The four major school districts in Fresno, plus the community college district, are asking voters to approve $1.8 billion in new bonds on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Fresno Unified, Clovis Unified, Central Unified, Sanger Unified and State Center Community College District are seeking voter approval for bonds, which the districts say will help improve infrastructure.

GV Wire education reporter Nancy Price reported this is the first time that all four are making the ask in the same election. Practically every voter in Fresno will see a local school bond measure.

Already, committees are raising big bucks to raise funds to support the measures. Unions are also contributing to candidates in various school district races.

Several construction companies — as the industry has in past bond elections — are contributing to efforts to pass the bonds. The conventional wisdom: Approved bonds lead to many millions in construction projects for local companies.

In addition, unions try to help elect candidates who support project labor agreements — contracts between the school districts and unions that would require union labor on designated projects.

Recent elections show success. Voters generally approve bond measures — which increase property taxes. Approval requires 55%, which is easier than approving certain sales tax measures requiring two-thirds passage.

Bonds have a strong track record of passing, said Fresno political campaign manager Jason Carns. He sees them passing again this November.

“You can almost put it on the ballot … and do some very basic communication, and the bond is I likely to get 55% unless there’s some politics going on separately that for some reason has upset people,” Carns said.

Bonds for Clovis and Central unified failed in March 2020. The districts put them on the ballot again in November 2020, and both passed.

Voters to Decide $1.8 Billion in Bonds

The four school district bonds plus SCCCD total $1.8 billion — although no single taxpayer will be on the hook for that entire amount, as it is spread across several jurisdictions. But $698 million  would go to SCCCD, raising an an estimated $42 million a year.

Because SCCCD’s jurisdiction is vast — in includes all of Fresno County, plus parts of surrounding counites — the property tax increase is only $20 per $100,000 of property value. Current SCCCD taxes are at $21 per $100,000 of property value.

Fresno Unified — which currently charges $207 in property tax per $100,000 in value — would go up $60.

Unions Backing School Board Candidates

Construction trade unions are backing several candidates in the Fresno Unified and SCCCD races.

Carns is running the campaigns of Claudia Cazares, James Martinez, and Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas in Fresno Unified; and Pablo Villagrana and Danielle Parra in SCCCD. He said unions are looking for candidates to serve the community.

“They’re also looking for somebody who is going to be an ally of labor, who is going to … work with them on the board to ensure that the hard workers out there all get appropriate compensation and benefits,” Carns said.

One of those issues is PLA.

Dillon Savory, executive director for the Central Labor Council — an advocacy group for several area labor unions — said PLA support is a major reason for campaign financial contributions.

“It is a critical factor. It is a deal breaker factor. It is amongst the highest, most critical priorities,” Savory said.

SCCCD officials say they do not have a PLA policy in place. Fresno Unified said there is no policy in place, but PLAs are decided on a  case-by-case basis. For comparison, the city of Fresno requires PLAs for projects over $1 million.

Savory said the lowest bidder is not always the best and PLA provides reliable, quality labor. He wants to see them applied to school districts, calling it “good governance.”

Eric Christen, executive director with Coalition for Fair Employment in Construction, has long opposed PLAs in government. He called PLAs “discrimination” against non-union construction workers.

“Big labor special interests have a very simple game they are playing: spend a few thousand dollars electing school board candidates who in return will give them a monopoly on billions of dollars worth of taxpayer funded school construction,” Christen said.

“PLAs are bad for everybody except for the handful of elected officials that get put into their positions of power solely because of union largess,” Christen said.

Construction Supporting Bond Passage

With nearly $2 billion at stake, the construction industry is supporting the bonds. Committees to support the bonds in Clovis, Fresno, Sanger and SCCCD are already collecting money for its passage.

Citizens for the Future of Clovis Schools has continually raised money since the 2020 bonds. In 2023 and 2024, the committee raised more than $200,000 — all from the construction industry. Several companies this year alone ponied up $25,000 — Wild Electric, Cencal Services, and Karsyn Construction.

Darren Rose, president/CEO of the local chapter of the Building Industry Association, said its support  “is an investment in our community’s future.”

“A thriving community starts with a strong education system, and the building industry is proud to play a role in supporting that growth,” Rose said.

Daniel Thompson, Karsyn Construction president, said his company has contributed to several bond campaigns in the past.

“Anytime we have a chance to give back towards any type of cause that’s going to be a benefit to kids and our local economy, we try to help where we can,” Thompson said.

Fresno-based Karsyn works on drywall, mainly for school and public works projects. Thompson understands the viewpoint that the construction industry supports bonds that may yield more work.

“There is a reward at the end for some. But ultimately … it’s a bidding process in which we’re not guaranteed anything. There’s many bond measures that we’ve contributed to, where we were not awarded projects. And that’s just the nature of the industry,” Thomson said.

State Center Foundations Contributes $225,000

The State Center Community College Foundation, a nonprofit affiliated with the district to help with fundraising, contributed $225,000 to a committee to approve the SCCCD bond.

Rico Guerrero, the foundation’s executive director, said no taxpayer money or donor funds went toward the political contribution. The money came from investment income from the foundation’s unrestricted funds. The foundation has $28 million in assets.

“It’s in line with what we are raising dollars for. And so it just makes sense. And the board felt that this is the best way to serve and impact … over the 60,000 students that we serve in the district,” Guerrero said.

The Fresno Teachers Associations opened a committee to fundraise for Fresno Unified’s Measure H but has not reported any contributions.