It’s an unbearably hot 91 degrees in South Sacramento as kids run between portable classrooms and the asphalt playground during recess at Elder Creek Elementary School.
At this campus, 90% of the buildings are portable temporary structures.
Chris Ralston, the assistant superintendent of facilities for Sacramento City Unified School District, walks over to the portables.
“Some of them sit on a concrete block, so incredibly energy inefficient," he said. “They also succumb to the weather a whole lot faster.”
Ralston explained that the structures were brought onto school campuses to deal with an enrollment boom.
“You're hesitant to invest in them as a school district because you're hopeful to get rid of them,” he said.
Assistant Superintendent of Facilities at Sacramento City Unified School District Chris Ralston on the playground at Elder Creek Elementary School.Srishti Prabha/CapRadio
But at Elder Creek Elementary, these temporary structures have become permanent, serving as classrooms for around 30 years.
Researchers at the Trust for Public Land have found schools surrounded by more asphalt are a health risk, absorbing warmth on a hot day and creating heat islands, reaching up to 145 degrees Fahrenheit at campuses in California.
Not far from Elder Creek, West Campus High School student Kasch Marquardt said the defunct air filtration systems and windows that don’t properly seal are a hazard, especially during fire season.
“With asthma, and it being fire season and being at school, I still remember sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch and like you could see the room full of smoke,” he said. “You couldn't see 20 feet in front of you.”
As the number of excessive heat days in California increase, the state’s aging schools require updates for student health and climate resilience.
This November, Californians will decide whether to approve local and statewide bonds that could pay for facility updates at public schools and community colleges. Proposition 2 is a $10 billion bond initiative aimed at improving public school infrastructure across the state.
But that’s not all — seven out of thirteen school districts in Sacramento County are also asking voters to approve local education bonds to address facility needs. In fact, over 250 school districts statewide are seeking local bond funding, making this election an unprecedented year for education-related measures on the ballot. Sacramento City Unified’s Measure D, for example, seeks $543 million in bonds.
Bonds are a type of long-term borrowing California uses to raise money for building projects. Once approved by voters or the Legislature, bonds are sold to investors. In exchange, the state agrees to repay this money, with interest, over a fixed period of time, usually several decades.
Ralston, the school district official, said repair and renewal projects using bond funding are a cost-effective solution.
“A new school is costing us 70 million dollars and a campus renewal could be 20 to 30 [million dollars] depending on what we're trying to do,” said Ralston, the school district official. “Our proposal in Measure D would be to rip this school down and rebuild it with matching funds from Prop 2.”
Elder Creek Elementary, where 85% of students rely on free and reduced lunch, is among the district’s top priorities for redevelopment.
“We know the age of all our buildings, they all got ranked” explained Ralston. “We’re also using an equity index — socio-economic, poverty levels and the Local Control Accountability Plan, making sure that we're putting resources in places that need it the most.”
Grant Union High School’s converted bus lot that now serves as an ecologically-friendly hallway.Srishti Prabha/CapRadio
A sustainable community garden at Grant Union High School.Srishti Prabha/CapRadio
According to California legislative analyst Edgar Cabral, this is a particularly opportune time for districts to secure bond funding.
“Funding for school facilities in California is primarily a shared relationship between the state and local school districts,” he said.
For a local education measure, the district issues bonds as loans from investors. Over time, the bond debt, along with interest, is repaid through increased property taxes within the district.
If passed, Proposition 2 could match local bond dollars, doubling their capacity to modernize and rebuild facilities.
“The state provides 50% of the project costs for a new construction project and 60% of the project costs for a modernization project,” said Cabral.
Since 1993, there have been eight state education bonds, said Cabral, of which only two have failed. The last statewide education bond was approved in 2016.
Opponents of Prop 2, like Jon Coupal with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers’ Association, say the state should not take on more debt to pay for schools.
California has $25 billion in outstanding K-12 bond debt which includes $300 million in bonds that have not yet been issued to investors. As of right now, the annual debt service costs are $2.7 billion for public schools in the state.
“The responsibility for funding these facilities should lie with local entities,” he said.
Coupal said more money should be allocated to education from the state’s general fund.
“It's a matter of prioritization,” he said. “If California does not want to use this money to help finance schools, that is their choice”
But, 40% of the state's general fund is already dedicated to education.
Advocates for Prop 2, like Assemblymember Albert Muratsuchi, a co-author of the legislation to put Prop 2 on the November ballot, said the state education bond is just a small step toward meeting that massive need.
“An already outdated study estimated that California public schools have over $100 billion in K-12 new construction as well as modernization needs,” said Muratsuchi, pointing out that many schools are not equipped to handle the effects of rising temperatures and extreme weather.
“It's not only unhealthy, but [students] can't learn,” he said. “Proposition 2 includes funding to allow school districts to address extreme heat conditions as well as to achieve energy efficiency projects.”
The connection between climate change and school infrastructure is a central concern for advocates.
Nonprofits like The Trust for Public Land are pushing for Proposition 2 funds to be used for greener schoolyards, which could have significant health benefits for students during hotter months and reduce flooding in rainier months. The organization’s report also showcases a national trend: Green spaces in majority non-white neighborhoods are half as large and serve five times more people than their counterparts.
Juan Altamirano, the director of government affairs for The Trust, has been asking for funding to radically change playgrounds in California.
“California schools have almost 138,000 acres of land and much of that area is paved over and unshaded,” said Altamirano, “This proposition would allow local school districts to be able to change that.”
While bonds are not a tax or fee, per say, they still have a cost. The state must pay off the borrowing cost for bonds each year using money that could otherwise be spent on other services.
Sacramento’s Grant Union High School offers a glimpse of modern, climate-resilient infrastructure that takes into consideration underrepresented communities.
Grant High teacher Daniela Tavares partnered with UC Davis environmental design professor Patsy Owens to convert an asphalt bus yard into an eco-friendly outdoor hallway.
“One of the first examples was actually putting in a bioswale,” said Owens, pointing to the landscaped depression in the grass that collects and filters stormwater. “It became a place with water recharge systems, brought in native plants, brought in other more sustainable landscaping and it made a place where students want to be in community.”
The project, which took $1 million, is for a predominantly Black and brown student body, and the 90% of the students who are on free and reduced lunch. Tavares emphasized the need for investment in safe, outdoor spaces for her students and the surrounding Del Paso Heights community.
“It's the awareness that we also need to have clean air,” she said. “We have to have a space where we can be active, moving around and not being inside a classroom.”
From left to right: UC Davis professor Pasty Owens and Grant High teacher Daniela Tavares at Grant Union High’s pollinator and native plants garden.Srishti Prabha/CapRadio
Both Tavares and Owens said education has bolstered the demand for climate-resilient projects.
However, Sacramento-based environmental justice champion Faye Wilson Kennedy said she sees a lack of community engagement for Black and brown communities.
“We have an opportunity to vote on something that can be very helpful to bring schools within the district to standards, but yet the community doesn’t know about it,” said Kennedy.
She hopes to see equity in the use of the state and local funds.
“At McClatchy High School, [Sacramento City Unified] was going to reduce the carbon footprint,” said Kennedy. “We just have to make sure that they do that not only at McClatchy because McClatchy tends to be a school that is pretty wealthy.”
If both state and local bonds pass, California’s schools – like Elder Creek Elementary – could get a major facelift, addressing student health, the environment and run-down equipment.
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