The critical re-build — it is not really a “rebuild” since the school was never actually built — of Ohlone Elementary School has been delayed before…

School rebuilds facing obstacles in West County
By Kimberly S. Wetzel

Unless the West Contra Costa school district receives a waiver from the state, declining property values could put its $1 billion school rebuild program in jeopardy.

The school district, amid the state’s third-largest school reconstruction program — trailing only those in Los Angeles and San Diego — still must sell $210 million worth of voter-approved Measure J bonds to complete rebuilds at De Anza High School and Ford and Nystrom elementary schools in Richmond, Portola Middle School in El Cerrito and Ohlone Elementary School in Hercules.

But the decline in home values over the past year means the district’s tax base has dropped as well. By law, West Contra Costa’s bond debt cannot exceed 2.5 percent of assessed valuation; selling all but $40 million of the remaining bonds will put the district above that threshold.

“We still have some room, but not enough,” said Sheri Gamba, the district’s head of finances. “We have a limited margin.”

So last month, the district requested a “debt limit waiver” from the state Department of Education, which would allow officials to expand the bonding limit to 3.5 percent of assessed valuation. If the state grants the waiver, the district can move forward with rebuild work at schools such as De Anza, where site preparation for a new, $160 million campus is already under way, and continue with building plans for the rest of the schools on the Measure J list. If the state denies the waiver, some schools may not get rebuilt until property values rebound, which could delay projects for years.

School board member Charles Ramsey said he’s confident the waiver will be approved. It’s a common request, he said, and the state granted West Contra Costa a similar waiver in 2002, even though the district did not end up using it.

“There’s not a lot of controversy,” Ramsey said. “They’ve approved it for us before. I can’t see why they wouldn’t do it.”

Bids for school rebuild projects are coming in millions under budget because of the recession, Ramsey said. A recent bid for rebuilding King Elementary in Richmond came in at $15.6 million — about $9 million lower than the district anticipated.

Without the waiver, the district would have to dramatically alter plans. At De Anza, work could be limited to design costs only, and schools such as Ohlone and Nystrom wouldn’t see any work. District leaders expect to hear from the state in May.

The waiver does come with a price tag for property owners. Estimated taxes would increase from $28.80 per $100,000 worth of assessed value in 2009 to $46.80 in 2010 and $60 in 2011, sooner than originally scheduled.

“Now it’s going to happen a little bit faster,” said Bill Savidge, engineering manager for the district. The $60 tax would remain in effect until 2039.

Representatives from the state Department of Education did not return calls for comment.