Monterey County school administrators and community leaders pressed voters Wednesday to support a March ballot measure designed to fund construction and repairs at public schools.

Proposition 55 supporters gathered for a news conference at La Mesa Elementary School on Wednesday morning to kick off a statewide campaign for the measure that would provide California public school districts with $12.3 billion. About a half dozen people spoke at the meeting.

If the measure passes in March, up to $50 million in matching grant funds could be made available over the next 10 years to the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District and $75 million for new construction projects, said Daniel Callahan, MPUSD superintendent.

The news conference was held at La Mesa, because the school is a good example of how the district's schools are in need of repair, Callahan said.

Construction crews discovered an extensive dry-rot problem in the building during a routine roofing project last year and the state approved emergency funds for the repairs. Unfortunately, not enough state funds are available to complete the project at this time, Callahan said.

Peter Smith, president of CSU-Monterey Bay, spoke about how higher education would receive money from the bond funds. CSU-Monterey Bay would be able to collect about $18 million for campus improvements if the measure passes, he said.

"We can afford it and we know it," Smith said. "It's good economics, because it spins off jobs. This is billions of dollars going into the community at a time when it will return real value."

Roger Dahl, La Mesa principal, deals with repair requests daily. The state estimates that schools have a shelf life of about 40 years, he said, and the district has only two schools that are less than 40 years old. That means the district has a lot of repairs to make, he said.

Beverly Bean, president of the League of Women Voters of the Monterey Peninsula, said public schools really need the funds from the proposition.