Only 3% of survey population responded

ALAMOSA — Slightly more than two weeks ago, 6,784 households in the Alamosa School District received a survey in the mail. Titled as a “Community Update and Survey,” respondents were asked six questions related to the district putting a bond measure on the November ballot. Out of those 6,784 surveys sent out, only 274 surveys were completed, two of which were in Spanish.

Among those 274 respondents, there was not overwhelming support for the bond measure with 58% being definitely or probably opposed and 38% being definitely or probably in favor. The remaining respondents were unsure.

The measure would ask voters to approve a $28 million bond, funding that would address maintenance issues that have been deferred for, in some cases, a number of years but simply can’t be deferred any longer.

The impact on taxes, as explained in the Community Update and Survey, would be $6 to $8 per $100,000 appraised value on residential property and $25 per $100,000 appraised value on commercial property.

Other funds out of that $28 million would also be dedicated to projects that were, with significant input from different stakeholders, outlined and prioritized in the Facilities Master Plan, such as building new ADA compliant rest rooms and bringing natural light into some of the classrooms at Ortega Middle School. A new cafeteria, kitchen and area for counseling services at Alamosa High School were also prioritized as well as expansion to Alamosa Alternative High School and Online School, both of which are showing an increase in enrollment. A new transportation facility for district buses was also prioritized.

But those results may have been influenced by other factors that were revealed in responses as familiarity with the Facilities Master Plan also seemed to be an issue.

When asked, “Before receiving this informational mailer, how much would you say you have read or heard lately about the district’s Facilities Master Plan?”, 51.91 percent had heard “nothing at all” about the needs and less than 23 percent had heard some information.

Responses to a general opinion of the school district revealed what could be a lack of familiarity with recent accomplishments. When asked, “What grade would you give the district if you were to rate Alamosa Schools in the same way?”, 23.66% of respondents said A/B; 48.09% said C/D and 15.27% said F.

However, disapproval of the school district performance did not seem to be a reason to oppose the proposed bond measure. When asked “Reasons to be No or Unsure on the ballot question” (i.e. in support or opposed) if you selected No or Unsure on the proposed question, please provide the most important reason for that decision, the top 3 reasons were property taxes are already too high in District, overall cost of the bond proposal is too large and concerned about inflation and an economic slowdown.

A final question on the survey asked, should the bond measure appear on the ballot, which of a list of items would be the most important to the respondent’s support. Among the choices provided, safety and school security improvements ranked the highest while classroom addition and renovations for Alamosa’s Alternative and Online School ranked the lowest.

Many factors can influence responses on surveys, including familiarity with the issue, the wording of the question, the numbers of responses or the population surveyed. Bill Wray of WR Communications is on the agenda to discuss the results in more detail during the June 20th Alamosa School District meeting.

As of June 20, the ASD Board of Education had not yet voted on whether to approve putting the bond measure on the November ballot. Whether these preliminary results will impact that vote or not is yet to be determined.