within the school district's boundaries, said Brad Senden, managing partner of the San Ramon-based firm, which specializes in research for government entities. A random sampling of voters would be conducted in the telephone poll, covering about 50 questions and taking about 12 minutes each, Senden said. The results would give the school district fairly accurate feedback on the voters' willingness - or lack thereof - to tax themselves. Respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. would be asked their opinions on a range of topics, including their level of satisfaction with the Newhall School District, and how much money they would agree to pay on their property taxes to generate the needed school renovation funds. In recent months, Superintendent Marc Winger wing·er n. Sports A player who plays wing, as in hockey or soccer. winger Noun Sport a player positioned on a wing Noun 1. has said district schools need a combined $29.5 million in repairs and upgrades. Building an eighth school would cost an additional $14.2 million, but the district can apply to the state government for funds to cover half the cost of new construction. The school board hasn't decided how big a bond it would seek - if the matter even reaches voters at all. ``The key in any bond election is information. If voters aren't informed, they will not vote yes just because it seems like a nice thing,'' Senden said. Meanwhile, another consultant - Los Angeles-based Sutro & Co. - could be hired to sell the bonds for the school district. The main thing a school district must do to convince voters to reach in their pockets is provide a detailed accounting of what the bond money would be spent on. Vague generalities won't win over the necessary two-thirds of the voters, said Rod Carter Rod Carter (born October 29, 1954) is a former Australian rules footballer who played from 1974 until 1990. By the end of his career he was just 7 short of joining the 300 club. A defender, Carter kicked just the one goal in his 16 seasons of football. , a senior vice president with Sutro & Co., an investment banking firm. ``I work with several hundred school districts up and down the state, and I've worked on 40 successful bond elections. They had a clear plan about how they were going to spend the money,'' Carter said. ``It's not a lot of money. So, often, we're talking $20, $30 or $40 a year to the typical taxpayer's bill,'' he added. ``Most people in (the) Newhall (district) can afford $70 a year. That's dinner and a movie for two. The question is: Do they want to?'' |
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