Molded lunchrooms, broken drinking fountains, dilapidated roofs, unsafe wiring and a library system so antiquated it has no business being within driving distance of an educational institution. Those are the kinds of things the Alisal Union School District is hoping to rectify if Measure A passes on Nov. 7.

The school bond would raise an estimated $93 million from a property tax hike of $33 per $100,000 of assessed value. The money will be spread evenly among the district’s 12 elementary schools and will fund three new schools. It will have independent oversight, but won’t fund administrative salary hikes.

“The schools are just becoming more and more run down,” says Salinas City Councilwoman Jyl Lutes. “We’re at a point where there isn’t extra money. We’re at war. Budgets are being cut. We need to reach out at the property-tax level.”

Fremont Elementary on East Market Street is one of the more decrepit facilities in the district.

“Honestly, I have no idea how the place is still standing,” Lutes says of the 65-year-old school. “I think it’s barely sticking together with a little spit and a lot of chewing gum.”

The Salinas Valley Taxpayers Union is dismissing the bond measure as a waste of taxpayers’ money and a low priority considering district students’ poor performance in standardized testing. Though three of the district’s schools just celebrated successful test scores, five failed to meet or exceed last year’s scores.

Still, Lutes says the money could help pave the way for student successes.

“It’s a big vision, an extensive vision. But it will be really neat to have a school district that’s updated and state-of-the-art. It will be a model for schools nationwide,” she says. “The students will thrive in that kind of an environment. And it’s about time we give them that.”