The Emerald Hills Blog

Is two-thirds too tough?

Senator Joe Simitian thinks so.  That’s why he is pushing for an amendment to the constitution to lower the approval required for school parcel taxes from the existing 66.7% to 55%, citing the need to help school districts out in tough times.  For a good article on the new bill, read Heather Murtagh’s article in the Daily Journal:  Bill to Ease Tax Passage.

Another run?

What didn’t escape School District board members and supporters of Measure E was the fact that had this bill already been in place, Redwood City’s Measure E would have easily passed in the last election. Does this mean another run down the road for a school parcel tax in Redwood City?
The bill still faces significant challenges before it becomes law, but you have to believe many school districts on the Peninsula, including Redwood City, are watching this one very closely.
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Measure E Failure

You had to know that when Redwood City’s Measure E went down to defeat last week that big cuts were likely coming to the Redwood City School District.  Well, the other shoe has dropped, so to speak, and some of the cuts and changes that are needed to shave $10.7M out of the budget were announced yesterday.   Suffice it say that the cuts are deep.

Bigger Classrooms, Fewer Teachers

The most noticeable change in Redwood City Schools will mean fewer classrooms for more students.  The combination of teacher layoffs and elimination of programs means the average number of students per classroom will increase significantly, possibly as high as 28 per classroom in the higher grades.

For more details on the proposed changes to the school district, read this article from the Daily Journal:  Classroom may close to fill Redwood City School Budget Gap.

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Measure E Defeated

As reported this morning in the Mercury News,   Redwood City’s Measure E did not garner the necessary 2/3 votes to pass in yesterday’s special election.   The $91 per parcel proposed tax only received 62.1% of the yes votes required for passage, with all precincts reporting their results.   This is an especially tough defeat for the Redwood City School District — not only will they not get the estimated $2.2M influx of annual funds that the parcel tax would have generated, but they’re now stuck with footing the bill for the pre-election consultants, as well as the entire cost of running the election since there were no other issues on this ballot.   Ouch….

Here’s the article in today’s Mercury — >  Measure E Fails at the Polls.

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