San Mateo Union High School District Debates Creation of Maintenance Fund

Board of trustees members and administration of the San Mateo High School District at their meeting last night considered creating a reserve fund that would be used to pay for the long term maintenance cost of recently constructed buildings that were paid for using bond funds.

During the meeting, that took place at the San Mateo Adult School located at 789 E. Poplar Avenue in San Mateo, members discussed the creation of a fund that would allocate money annually for maintenance cost.

The maintenance fund would largely be filled by contributions from the district’s general fund, according to a district report. 

The district will have spent $600 million in bond money through bond Measures D and M, and administrators see the potential maintenance fund as a means to ensuring the public’s investments are well cared for, according to a district report.

Much of the district’s infrastructure has been recently renovated and is under warranty for the next few decades, according to a report by facilities inspector Todd Lee, who visited all the district’s campuses.

Lee inspected elements of the district’s buildings that would demand large-scale maintenance such as hardwood floors, roofing, lighting and electrical systems, among other elements and found most components to be in good shape.

Mark Jones, a member of the district’s Citizen Oversight Committee that monitors district spending of bond funds, implored the board and administration to approve the maintenance fund.

“We have significant concern that the funds will be used for other purposes,” said Jones, referring to money that could be allocated toward maintenance.

Trustee Peter Handley said he agreed with the idea of establishing the construction fund, because while campaigning in favor of the bonds, critics said that the district was asking the public for the money because it did not take care of its facilities.

He said creating the maintenance fund would go toward ensuring that would no longer be a potential argument.

“We need to embed a culture of setting money aside,” said Handley.  “I think I would like to see us adopt a plan and start to be dedicated to putting money toward it.”

But Board President Stephen Rogers was hesitant to voice his approval for the maintenance fund, and said the district could be facing harsh financial times depending on how the state’s voters react to Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal, which will have a large impact on funding for education.

Gov. Brown is proposing that voters approve tax extensions in an effort to balance the state’s budget. Should the governor's proposal fail, it could mean billions of dollars worth of cuts to the state’s kindergarten through twelfth grade education fund, which Brown is attempting to protect.

“We’re going to be in, according to the state, a difficult place with the general fund,” said Rogers. “We need to protect the general fund at all costs.”

Comments from Trustee Dave Pine leaned toward siding with those in favor of creating the fund.

“It’s one of those thing that seems obvious and intuitive,” he said. “It’s $600 million. We need to take care of it.”

But he also raised the possibility that the proceeds from the district’s pending sale of Crestmoor High School in San Bruno go toward paying into the fund, should its creation be approved.

Superintendent Scott Laurence said the district administration would report back to the board about the feasibility of that suggestion.

Board members did not take action on creation of the fund last night, and will pick the discussion back up at a later date.