Schools

West Valley College's District Votes to Place $359M Bond Measure on Ballot

The money is needed to update facilities and technology, trustees say.

West Valley-Mission Community College District trustees voted unanimously to place a higher education funding measure on the June 2012 ballot.

The vote favoring the $350 million bond was taken to ensure students at West Valley and Mission colleges continue to have access to high quality, affordable higher education, according to Bradley J. Davis, the district's associate vice chancellor,

“With the U.C. and Cal State systems becoming increasingly expensive, more and more students are relying on local community colleges,” said West Valley-Mission Community College District Trustee Adrienne Grey. “For many students, our local community colleges are the main entry point to higher educations. We must invest in our colleges so we can continue to provide local students with a high-quality, affordable education and the job training programs they might not otherwise receive.”

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The measure is needed to update academic facilities and technology to better prepare students for transfer to four-year universities and provide them with the education they need for the high-demand jobs of the 21st century, District Chancellor John E. Hendrickson said.

As much as 66 percent of overall respondents in a November survey would support a bond measure according, Davis said, indicating likely voter passage for such a measure which requires 55 percent.

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Even as the district gets ready to embark this year on a $51 million construction upgrade at both West Valley and Mission College, trustees are saying many buildings are old and need to be replaced.

Some of those upgrades have been funded through a 2004 bond measure, whose monies are all spent.

However, West Valley College in Saratoga is undertaking a $10.6 million retrofit of its main classroom building, which is 40 years old.

West Valley College in Saratoga and Mission College in Santa Clara enroll more than 26,000 students annually. The district serves residents of Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Campbell, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara and is governed by the seven-member board. There are about 12,000 students attending WVC.


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