PD Editorial: Keeping local schools fit and modern

California has 10,000 public schools, educating about 6 million students. Among the challenges are maintaining and upgrading facilities to meet contemporary demands.

Basics include repairing and replacing roofs, heating and air conditioning systems as well as painting and sidewalk repairs.

Computers and other technology are necessities, and they can require extensive rewiring of older schools.

To cover those costs, many districts borrow money through bond sales, which are repaid with property tax assessments. Five Sonoma County districts have bonds on the June 3 ballot:

; Measure B: an $80 million bond act in the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District, with an estimated annual cost of $49 per $100,000 in assessed property value.

; Measure C: a $68 million bond act in the Petaluma Joint Union High School District, with an estimated annual cost of $29 per $100,000 in assessed property value.

; Measure D: a $12 million bond act in the Bellevue Union School District. Estimated annual cost: $18 per $100,000 in assessed property value.

; Measure E: a $21 million bond act in the Petaluma Elementary School District. Estimated annual cost: $20 per $100,000 in assessed property value.

; Measure F: a $35 million bond act in the Rincon Valley Union School District. Estimated annual cost: $30 per $100,000 in assessed property value.

Each of these measures requires a 55 percent majority for approval.

We typically support school bond measures, and this year is no exception. Children are entitled to safe, modern and well-equipped schools. Providing them is an investment in our future. However, we think schools need to be more transparent about their borrowing.

The cost of paying off the bonds doesn't appear on the ballot or in the ballot arguments. Voters must look for that in a separate tax statement.

Neither are voters informed through the ballot pamphlet that all five of these districts already are collecting tax assessments to pay off older bond issues, with the earliest maturity dates in 2024. They have to check their property tax bills for that information.

Finally, the lists of projects eligible for bond funding are poll-tested for popularity, but determinations about how the money is actually spent will be made later. Districts should be more specific about their intentions when asking voters to borrow money.

Computers and technology may poll better than solar panels or plumbing, but if school districts truly plan to take 30-year loans to pay for equipment that may be obsolete in 10 years, voters should know that's what they're buying.

One of the worst trends in school finance was the recent reliance on capital appreciation bonds, which push off debt payments for as much as 40 years, driving interests costs through the roof. A new state law caps interest to principal ratios on school bonds at 4:1, offering some protection for taxpayers who want to help local schools without sticking future generations with the cost.

We're confident that greater transparency will result in even more support for local schools. On June 3, The Press Democrat recommends approval of Measures B, C, D, E and F.