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Measure I bill grants funding to CVUSD schools

One of CVUSD’s goals is to make school technologically modern and equip students with all the tools necessary to become successful and achieve the educational goals proposed by the state.

Because the state does not provide funding for technology and infrastructure, the CVUSD Bond Oversight Committee wrote a bill to allow the school district to draw funding from the local level. In 2014, voters approved the Measure I bill, which alloted a fund worth $197 million in bonds for use by CVUSD with citizens’ oversight, annual audits and no money for administrators.

Every year between April and June, the district office takes money out of the Measure I fund and allots funding for each school in the district based on student attendance.

The Measure I funding is split into two parts: Measure I Building and Measure I Technology. Measure I Building is directed towards repairing anything related to the infrastructure of the school while Measure I Technology is directed towards electronics including computers, Promethean smart boards, projectors and more.

The funding each school receives is based on the number of students currently enrolled in the school proportional to the district’s total students. This year, each school was given $109 per student.

“It is up to each school and their technology committees to decide how the money is spent,” said Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Victor Hayek. “The schools are provided with a catalog where the funding must be spent.”

The technology committee consists of a group of teachers and administrators who draw up a plan in which they choose how to spend the budget.

“After the technology committee deliberates how they will spend the money, they present the plan to the public,” said WHS principal Jason Branham.

However, the plan that the technology committee proposes does not need to be approved by any other group.

This past year, WHS’s technology committee approved the purchase of several flat screen TVs, some Promethean smart boards, more golf carts for the campus supervisors, new computer sets and a few other items.

Other schools in the district chose to take an entirely different approach to their Measure I Technology budget.

“Thousand Oaks High School decided to implement the 1:1 initiative,” said Branham. “This means that starting this year, the freshmen will all have a personal portable computing device, and within four years all students will have their own device.”

The building part of the Measure I fund is determined through a massive master plan drawn up with the district and school administration. This plan details the infrastructure and the changes, additions and repairs that need to be made to it.

“Part of our vision was to add new science lab buildings up where the upper basketball courts are,” said Branham.

The Measure I funding not only covers the structural costs, but also the new science equipment needed to create a functional science lab.

In the district, the total expenses of the Measure I Technology added up to over $4.1 million and the Measure I Building amounted to nearly $10.5 million.

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Measure I bill grants funding to CVUSD schools