West Sacramento leaders unite to back school bond

By Steve Gibson -- Sacramento Bee Staff Writer - (Published February 10, 2004)

Virtually every community leader in West Sacramento has rallied to support passage of the Washington Unified School District's $52 million bond issue.

If Measure Q wins voter approval March 2, general obligation bonds would be issued to pay for a new comprehensive high school in the fast-growing community.

That money, along with state matching funds, would be used to replace River City High, where more than 1,600 students are jammed onto a 50-year-old site designed for 800.

"We've just got to have a new high school. Our current campus is grossly overcrowded," Terri Davis, a member of the River City High School Parents Club, said in an interview.

"We've added all the portables that space will allow, and there's not enough seating for everyone at lunch, even though we have split schedules," she said. "Classrooms are too small and the science labs haven't been updated for decades."

Since the early 1990s, three different site selection committees have concluded that the new campus should be near the geographic center of West Sacramento.

Current plans call for the high school to be built on a consensus site - 93 acres in Southport, on the east side of Jefferson Boulevard, near the Club Pheasant restaurant.

The school district has already reached an agreement to buy 54 acres of the property, and negotiations are under way to acquire an adjacent 39-acre parcel, said Mark Capitolo, a consultant working for the Yes on Measure Q campaign.

After expressing concerns last fall about the timing - and unsuccessfully urging the school board to postpone it until the following November - leaders of the West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce and the City Council have put their differences with the district aside and are supporting the measure.

"The timing's been determined, so now we're doing the best we can to get the word out to voters that this makes sense for ... the future of the community," said David Stroud, chamber president. "I see no downside at all."

West Sacramento's population, now estimated at 38,400, is expected to reach between 75,000 and 85,000 at buildout in 2020, according to city officials.

"There are a lot of pieces of the puzzle that go into building a new community, and this is a major component of it," Stroud said.

Fifty-five percent voter approval is needed to pass the measure, which would increase property taxes by as much as $60 per $100,000 of assessed valuation.

Although there is no organized opposition, the measure's proponents say there are concerns about increased traffic congestion on Jefferson, which is being widened to four lanes.

"A high school at that site is going to bring in traffic we weren't planning for," said City Councilman Mark Montemayor. "Jefferson is already crowded and a shopping center is being built across the street. I'm afraid what you're going to see is more gridlock." Montemayor suggested it might be more appropriate to place the proposed campus on nearby Port of Sacramento property.

Mayor Christopher Cabaldon said: "Right now, we have to come together and support Measure Q. There's a lot of disagreement in the community about the location, and whether there ought to be a single mega-high school or a main campus with smaller, themed academies. But we can argue about that later. The bond issue doesn't close those issues off."

School board member David Farmer said there is some opposition from senior citizens concerned about tax increases.

"Like anything else, you're always going to have some people for it, and some against it," Farmer said. "But what I'm hearing is positive: The community knows and supports the fact that we need a new high school."

Stroud, the chamber president, said he hears from voters worried "about the abilities of school board members to make these decisions."

"One of the questions I get," he said, "is how the money will be spent. I know people have concerns about decisions made the school board. I tell them that an independent citizens oversight committee, not controlled by the board, will review all spending."