The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District won’t ask voters to approve a bond measure this year.

Earlier this month, Superintendent Antonio Garcia announced that the district would not put the bond measure on the ballot for the Nov. 3 election.

Garcia said district officials had evaluated during the past several months potentially putting a measure for facilities on the ballot. 

That included meeting with staff at the school sites, conducting community outreach and surveying likely voters.

“Although the need to address school overcrowding and other facility improvements remains clear, the ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty appears to be affecting voter support for school bond measures across the state,” he said. “Based on that assessment, November 2026 is not the optimal time to pursue a bond.”

District leaders will continue the community outreach efforts during the next two years and reassess the feasibility of putting a bond measure on the 2028 ballot, he added.  

Two years ago, the high school district’s bond measure failed to gather voter support at the same time the Santa Maria-Bonita School District’s effort passed. 

Dubbed Measure J2024, the $194 million measure received yes votes from 53% of those who cast ballots. It needed 55% to pass.

In comparison, Santa Maria-Bonita’s $77 million Measure K2024 passed with 62% of the vote. 

The Santa Maria Joint Union High School District includes Santa Maria, Orcutt, Guadalupe, Los Alamos, Casmalia, Sisquoc, Garey and Tanglewood.

The district has roughly 9,000 ninth- through 12th-grade students who attend the three comprehensive high schools — Santa Maria, Righetti and Pioneer Valley — plus Delta High, a continuation school. 

While the high school district will bypass a measure, Allan Hancock Community College District voters will consider a $290 million bond request on Nov. 3 for various projects focused on the repairs, upgrades and modernization projects at campus facilities.