Gov. Brian Sandoval agrees to revive vetoed school bill

Gov. Brian Sandoval has agreed to revive the bill he vetoed that would have allowed school districts to use bond reserves for repair and maintenance projects.

Carson School District Superintendent Richard Stokes said that a would bring back a number of smaller projects his board had planned for the money freed up by the bill, which sharply reduces the minimum amount of bond reserves school districts must keep on hand.

He said Carson may be able to use anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million for projects including life-safety improvements, mechanical systems, improvements to traffic access to schools, roof repairs, concrete repairs and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems

Stokes said the measure also could help the district pay for technology improvements such as buying laptops and providing students with Internet access.

"Without this, those would have been dead in the water," Stokes said.

Assembly Bill 183 was the first measure he vetoed this session, saying it wasn't because he disagreed with the intent of the measure but because he had already taken the school district bond reserves to plug a $301 million hole in his proposed budget. He said in his veto message he agreed school districts need access to the money to make repairs and because it would employ numerous construction workers.

Sandoval had put the money into school operating accounts saying that would put the cash directly into the classroom.

The situation changed after the Supreme Court ruling in the Clean Water Coalition case when legal counsel advised the governor's office that ruling most likely applied to the bond reserves as well.

Sponsor Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, said she was very pleased to get her bill back in play. She said when the measure was vetoed that the governor's plan disregards the will of the voters who approved the bond issues for school rehabilitation and construction, not operating costs.

Smith said most of the nine counties with that type of bond reserves probably can't do much with the money at this time, but may be able to in the future. Joyce Haldeman of Clark County School District said that county won't be able to use the money for anything else now but can in five years or so.

Language to reduce bond reserve requirements from AB183 and give school districts the flexibility to use the money was amended into a last minute bill introduced in the Senate late Saturday.