MOORPARK : Survey Shows Bond Issue Is Vulnerable

A survey of 400 voters shows that the Moorpark Unified School District has an uphill battle to gain approval of a $25.5-million bond issue needed to build two new schools and to upgrade existing facilities.

The telephone survey, taken in early August, showed that 50% of the respondents would vote for the bonds, with 33% opposing them and 17% undecided. The margin of error is four points either way. Approval by two-thirds of the people voting is needed for passage.

After the survey team presented arguments in favor of the bond issue, the percentage in favor increased to 64%, but nearly 25% remained opposed.

Given those percentages at Tuesday’s board meeting, board member Tom Baldwin predicted: “It’s not going to pass.”

The survey, presented to the board by Supt. Tom Duffy, was conducted by a Northern California firm, Price Research Consultants, which was hired by the district to test public attitudes about education in the district.

Passage of Measure B on the Nov. 6 ballot would pay for additional classrooms at Moorpark High School, a new middle school and a new elementary school. Chaparral Middle School would get a new science center, and learning centers would be built at Peach Hill School and Flory School.