September Calendar

Statement COnfiring Posting of Uniform Complaint Procedures

Horicon's Summer Program:

We are in the midst of designing and implementing a summer enrichment program of activities for students in grades K-6. The full-day summer program is optional, and will take place between July 10, 2023 - August 18, 2023. Parents must drop off and pick up their students at Horicon on the days on which the student participates, and sign them in and out for the day. Transportation will be provided for any off-campus field trips. 

The purpose of the summer program is to develop K-6 students academically, socially, emotionally, and physically, through hands-on learning experiences such as field-trips, presentations brought to Horicon by outside providers, and on-campus group play. To help us focus on activities that your students would be interested in, please review and answer the questions in the below short survey. Please have the survey completed and returned by June 25, 2023.

https://forms.gle/iT6jmwEHngrKXCsU7

https://forms.gle/yRRewUGMHaX6sAkQ7

Horicon School is announcing open bidding for the refurbishment and refinishing of the School Roof.

Attached is the text for the bidding process as well as the scope of the project.

We will be scheduling a bid walk on March 30^th at 3:15 pm where our architect will meet any contractors that show up in order to have the bids due on April 6^th at 2 pm. 

Project Specs                                      Bid Process

Horicon elementary school Jeff McFarland is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Bond Proposal TownHall #2 at Horicon Cafetorium

Time: May 31, 2022 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86577247768

Meeting ID: 865 7724 7768

Passcode: 7T3rrs

Facilities Needs at Horicon:  

An Invitation to Community Meetings about Our School 

Our vision at Horicon Elementary School is to prepare students to successfully transition to high school and beyond by providing a strong academic program that meets the needs of all students in a safe, nurturing environment. To do this we use a highly qualified and trained staff, and full implementation of effective curriculum under the guidance and support of the highly qualified administrator. Our goal is for students to be prepared academically, socially, and ethically to become lifelong learners and responsible, productive citizens. Further, we value community and family involvement, being a community center, and appreciate local history and being connected to the larger world. 

With your support, the current Horicon campus was built back in the late 1990s and early 2000s – thank you again! Your investment, combined with considerable philanthropic contributions and matching State facilities funds, allowed us to build completely new classrooms and remake our entire school. And ever since, we have continued to do everything we can to maintain the campus—keeping it to high standards and making improvements to maximize safety and longevity, and maintain the community’s investment.  

Now decades have passed, our classrooms and facilities need some major repairs, and much of our infrastructure has reached the end of its useful life. We recently completed a facilities assessment that identified several millions of dollars of needs. Additionally, other projects have been identified that may help us save money better spent in the classroom, reduce our impact on the local environment and help us provide housing for our teachers and workforce. Bonds issued under Measure “C” from 1996 are fully paid off, and the Board is now considering asking the community for another investment.  

We want to share as much information as we can, answer everyone’s questions and gain your feedback. An FAQ is below, and you should feel free to reach out to the District and Superintendent McFarland with any additional questions, or to schedule some time to tour our campus. We also invite the broader community to two (2) townhall meetings to further discuss our needs and solutions to meet them: 

• Tuesday, May 31, 2022 at 5PM at Horicon Cafetorium 

Please read below, join us and let us know what you think – and thanks again to everyone! 

What are General Obligation bonds? 

Bonds have funded a significant portion of school construction projects throughout Sonoma County and the rest of the State and can help communities qualify for State matching funds. Here at Horicon, Measure “C” in 1996 allowed us to build a new, modern campus. The source of repayment for the General Obligation bonds comes from a tax on all taxable property – residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial – located within the District’s boundaries. 

What would a new bond do? 

A new bond will maintain the community’s investment and meet the last 20 years of facilities needs at Horicon. More specifically, the District is considering up to a $10.4 million General Obligation bond that would: 

• Repair and upgrade aging roofs, restrooms and other facilities 

• Repair and replace aging infrastructure, including HVAC, the fire alarm, septic, asphalt, fencing, exterior landscaping, play structures and address ADA compliance issues  

• Replace aging portable classrooms with permanent buildings 

• Increase energy efficiency and sustainability by installing additional solar panels to save money better spent in the classroom, and reduce the school’s impact on the environment 

• Provide funding for the development of teacher and workforce housing 

• Provide the local match for State facilities funds 

Can we see the needs assessment? 

