Ripon voters may not have much on the ballot for elected leaders come Nov. 6.

But they’ll still play a crucial role on deciding Measure I.

That’s the $38.5 million bond measure specifically for facilities improvement throughout the Ripon Unified School District.

According to the San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters office, this bond requires 55 percent ‘yes’ votes in order to be passed.

Measure I, if approved, would “provide students with improved learning environments, build classrooms to maintain smaller classes, replace older portable classroom with permanent buildings, construct science labs, and improve career technical facilities.”

Many of the RUSD schools have been around for over 50 years and in need of major improvements that are beyond the maintenance budget.

Trustee Kit Oase – he along with board President Chad Huskey and newcomer Annette Vande Pol ran unopposed and appear on their way to being appointed to their respective Trustee Area seats – believes that Ripona Elementary School should be a priority.

The campus has portable classrooms in need of replacement along with modernization of the existing facilities and replacing of the roof.

The bond measure could also take care of the following:

• Renovating the outdated restrooms at Ripon Elementary School.
• Modernizing and improving the student facilities at Ripon High, in particular, the outdated portable classrooms with permanent structures.
• Building a science lab at RHS along with modernizing and reconfiguring the career technical education facilities and the classrooms in the agriculture department.
• Completing the renovation efforts at Stouffer Field such as plans for the new restrooms at the ticket booth.
• Improving student safety and security at all schools with fencing, cameras, and updated safety hardware and access to buildings.
• Acquiring and providing additional classrooms to enable the district to maintain small class sizes at the school sites.
• Modernizing and replacing classrooms to help improve the learning environments while better preparing students for college not to mention well-paying jobs upon graduation.

The estimated tax rate for Measure I would be $36 per $100,000 of the assessed evaluation for local residents, according to San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters.

Information on the upcoming election is available at www.sjcrov.org.