Gavilan College trustees will let the school
’s pocketbook represent their likely support for a future
facilities bond measure as they remain tight-lipped about any
campaign specifics – including how much money they think they’ll
ask voters to ante up.
Gavilan College trustees will let the school’s pocketbook represent their likely support for a future facilities bond measure as they remain tight-lipped about any campaign specifics – including how much money they think they’ll ask voters to ante up.
At their monthly meeting last week, trustees agreed to set up a special committee that will screen potential campaign advisers. If hired by the board, an adviser – for a roughly $30,000 fee – would conduct opinion surveys and ascertain the likelihood of getting voter approval.
Hiring the adviser does not require that a bond measure be pursued.
“If the board decides to put a bond measure on the ballot, a campaign committee (independent of the school) needs to be formed,” Gavilan President Steve Kinsella said.
Trustees Leonard Washington, Mark Dover and James De La Cruz will head up the committee. They represent each area – Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Benito County, respectively – served by Gavilan. Any ballot measure would require 55 percent voter approval.
Trustees did not get into any specifics about what they’d like to see funded by a bond measure. However, Kinsella made it clear that with the state’s existing budget crisis and the school’s lean operating budget, money was not available to renovate and upgrade the main campus in Gilroy, built in the late ’60s.
“We need to raise funds in some other way,” Kinsella said.
The school has also expressed interest in purchasing land for new construction projects.
In other business, trustees:
• Increased student fees to generate upward of $30,000 to offset state budget cuts.
About $9,000 of the total will come from tuition paid by high school students. Typically, the $11 per unit fee is waived for high school students enrolled in college classes. Trustees rescinded that waiver Tuesday.
The remaining $19,000 will come from increased transcript and health service fees. Transcripts will now cost $4 instead of $2, and urgent transcripts requests will jump from $5 to $7.
The health fee is being raised from $10 to $12. It is the first increase since 1998.
The increases become effective July 1.