Yes. It is available for everyone’s review at the District Office and on our website: https://horiconsd.org/.   

What would a new bond cost me? 

All of the Measure “C” bonds were recently paid off in full, meaning there is no longer a tax being assessed for payment of Horicon bonds. The new measure being considered is projected to cost up to $30 per $100,000 of taxable value. Taxable value is typically lower than market value, due to Prop. 13 limits. For example, for a home with an assessed value of $500,000, the bond would cost up to an additional $150 per year, or roughly 41 cents a day. Similar to a home loan, any bonds would be repaid over approximately 30 years.   

How much would the total repayment cost be? 

Including interest, a new bond is projected to cost up to approximately $20 million in total, or $1.93 for every $1.00 borrowed, like a typical home mortgage – though the specific amount will be determined based on many factors (tax rate, market conditions, etc.). 

Are there safeguards for taxpayers? 

State law requires an independent citizens’ oversight committee and annual audits to ensure funds are only spent on voter-approved projects improving classrooms and facilities at Horicon and not used for administration or salaries. 

What about Measure “C” in 1996? 

Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the District paired Measure “C” with considerable philanthropic support and State matching funds to build most of the new, modern Horicon campus. Beyond effectively using all that investment to give us the school we now have, the District has also been a good steward of those dollars, refinancing the bonds when it had the opportunity in 2006 to reduce the total cost of Measure “C” by more than $375,000. Indeed, the tax rate for Measure “C” was $30 per $100,000 of taxable value or less for the past decade, at least $20 per $100,000 less than was estimated in 1996.  

However, more than two decades later, our recently completed needs assessment identified several  millions of dollars of needs, now requiring more resources for repairs and improvements. 

What about other money the District receives from the State? 

Most of our annual operating funding comes directly from the District’s share of the Prop. 13 local property taxes, not from the State. While this has been a tremendous asset and helped us maintain our campus over the years, it is not entirely predictable, requiring us to maintain as much of a reserve as possible. Additionally in Horicon, the District still has to deal with rising costs in necessary construction projects due to the aging campus as well as rapidly increasing costs of materials and labor county-wide. If the District were to fund these projects out of the General Fund, it would likely impact other aspects of our budget (including teacher and staff pay and retention) for several years. However, a new bond measure could help avoid such budget consequences – as well as maintain our beautiful campus and the community’s investment for the long-term future. More generally, annual California education funding is typically used for classroom activities and does not provide us with additional funds for construction projects.  

The District is actively working to gain as much State facilities funding as possible. But any dollars for Horicon will probably not arrive for some years and will require an equivalent local match. Combined with philanthropy and other resources the District is able to obtain, a new bond will allow us to meet all our identified needs, make many of the improvements being considered, fulfill the local match requirement for any State facilities funding, and provide our students with the classrooms and facilities they deserve. 

How are you going to provide options for teacher and workforce temporary housing? 

The District is working with the community to investigate options to use bond funds and the community’s investment to ameliorate a well-known challenge here in Mendonoma – a shortage of teacher and workforce housing – and increase teacher and staff retention. 

Who could vote on a new bond? 

All registered voters within Horicon Elementary School District will be able to vote on a new bond.  

What happens without another bond? 

A significant portion of our needs identified in our needs assessment will remain unaddressed and likely cost more in the years to come. 

https://1drv.ms/w/s!Anks6QDthdq0gQusXWUkgmajqQYy?e=pF5rBA

Please see the attached Facilities Bond proposal for Horicon Elementary.

All voters are invited to attend one of two town hall meetings for this proposed bond for the November election.

Please come out and voice your opinions regarding our needs.

• Tuesday, May 24, 2022, at 5PM at The Del Mar Center
• Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at 5PM at Horicon Cafetorium

Hello Horicon Community,

Due to a local school COVID outbreak, the town hall for tonight has been moved to a virtual meeting.  Please see the below link and passcode to attend.

Thank you!

