2026 School Bond Transparency Report Card
Taxpayers Association Releases 2026 School Bond Transparency Report Card
Grades climb across San Diego County as three districts with 2024 bonds are reviewed for the first time and National School District posts the year’s biggest turnaround
San Diego, CA (October 7, 2026) -- The San Diego County Taxpayers Association today released its 2026 School Bond Transparency Report Card, the 14th annual review of how openly San Diego County’s K-12 and community college districts report on the use of voter approved bond dollars. This year’s report card grades 24 districts with active bond programs on 25 criteria and finds transparency improving across the region: the average score rose to 92 percent, up from 87 percent last year, and no district received a failing grade.
When California voters approved Proposition 39 in 2000, they lowered the vote needed to pass a local school bond to 55 percent. In exchange, each district must appoint an independent Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC) to monitor how bond proceeds are spent and report back to the public. The Transparency Report Card holds districts to that bargain. It does not judge whether a district’s projects are worthwhile or well built; it asks whether the information taxpayers need to answer those questions -- project lists and expenditures, independent audits, annual reports, and oversight committee records -- is actually posted and easy to find.
The criteria cover five areas: the oversight committee itself, program management, financial management, the annual audit, and the annual report. Several look specifically at whether a CBOC plays a real role in oversight, including whether it meets at least four times a year, keeps its membership and vacancies current, observes the selection of the bond auditor, weighs in on the scope of the audit, and reviews the audit before it goes to the governing board.
Three districts added this year. The 2026 report card adds another three districts whose voters approved new bond measures in 2024: Encinitas Union School District, San Diego Community College District, and San Marcos Unified School District. All three are being graded for the first time in recent years, and two made strong debuts: San Marcos Unified and San Diego Community College District both earned an “A+”, while Encinitas Union earned a “B”.
“Voters approved these bonds on the promise that they would be able to see where the money goes,” said Mark Kersey, president and CEO of the Taxpayers Association. “Each year, more districts in San Diego County are keeping that promise. The districts that climbed the furthest didn’t do anything complicated. They posted their audits, listed their projects and spending, and let their oversight committees do their jobs. That is a standard every district can meet.”
Seven districts earned perfect “A+” grades in 2026:
· Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District
· MiraCosta Community College District
· Palomar Community College District
· San Diego Community College District
· San Diego Unified School District
· San Marcos Unified School District
· Vista Unified School District
Another nine districts earned an “A” or “A-”: Cajon Valley Union School District, Del Mar Union School District, La Mesa-Spring Valley School District, National School District, Oceanside Unified School District, San Dieguito Union High School District, San Ysidro School District, Southwestern Community College District, and Sweetwater Union High School District. In all, 16 of the 24 districts graded landed in the “A” range, compared with 12 of 23 last year. Seven districts earned grades in the “B” range. Fallbrook Union High School District received the lowest grade, a “D,” and was the only district to fall below the “B” range.
Key findings from the 2026 report card:
· Biggest improvement: National School District jumped from a “D” to an “A,” gaining eight points to finish at 24 out of 25. The district now holds at least four oversight committee meetings a year, posts project information, expenditures, and its current audit online, and involves its CBOC in selecting the auditor and shaping the audit.
· Big gains from last year’s low scorers: Chula Vista Elementary School District rose from a “D+” to a “B+,” and Lemon Grove School District climbed from a “D+” to a “B.” Both posted information that had been missing a year ago and brought their oversight committees into the selection of the bond auditor.
· A two-year turnaround: Sweetwater Union High School District has gone from an “F” in 2024 to a “B” in 2025 to an “A” this year.
The most common shortfall – hitting 14 districts – was having not completed an expanded performance audit or third-party construction program performance review in the past three years. These reviews look beyond whether bond money went to eligible projects to whether the construction program itself is being managed effectively and efficiently. The next most frequently missed criteria all involved the oversight committee: six districts do not give their CBOC input on the scope of the annual audit, six held fewer than four committee meetings during the year, and four do not allow a committee member to observe the selection of the bond auditor. By contrast, nearly every district now posts its committee bylaws, current audit, annual report, and a summary of the past year’s accomplishments.
Before grades were finalized, each district received its draft report card and an opportunity to submit documentation or corrections. As in past years, grading emphasized the transparency a district practices throughout the year, not only materials posted once the review was underway.
“A school bond is a commitment property owners carry for decades, and the oversight has to last just as long,” said Mike McLaughlin, chairman of the Taxpayers Association Board of Directors. “The biggest remaining gaps are in performance audits and in the independence of oversight committees -- the pieces that tell taxpayers not just how bond money was spent, but how well. We also encourage residents to consider serving as the taxpayer representative on their local oversight committee. Those volunteers are the front line of bond accountability.”