School Bond Proposal Still Loses--Barely--in Recount

SANTA CLARITA —  A $52-million bond to ease overcrowding in the William S. Hart Union High School District failed to win a two-thirds majority vote during a special election last June, a spokeswoman from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office said Friday. After the narrow defeat, Hart school officials demanded a recount, but registrar spokeswoman Grace Chavez said the results remained the same. The final recount, she said, was 11,359 to 5,705--or 66.57% to 33.43%. If fewer than 20 “no” votes had gone the other way, the measure would have passed.

Bonds must receive at least two-thirds--or 66.67%--approval to pass.

School officials said the bond was needed to accommodate a rapidly growing student population expected to nearly double in five years. The bond would have helped pay for five new schools in the 15,000-student district.

Hart Supt. Robert Lee said that, as a taxpayer and voter, he had hoped the bond would pass because he has seen school districts and neighborhood communities deteriorate due to overcrowding.

“When you don’t have adequate housing, it becomes a safety and quality issue for the school,” Lee said. “When these go down the tubes, the integrity of the school district and property values also go down the tubes.”

The same bond package failed to grab the required two-thirds majority vote in last November’s election, falling short by less than 1%.