Paying for repairs a top priority of special Scotts Valley Schools meeting tonight

Jan. 19--SCOTTS VALLEY -- Amateur photographer Kristen Schmitt, 16, saw a thousand words in a contest picture she took of a window at Scotts Valley Middle School in September 2009.

Her photo of a window sash, 70 years old, and buried under layers of cracked and peeling paint, describes much of the wear and tear she said she's seen in Scotts Valley Unified School District buildings.

Tonight, the Scotts Valley Unified School District is holding a special board meeting, open to the public. Since a $55 million facilities bond measure that would have replaced the middle school failed in 2008, district officials have been meeting to gather information on what in the 2,700 student district needs to be fixed and how to pay for it. The results will be revealed at the meeting. A similar bond measure failed in 2002, and board member Allison Niday said replacing the middle school would run in the $20 million range.

The window is just one drop in a sea of needed repairs, said Schmitt.

"It actually has layers of paint. The way they maintain the school is to keep covering the cracks. But it didn't work," said Schmitt of the window.

She's now a junior at Scotts Valley High School and the photo appears in Through Your Lens, a pictoral essay on crumbling school infrastructure and its impact on the lessons being taught inside. The book was sponsored by education advocates the 21st Century School Fund, Critical Exposure and Healthy Schools Campaign.

Niday said the facilities meeting would be different from facilities meetings past, even though she anticipated no surprises in the district's needs.

"We were chastised in the past for making recommendations to the public -- here's what we're proposing we do, versus, here are the facilities needs, and what do you think, and coming to a consensus on what it should be," Niday said.

Not all of the school's programs are funded, she said. Elementary and middle school arts and high school athletics are all paid for by parent fundraising.

"I just know it's been a very hot topic right now," said Schmitt. "A lot of my resources have been taken away."

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