VISTA — A bond measure to fund $543 million in critical school facility upgrades in the Vista Unified School District is officially going before voters in the November General Election.
Last month, at a May 15 meeting, the VUSD Board of Trustees unanimously adopted a resolution ordering the school bond election following strong advocacy from teachers, parents, and community members.
Vista Unified is out of money for needed facilities projects, with funds from the 2018 Measure LL bond already spent. The district was close to placing a bond on the 2024 ballot, but it did not move forward due to a lack of consensus among school board members.
This time around, community members and Vista Unified leaders said it cannot wait any longer and that the district needs to put the matter to a vote.
“Doing nothing is also a decision, and our students don’t get those years back. So tonight’s vote is not the final word from the community, it’s the decision about whether the community gets to have that word. So I’m asking you to trust Vista voters. Let the people who live here, work here, raise children here, and care about Vista’s future decide,” district parent Kris Rainwaters told the board.
If approved, the average annual tax rate for property owners within the district’s boundaries would be $58 per $100,000 of assessed value beginning in 2028, per a resolution.
The school district faces approximately $1.5 billion in facilities needs over the next 20 years across all sites. Many schools were built more than 60 years ago and need upgrades to their plumbing, electrical, and structural systems to comply with current building codes and provide modern learning environments that meet students’ needs.
Several sites are in urgent need of repairs and upgrades to meet basic operation and safety standards, particularly Monte Vista Elementary School in eastern Vista.
Monte Vista Elementary was built back in 1962 and houses over a dozen classrooms in portable buildings, which community members say are long overdue for an upgrade. It has also had repeated issues with its restroom plumbing and other facilities.
Needed upgrades for the school are projected to cost nearly $28 million, according to the district’s Long-Term Facility Master Plan. The plan recommends removing existing classrooms and portables and replacing them with new classrooms, library, and lab buildings; modernizing several classrooms, adding new pavement and landscaping; modernizing the multi-purpose and food service building; and more. 
“Many of our schools are failing and in need of urgent repairs and modernization. The longer we delay in addressing these issues, the more construction costs will rise, and the more expensive these repairs will become for taxpayers,” said district parent Jeanette Bradshaw.
Trustee Rena Marrocco asked the board for a commitment that some bond funds will be used to complete repairs to Monte Vista Elementary, and that the school will not be consolidated or closed.
In 2024, in response to declining enrollment and increased facility needs, the district closed Beaumont Elementary and Rancho Minerva Middle School and consolidated the students into neighboring schools. The district also relocated Vista Innovation and Design Academy (VIDA) from its campus to the old Rancho Minerva site in the 2025-26 school year.
Marrocco noted that Monte Vista was also considered for possible consolidation at the time, along with the other three schools, and said she does not want to see it meet the same fate.
“I feel that I really need some guarantees from the board … we will use the money to make sure Monte Vista does not become the next victim of consolidation due to facilities issues,” Marrocco said.
Other board members said they understood Marrocco’s concerns and that the district will be looking at the needs of all the schools.
“We heard concerns from many members of our community from different sites, but I think we know putting a bond on the ballot not only helps Monte Vista specifically in this motion, but it also helps with our General Fund and therefore helps out with the entire ecosystem of our school system,” said Trustee Cipriano Vargas.
Trustee Martha Alvarado noted that consolidating and closing schools was painful and said the bond is meant to address issues at other schools to make them conducive to learning.
“This resolution to put this bond on the ballot is working to address those issues as part of the deciding trustees who had to really make hard decisions about school consolidation. We were told to close four, and we said ‘no, we’re gonna consolidate two,'” Alvarado said.
Vista Unified currently allocates millions of dollars annually toward facility maintenance and repairs. Community members and officials said being able to use bond money could free up these funds for other needs in the district.
Deferred maintenance in the district for items like roofing, flooring, HVAC, electrical services, and lighting totals nearly $75 million, according to the district.
Bond money to reimburse for existing facility improvement projects that are paid for through Fund 40, its reserve for capital outlay projects, according to the district.
In a community survey of district voters completed earlier this year, 71% of respondents indicated they would vote in favor of a new bond. To pass, the measure needs at least 55% voter approval.
The Measure LL bond totaled $247 million and funded a series of projects throughout the district, including the replacement of classroom buildings at Vista High School, gym renovations and a new Career Technical Education facility at Rancho Buena Vista High School and the rebuild of Bobier Elementary, which is expected to be reopened to students in the fall.
Trustee Sue Martin said it was difficult for her to decide whether to support placing the new bond on the ballot, partly due to concerns about how Measure LL funds were spent.
One example is the now-closed Beaumont Elementary, which the district had originally planned to upgrade with Measure LL funds. However, the district ultimately abandoned the project due to rising construction costs and a reprioritization of its project list, causing frustration among many community members.
Martin said if the bond passes, residents need to stay engaged to ensure the funds are being used responsibly.
“There were a lot of people who were disgruntled regarding LL, especially the sites that didn’t get one thin dime, and we can’t allow that to happen again. And so, it has been a very difficult decision, and requires faith in our school district and it requires trust in our leadership team and the board, and it also requires commitment from the community,” Martin said.
