Measure C was approved by a majority (59.71%) of the Cold Spring Elementary School District Voters on November 4, 2008.  The ballot measure read as follows:

"To improve the quality of education, shall the Cold Spring School District be authorized to repair, renovate, upgrade, and modernize Cold Spring School by issuing $2,440,000 in bonds within legal interest rates with spending annually reviewed by a citizens' oversight committee, no money for administrator salaries, and all funds are spent locally within the District?"

All funded projects were completed in 2011. The District has a small remaining balance in the Measure C account. The District has compiled relevant information and made it available to the public on this website. Board President Michael Marino has issued the linked statement regarding Measure C expenditures and the Measure C Bond Oversight Committee. Similarly, the Governing Board issued the linked statement to clarify some misinformation about recent Measure L2020 and the 2008 Measure C.

The Bond Oversight Committee meets annually to review Measure C expenditures. The agenda's are posted 72 hours before the meeting in accordance with the California Brown Act. Past agendas and minutes may be access on the District website. For more information about the Measure C Bond Oversight Committee or if you are interested in serving on Committee, please visit our Bond Oversight Committee Page.

Board Resolution 2023-24/08 Measure C Bond Finalization
October 3, 2023 Bond Oversight Committee Report

October 3, 2023 District Presentation to the Bond Oversight Committee

January 19, 2023 Presentation to the Bond Oversight Committee

2021 Bond Oversight Committee Report

As required by Proposition 39, the Cold Spring School District ("District") has annually commissioned financial and performance audits of the expenditure of Measure C Bond funds.  These audits are all available on the District’s website;

In each year that Measure C funds were audited, the audits demonstrated that Measure C Bond funds were spent appropriately;

No material deficiencies were identified by either Moss Levy & Hartzheim, auditing Measure C funds for the years 2009-2010 through 2012-2013, or Christy White & Associates, auditing Measure C funds from 2013-2014 through 2018-2019.

2023 Measure C Performance Audit
2023 Measure C Financial Audit
2022 Measure C Performance Audit
2022 Measure C Financial Audit
2021 Measure C Performance Audit
2021 Measure C Financial Audit
2020 Measure C Audit
2019 Measure C Audit
2018 Measure C Audit
2017 Measure C Audit
2016 Measure C Audit
2015 Measure C Audit (Audit approved by the Board: April 11, 2016)
2014 Measure C Audit (Audit approved by the Board: February 9, 2015)
2013 Measure C Audit (Audit approved by the Board: February 10, 2014)
2012 Measure C Audit (Audit approved by the Board: January 14, 2013)
2011 Measure C Audit (Audit approved by the Board: February 13, 2012)
2010 Measure C Audit (Audit approved by the Board: May 9, 2011)

*Please note that the audits identify the membership of the Measure C Bond Oversight Committee as an information item in the introduction of each Audit.  The information stated in the 2014-2015 through the 2017-2018 audits is inaccurate in that the Committee has not met and the individuals listed had completed their terms.  New members were recently appointed by the Governing Board of the Cold Spring Elementary School District. 

 On December 14, 2020, District General Counsel Yuri Calderon ("Mr. Calderon") publicly reported how and when all Measure C funds were spent and the inadvertent dormancy of the Bond Oversight Committee. The Powerpoint Presentation made to the Governing Board on that date is available to the public for review.

On January 11, 2021, the preeminent global law firm of Nixon Peabody again analyzed District expenditures, and made the following findings:

1. The inadvertent inclusion of inactive Bond Oversight Committee members in the Christy White audits nor the Committee’s dormancy invalidate Measure C expenditures or the audit conclusions;

2. The new District administration has taken prompt action to reconstitute and train a Bond Oversight Committee.

In addition to the Measure C conclusion made by Nixon Peabody, they have also opined the following with respect to the expenditure of developer fees:

1. The classroom upgrade made utilizing developer fees was proper and consistent with the requirements of Education Code section 17620(a)(1);

2. Exploring additional facilities funding necessitated by new development, including the expenditure of funds on a survey, is an appropriate use of Developer Fees (Shapell Industries , Inc., v. Governing Board of the Milpitas Unified School District (1991) 1 Cal App 4th 218);

The Nixon Peabody opinion is available for public review.

During the Board Meeting on Monday, May 10, 2021, the following was presented:

• Measure C:  The District’s Chief Business Officer, Mr. Yuri Calderon, summarized the information made available to the public on the District website regarding Measure C.  Measure C is the Cold Spring School District’s 2008 General Obligation Bond Program.  The information includes legal opinions, PowerPoint Presentations, accounting records, and the District’s Measure C General Ledger.  Every Measure C check written by the District is included in the District’s General Ledger.  The information has been available to the public for over six months.  The following is the link to the Board Presentation.

• FCMAT:  Following Mr. Calderon’s presentation, the District’s special counsel, Greg Rolen, presented regarding a FCMAT Audit. FCMAT is the State’s Financial Crisis & Management Assistance Team that provides audits of school districts when there is evidence of fraud or fiscal crisis. Because there is no evidence of fraud or fiscal crisis, FCMAT’s statutory services are not available to the Cold Spring School District. However, FCMAT also provides a service to school districts called a “Management Review”. Mr. Rolen has discussed the possibility of FCMAT conducting a Management Review of the District’s Measure C program.  The cost for those services is approximately $15,000 to $20,000.  The Board directed Mr. Rolen to seek a proposal from FCMAT for these services to be considered at a future Board meeting.

• The Santa Barbara County Education Office has reviewed the Measure C expenditures and has determined that no County directed audit is warranted. The SBCEO issued a letter to the District on April 29, 2022, setting forth their position.