Carson school board nixes $31 million bond plan

Opponents included board member John McKenna, who said the ballot plan was based on "an untrue assumption that new (school) buildings are the only way of providing adequate schools. We have adequate capacity."

The board's action made the implementation of multitrack year-round sessions at elementary and middle schools a certainty. Multitrack is a rotating system in which three-fourths of the students attend class while an additional quarter are off.

Master planning since 1990 has envisioned conversion to a year-round calendar. The move gained momentum in 1996 with the defeat of a $48.5 million school bond that would have built a new high school and middle school.

Trustee Allison Joffee favored the ballot question, saying, "If we're desperate we can do multitrack. I don't think we are."

"We'll have to move 2,300 kids (with multitrack) and that's the scariest thing I've had to do," she added. "I'm going to vote my conscience and vote for kids."

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