Dixon School Board Meeting Gets Heated Over $47 Million Proposal To Repair Schools

DIXON (CBS13) - Some Dixon schools are in disrepair and in desperate need of help; and a school board meeting about how to fix the problems got a little heated.

"I mean this has become a facilities wish list really," said board member Joe DiPaole.

There were fiery words Thursday at the Dixon Unified school board meeting.

"So astronomical and so ridiculous," said DiPaole.

At one point the board's president was forced to cut the member off.

It was his reaction to the faculties department's proposal to ask voters to pass a $47.5 million obligation bond that would pay for repairs at the district's half a dozen schools.

At Anderson Elementary on Dixon's C Street, classrooms haven't seen new curtains or a fresh coat of paint in more than a decade.

"The gutter is just literally eaten away," said chief business official Cecile Nunley. "There's been numerous leaks here around the lights."

Leaks are so bad that teachers place buckets in just about every room every time it rains.

The facilities department lost $140,000 of state money a couple years ago and now many repairs aren't fixed right away if at all.

"It's nonstop, I mean it's not just at this school. We have problems at the other schools too," said a school employee.

The laundry list of problems include: torn carpets, deteriorating fields, and one school even reported an infestation of bats.

"I would say by far this one needs the most repairs," said Nunley.

At Anderson there's no air conditioning inside its cafeteria and gym.

"The fields need repairs, it's a safety issue, I think, for the school kids," said parent John Moraes.

Moraes grew up in Dixon and now his kids go to the same schools he did.

"I think they put a band-aid on it and they haven't repaired. There's other more important things on their agenda than, I think, repairing a school," said Moraes.