A group of Monterey parents – angered by a plan they say seeks to improve low-performing Seaside schools at the expense of better-performing Monterey campuses – say they didn’t get straight answers about the plan or the state of the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District.

Now, Colton Middle School parent Pam Silkwood says they want a professional auditor to tell them what’s really going on.

The move comes as the school district considers asking for voter approval of $104 million in school bonds in November to repair aging school infrastructure and fund green energy and classroom technology upgrades. The bonds would cost taxpayers $30 a year for every $100,000 in assessed property value.

In April, school district polling showed a majority of voters would tax themselves to support schools in the district, despite their deep distrust of its management. According to a survey of some 600 likely voters by Oakland based polling firm EMC, 55 percent said they’d support such a bond, even though just one in five said district management was on the right track. Forty-five percent said they believe the district has had problems in the past and continues to be mismanaged.

If they can’t get MPUSD to audit itself, Silkwood says, parents will petition the Monterey County Grand Jury for an audit, or take up a collection to fund one themselves.