CASE STUDY
California School Districts Running Out of Bond Money
When school districts run low on bond money, their own board papers say so. These California districts have spent theirs, have far less left than their plans ask for, or cannot sell what is left for years.
How school bond money works
Voters approve a set amount, say up to $100 million. The district then sells it in pieces over the years, as projects need the money. When it is sold and spent and the buildings still need work, the district has to ask voters again. Every step is in the district’s own papers: what was approved, what was sold, what is left, and what still needs fixing.
The bond money is spent
San Dieguito Union High, San Diego County
Approved $449M (2012) · used all of it · left $0
Its bond oversight committee lists “Unfinanced Authorization $0” and says the projects named in 2012 “may not occur as originally timed, conceived or completed”. In September 2026 staff recommended getting ready “for a potential General Obligation bond in November 2028.”
Financial advisor: ████████████
Source: Bond oversight committee report 2024-25, April 23, 2026 · Facilities workshop slides, September 24, 2026
Amador County Unified, Amador County
Approved $11M (2002) · used all of it · left $0
Its last bond was sold in full by 2005. Voters have turned down new school bonds twice: $78 million in November 2018 (52.4% yes) and $64 million in November 2022 (43.5% yes). Each needed 55%. The 2022 ballot named “leaky roofs”. In October 2026 the maintenance team listed “Leaky roofs, room 8, 9, 10 and 11” at one junior high, 195 repair orders still open, and 1,356 problems from a safety inspection, 237 of them fixed over the summer.
Financial advisor: ████████████
Source: Measure A result, November 6, 2018 (Ballotpedia, certified results) · Measure H result, November 8, 2022 (Ballotpedia, certified results) · Maintenance report, October 7, 2026
Some money left, far less than the work
Evergreen School District, San José
Approved $80M (2020) · used $32M · left $48M
What its plan asks for: $822MBond money left: $48M
Its September 2026 master plan prices the work at $821,617,000. The plan says a new bond “if placed on the November 2028 ballot” could raise “approximately $200 million.”
Financial advisor: ████████████
Source: Draft bond papers, June 26, 2025 board packet · Master plan appendix, page 161 · Master plan slides, September 10, 2026
Bakersfield City School District, Kern County
Approved $110M (2016) · used $77M · left $33M
What its plan asks for: new master plan being written (architect hired May 2026)Staff already expect the repairs to “exceed the District’s annual funding requirement and available ongoing budget allocations due to the age of many of our sites, 80% of which exceed fifty years of age.”
Financial advisor: ████████████
Source: Bond performance audit to June 30, 2025 · Board agenda, June 23, 2026 · Board agenda, May 26, 2026
Amounts left are as of the 2025 bond papers (Evergreen) and June 30, 2025 (Bakersfield; no later sale had been filed by October 19, 2026).
Money left, but stuck for years
Cypress School District, Orange County
Approved $53.6M (2008) · used $41.7M · left $11.9M
Its 2026 plan says that under a 2014 state law on school bonds “the district does not project being able to issue a third series bond sale until after the year 2030.” Its earlier bonds were the pay-later kind that law restricted. Meanwhile, “The projected cost to address those facilities needs, however, is greater than the funds the district anticipates having available over the next five years.”
Financial advisor: ████████████
Source: 2026-27 facilities master plan · Orange County Grand Jury report 2013-14
Why it matters
A new school bond means design work, construction, and new bonds to sell, and each of these districts is already on that road. Their own papers show it years before anything reaches the ballot. Send us the districts you work in with the button below, and we will read where their bond money stands.
METHODOLOGY: Every example above comes from the district’s own record, linked beside it. Agendas, packets and workshop papers show what was proposed; we say adopted or voted only where minutes or the adopted ordinance show it. Where minutes are drafts, or were filed inside a later meeting’s packet, the source says so.
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