Ukiah School students study March 14, 2023, in the school library. Ukiah School District voters in the primary election May 21 will decide whether to fund a $1.5 million bond for improvements to the 100-year-old schoolhouse.

UKIAH — Ukiah School District voters will decide in the primary election May 21 whether to fund a $1.5 million bond, which would double with a match from a state grant. The district seeks new siding for its 100-year-old schoolhouse, plus a few extras.

“The siding on the school building is from 1981,” said Dustin Schock, the school’s library technician. “It’s starting to deteriorate, and we need to replace that.”

He said the school also wants to move the library out of the building, to free up some space, and move the collection into its own building, to be constructed.

Schock said the school’s leadership also wants to make some renovations, including improving accessibility in the main entryway, removing any remaining asbestos and upgrading the elevator that is 50 years old and near its end because there are no replacement parts.

The schoolhouse has 31 students in grades K-12. The school’s staff consists of the superintendent, an administration assistant, two staff members, two elementary teachers and four teachers who cover grades seven through 12.

“I mean, we’re not asking a lot — we really want to just maintain and make sure the school is here and in good condition moving forward,” Schock said. “Realistically, because the buildings are old, it’s hard for us to expand. We figure the easiest way to do that is to take the library, which is in the middle of the school and has roughly 750 square feet, and move it out of the building itself, make it more accessible to the public, and make it slightly bigger.”

He said that strategy would open up “a whole new classroom for the school, maybe programming or technology, career and technical education, or something along those lines.”

Schock said the library construction would be a new capital project and it will be right there on school property.

“Technically, it would still be the school library, but because we’re already open to the public here, it would be easier to have public access if we’re not interrupting school and people aren’t coming into the school building,” he said. “So it’s kind of a safety issue.”

Any approved bond issue will mean an increase in taxes.

“Well, nobody wants to pay extra taxes,” Schock said. “That’s a given. However, I would say most of the response from the community is positive. They understand the school has been here for 100 years, and it’s going to take some investment for it to be here for hopefully another 50-100 years. I don’t think we’re ever going to get the funding to build a new school, that’s for certain.”

If there was no Ukiah School, Schock guessed the closest available schools would be in Pilot Rock. However, this small community with a century-old school building has created emotional attachments across multiple generations, he said.

“We have a large amount of support from the alumni,” Schock said. “Very much of the community is on board and is excited about the ability to keep this up and running. There’s a long-standing history. We have people on our council for the bond who are sixth-generation families who have been here for 100 years, and they have grandkids here. It’s a big deal to a lot of the people, and the school itself is kind of the hub of the community.”