Barstow Unified expects to see first bond money in June

BARSTOW — Barstow Unified School District Superintendent Jeff Malan said the district should see its first round of funding from Measure F by mid-year.

Barstow voters passed the $39 million bond measure on Nov. 8. It authorizes the district to repair and upgrade aging classrooms and infrastructure. All of the district's schools are between 50 and 78 years old, and many have significant problems. To pay for the bond, Barstow property owners will be taxed at a rate of $45 per $100,000 of assessed valuation per year.

"We should get our first round of funding in June," Malan said last week. "We're going to do it in a series, so we'll probably do it over seven or eight years.

"We'll have four different series for a total of $39 million. We're planning on (approximate) $9 million increments."

The district will be eligible for matching funds from the state, thanks to the passage of Proposition 51, which earmarked $9 billion for California schools.

"It's kind of up to Gov. Brown as to when" the state will release those funds, Malan said. "We will be in line for that. It probably won't be a dollar-for-dollar match. They call it a 60/40 split. We provide 60 percent, they provide 40 percent.

"We know we're going to be eligible, we're just not sure when we're going to get it."

Malan also said the district has 60 days to assemble the Measure F oversight committee.