Superintendent

August 6, 2024

OJUSD Families,
  
Welcome to the 2024-25 school year. This year has the potential to be the most impactful and consequential for the country, for education, and most significantly for OJUSD. Before looking ahead, we should always take stock and appreciate the successes of the past 2023-24 school year. We annually publicize the previous year's achievements, in the Oakdale Leader, and on our OJUSD website (https://www.ojusd.org/district/achievements). As usual, there are many huge achievements listed, but also as usual, we will not rest on our laurels. Challenging ourselves in the classroom, embracing competition through extracurriculars, and giving our students the experiences and tools to be successful, contributing adults in our community continues to be our purpose.

As we look forward, the November 5, 2024 presidential election will undoubtedly shape the future of our country. However, there is another item on the ballot that will be extremely consequential to the educational future of our children in Oakdale.

OJUSD schools are very old. Magnolia (85 years old) was built in 1939, OHS (76 years old) was built in 1948, Cloverland (72 years old) was built in 1952. These are just a few sites that require major construction and systems replacements due to their age. Other schools and operational facilities are also 40-50 years old and are in desperate need of modernization. While these facilities have been maintained extremely well with the limited resources available, their extensive age has brought them to the brink of comprehensive system failure. We have had to sound the alarm that electrical, heating and air, and structural systems that were built 50-80+ years ago now present safety concerns and just cannot keep up with the 21st century learning environments and needs of our students today.

Given that the State of California does not provide funding for major facility expansion and modernization, the primary source for major school facility construction projects is through a local General Obligation Bond. The state might only offer matching funds, if available, once a local Bond is passed.
Oakdale has been very supportive of its schools, as was evident when a 2002 Bond was passed to fund the expansion of an additional elementary school (Sierra View), modernization to Oakdale Junior High, and extensive expansion at Oakdale High. This was due to significant increased enrollment. However, those enrollment trends ended long ago and projection studies all show no significant increases for at least the next 10+ years. As a result, no additional schools are expected to be needed in Oakdale for the foreseeable future.

However, the need for major modernization is upon us and cannot be disputed. The fortunate time factor for our community is that the 2002 Bond will be expiring in phases within 5 years. Balancing sensitivity to the impact on property owners with the necessity of addressing the modernization needs of our schools, the OJUSD School Board passed a Resolution to place "Measure G" on the November 5, 2024 ballot. This measure was written to replace the 2002 Bond as it phases out, not to stack an additional bond on top of the past bond like is often what other school districts have chosen to do. This assures prope1iy owners that Measure G will not exceed the same rate of $60 per $100,000 of assessed value as was passed in 2002. In return, OJUSD will be able to address Priority A projects throughout the entire district as provided in the district's Facility Master Plan which can be found on the Measure G link on the OJUSD Website (https://www.ojusd.org/district/measure-g). Please visit this site for all the details of Measure G, including the Bond Resolution that provides the assurances, bond oversight, potential projects lists and tax rate. All funds stay in Oakdale as stipulated in the resolution and not for salaries. Please feel free to contact the District office for any questions on the OJUSD bond measure and Facility Master Plan.

I greatly appreciate the support of the great community of Oakdale. We look forward to seeing students and families back on campuses and to a great start to the 2024-25 school year.

Respectfully,

Larry Mendonca
Superintendent, OJUSD

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