| Tracy Parents against MTYRE and YRE |
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| Manteca nets $38M from Prop. 47 Voters gave Manteca Unified the green light Tuesday to move forward on $38 million in construction projects when they approved Prop. 47. The ballot measure will provide school districts statewide with $13.5 billion to build new schools and repair older buildings. Manteca Unified should receive the $38 million in December. The money had been promised by the state for various projects such as Woodward Elementary School and Weston Ranch High School but over the summer the state ran out of money from the last state bond approved by voters in 1998. "Now we will be able to go forward and continue to build schools for these students who are coming," said Michael Dodge, assistant superintendent of business services. The district will also receive another $26 million in January for additional projects in line for funding. It means the school district won't have to double developer fees to make up for the share of the state's cost if the bond had not passed. Manteca Unified needs to build two additional elementary schools south of Highway 120 during the next few years. Also, the district has identified several additional school sites for future campuses. Passage of the bond also means the state can ditch the priority points system that had been a headache for Manteca Unified and other growing districts. Several projects had been delayed because they didn't have enough priority points while schools in Los Angeles seemed to gobble up the remaining money left over from the last bond. The bond has special measures built into it that prevents Los Angeles Unified from taking all the money as it did during the last several meetings of the State Allocation Board, the agency responsible for doling out school construction money to local districts. The bond also has money set aside for school modernization. Manteca Unified has plans to remodel parts of Nile Garden, Shasta, French Camp and East Union High School over the next five years. The bond also provides funds to community colleges and state universities. The bond measure passed with 58.9 percent of the votes. The state has plans to seek another $12.3 billion bond in 2004. BRANDON BOWERS Staff reporter of the Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin |