On November 8th, voters throughout Rancho Cucamonga will vote for or against Measure I , a proposition to implement a $137 million bond benefitting the Etiwanda School District.  Essentially, a bond is a loan, which will be paid for by property owners over many years.  This bond will tax residents within the Etiwanda School District to pay $137 million for improvements for our schools.  13,000 students in the district’s 12 elementary schools, and four intermediate schools, including DCIS, will benefit from this proposition.  

This will be the first time the Etiwanda School District has proposed a bond since its establishment in 1883.  “We’ve never had a bond before.  In the last 30 years we’ve built 14 schools and we’ve never had to go to our community to ask for additional money, but now that our schools are getting older and they need more repairs, this is the time we’re asking for that,” said Etiwanda’s superintendent, Dr. Shawn Judson.

If Measure I passes, homeowners will pay an increase in property tax of $29 for every $100,000 in property value every year, which over time, will add up to $137 million dollars, as proposed by Measure I.  Etiwanda School District’s website explains that this funding will be used for 23 school-wide upgrades, new security systems, more classroom space, improved technology, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) labs, better athletic and track fields, music and drama facilities, and more.  Judson said that the main priorities at Day Creek will be, “to make sure that we have those security cameras in place, the panic buttons in place, any additional gates and panic hardware that we need.  [Also], the things you need to be a successful student, the additional classroom spaces for science or music or drama — all the technology you need.  So, the safety things first, the technology items second, and then the other items will kind of be behind after that.”

Dr. Judson explained that this would be beneficial to both the Etiwanda School District, and the community through increased property value.  “When someone’s looking to buy a home, there’s a number of things they might look for.  If they have kids, they might look [to see that] the schools in the area are good schools, if the students have good test scores, or if the schools are safe.  When we know that our schools can provide those things, then our property values are higher.”

For this proposition to be approved, 55% of all voters must vote yes to Measure I.  In the recent past, Rancho Cucamonga voters approved a prior bond for the Chaffey Joint Union High School District, which benefitted Los Osos and Rancho Cucamonga High Schools, where many DCIS students will attend.  However, this resolution was on a much larger scale, as voters were asked to pay a $848 million bond.