Superintendent Butler thanks AUSD staff for going above and beyond during recent storm

ATASCADERO — The Atascadero Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Trustees met for its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. Trustee Joey Arnold was not in attendance.

“I did want to take a moment and thank a lot of our staff that sometimes go kind of behind the scenes,” said Superintendent Tom Butler at the top of his report. “When we have a big storm, like we did just a week or so ago, it’s amazing how many of our people are out there early. They’re braving the storm. Some of those departments would be transportation. They’re our first people in early in the morning, getting a look at all the conditions, making sure it’s safe, and making great decisions around transportation.”

He went on to also praise the maintenance and ground teams on the AUSD school sites for cleaning up storm-related messes before the students and staff even arrived at the sites.

“Certainly, the general classroom instruction also takes on different nuances when you’ve got the wind howling and the rain coming down. So, there’s challenges that are faced across the district on those days. So, a big thank you to everybody. I know it makes a big difference. I’m really proud of the way the district dealt with that, and I know that that’s all because of our staff,” concluded Butler.

Dale Scott from Dale Scott & Company then presented the trustee board with three informational items that regarded Measure B-24. The measure passed during the Nov. 5, 2024, election, with at least 55 percent of district voters voting to issue up to $110 million of general obligation bonds for financing specific school facilities projects. When the bond is passed, there is no tax involved; however, when the bonds are issued, that is when the tax rate goes up.

“First thing that happens, one of your resolutions, is you certify the resolution results. That doesn’t have a great deal ofeffect, except it’s in the law, and it’s required,” stated Scott. “Then, you, as a board, pass two more resolutions. The first is the creation of a citizen’s oversight committee, that is in the law under Prop 39, to have that committee. To emphasize this, I’ve already said it once, and I’ll say it again: their job is not to tell you how to spend the funds; their job is to review how you have spent the funds and a few other things. And the third is the passage of the resolution, which allows for the issuance of a portion of that authorization. In this case, the resolution, this is the preliminary offering document, the resolution’s for $40 million.”

He went on to say that if AUSD passes the resolution for the $40 million, bonds will then be sold through an underwriter and, with the district’s consensus, set interest rates. The interest rates will be for the repayment of the bondover the next 20 to 25 years. After passing the resolution to issue the bond, the trustee bond will basically be removedfrom the process.

“The money goes to the county,” Scott added. “The county sets the tax rates. The county handles the investment of those funds. The county handles the repayment of those funds. And your role then becomes to figure out which projects you are going to finance.”

Superintendent Butler stated that the trustee board has a pre-approved study session where they will talk about the size and scale of the first bond sales, and all three items will be brought back in about a month and agendized for voting.

The next regularly scheduled AUSD Board of Trustees meeting will be on Tuesday, March 4, at 7 p.m.