Horicon elementary school Jeff McFarland is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Virtual Townhall for a proposed school bond.
Time: May 24, 2022 05:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84230508477

Meeting ID: 842 3050 8477
Passcode: eUEn2P
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Dear school families,

As COVID cases driven by the omicron variant and in-person gatherings continue to rise, local school districts and the Sonoma County Office of Education have been fielding frequent questions about whether students need to be tested for the virus before returning to campus.

Although students who have access to tests are encouraged to self-test for COVID-19, there is no requirement that students be tested before returning to school. But students should stay home and seek testing if they have symptoms of COVID-19, which can include fever or chills, a cough, shortness of breath or trouble breathing, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, runny nose, nausea or diarrhea.

Your district is currently working with the Sonoma County Office of Education, in partnership with the California Department of Public Health and Office of Emergency Services, on a distribution of free antigen test kits to school families in early January. Local officials expect to have enough kits, each of which contains two tests, to distribute one for each student. The kits will come with instructions, and instructions in Spanish will be available to those who need them.

If you have not yet received your test kit but need to access testing, you can search for local testing opportunities by clicking “find testing near you” at https://covid19.ca.gov.

Please remember that getting vaccinated against COVID-19 is one of the most effective ways to protect yourself from contracting or spreading the illness, and that vaccines have been shown to prevent severe cases of the respiratory disease. Information about local vaccination clinics can be found at https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/vaccine-information/clinics/ and a schedule of clinics at schools can be found at https://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/school_staff_immunization.html.

Estimadas familias de la escuela:

Dado el aumento de los casos de COVID debido a la variante ómicron y las reuniones en persona, los distritos escolares locales y la Oficina de Educación del Condado de Sonoma han estado respondiendo preguntas frecuentes sobre si los estudiantes deben hacerse la prueba de detección del virus antes de regresar al campus.

Si bien se alienta a los estudiantes que tienen acceso a las pruebas a que se autoevalúen para detectar el COVID-19, no existe ningún requisito que indique que los alumnos deben ser evaluados antes de regresar a la escuela. Pero los estudiantes deben permanecer en casa y buscar pruebas, si presentan síntomas de COVID-19, como fiebre o escalofríos, tos, falta de aire o dificultad para respirar, fatiga, dolores musculares, dolor de cabeza, pérdida del gusto u olfato, dolor de garganta, secreción nasal, náuseas o diarrea.

Su distrito está trabajando actualmente con la Oficina de Educación del Condado de Sonoma, en colaboración con el Departamento de Salud Pública y la Oficina de Servicios de Emergencia de California, para distribuir kits de prueba de antígenos gratuitas para las familias de las escuelas desde principios de enero. Los funcionarios locales esperan tener suficientes kits, cada uno contiene dos pruebas, para distribuir uno para cada estudiante. Los kits vendrán con instrucciones, y las instrucciones en español estarán disponibles para quienes las necesiten.

Una vez que usted tenga estos kits, lo invitamos a que evalúe a su estudiante lo más rápido posible, preferiblemente dentro de un plazo de 10 días.

Si aún no ha recibido su kit, pero necesita acceder a la prueba, puede buscar oportunidades de prueba locales haciendo clic en "find testing near to you" ("encuentre pruebas cerca de usted") en https://covid19.ca.gov.

Recuerde que vacunarse contra el COVID-19 es una de las formas más eficaces para protegerse y evitar contraer o propagar la enfermedad, y tenga en cuenta que se ha demostrado que las vacunas previenen casos graves de la enfermedad respiratoria. Puede encontrar información sobre las clínicas de vacunación locales en https://socoemergency.org/emergency/novel-coronavirus/vaccine-information/clinics/ y el calendario de las clínicas en las escuelas, con folletos en inglés y español en https://www.scoe.org/pub/htdocs/school_staff_immunization.html.

Steven D. Herrington, Ph.D.

Superintendente de Escuelas del Condado de Sonoma

Hello Horicon Community,

Horicon elementary has a vacancy in their governance board.  The term has three years left on the term.

Those interested in becoming a trustee must live in district, and would be advised to attend one of the meetings prior to the February meeting during which candidates will be interviewed and one applicant will be seated.  Meetings are held on the Second Monday of the month, with some exceptions.

Here is the form you would fill out in order to show your interest in running for the board:

Please return it to Shanna at the front desk or digitally to scissna@horiconnsd.org