Updated tally shows school tax wins
By Daily Journal Staff ReportPublished February 25, 2010, 02:36 AM
A seven-year renewal and $96 increase to a parcel tax benefiting the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District barely passed the two-thirds threshold, a win district officials say will mean fewer layoffs in the coming year.
Ballots for Measure A were due Tuesday by 8 p.m. Yesterday, updated final numbers showed 67 percent of the votes, 14,689, favored the measure. Passing Measure A will mean $6 million annually for the district but does not eliminate the need for cuts. The district anticipates $3 million to $5 million in cuts even with the measure.
Questions arose yesterday when voters noted the number of ballots cast was larger than the number of ballots counted. For example, the count election’s office shows 21,944 ballots cast but only 21,927 are present in the count.
Election Manager David Tom explained the total number of votes cast seldom matches the total votes as there are situations where a ballot cast is not tallied such as undervotes, mis-marking of ballots, etc. Percentages are representative of votes that are counted.
Since 1991, the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District has benefited from a parcel tax renewed in June 2003. The $75 parcel tax, which is now $87 due to built-in inflation, means about $2 million in annual district revenue and was set to end in 2010.
Last week the district debuted a plan to cut over 100 employees — 55 elementary school teachers, teacher support positions, counselors, psychologists, specialists, middle school elective teachers — which should not be the reality given Measure A’s passage. Cuts are still needed. The district is expected to make a vote on some budget cuts Thursday, March 4.
"Our primary mission was to inform and educate the community," Reed said. "During the month of May we attempted to call every homeowner in [the La Cañada school district] three times."
Reed said he and the other members of his team knew that is was going to be a close election. Anger is running high about state government finances, he noted, and the committee was careful to distinguish the parcel tax from the unsuccessful May 19 state-wide ballot measures.
Speaking on Monday before the results were made public, David Wilcox, president of the Foothill Republican Assembly, said he strongly opposed the tax because he felt it would do nothing to fix the ongoing, long-term problem of educational funding.
Wilcox teaches aerospace engineering at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles. He said he has had several La Cañada High School graduates pass through his classroom but his top students, he said, are always foreigners. The public education system in the United States, he said, is consistently failing to compete with those of other countries.
Public education is too often dominated by union interests, he argued.
If the La Cañada School district wants to save money, it should look to renegotiate its union contracts, he said.
"We are only going to improve education in America if we are going to do something to put some competition in the mix," Wilcox said. "My primary reason for opposing the parcel tax is that it is going to virtually nothing to improve the education system."
But those celebrating at Tuesday's wrap-up party believe that the additional funds will make a difference.
La Cañada school board member Cindy Wilcox (no relation to David Wilcox) said residents know that one of the city's greatest assets is its outstanding schools and their ongoing support reflects that. The money generated by the parcel tax, a total of approximately $4.5 million, will go a long way in bolstering the district as it faces multi-million dollar shortfalls in the coming years, she said.
"For us it is substantial," Wilcox said. "We are a small district and that kind of money makes a big difference to us. It will have a big difference on the class sizes and the programming we can offer."
Also in attendance at Tuesday's celebration was state Assembly member Anthony Portantino, 44th District.
"It is a great district with a community that respects the work that is being done and believes in the mission of the LCUSD," Portatino said.
Deborah Weirick, outgoing LCFEF president, said she was elated by the announcement that the measure had passed.
"We didn't know how this was progressing," Weirick said. "We all felt confident that the community would come through for the kids, but there is always that off chance that it won't."
Incoming LCFEF president Jack Schaedel said shepherding a parcel tax through a largely Republican district was no small feat. It proves that education remains a top priority for La Cañadans.
"This is just so great," Schaedel said. "As my first act I can rally the troops and tell all the members of the foundation that the community is overwhelmingly behind it."
