Marie Godderis/City Crier File Picture
Montclaire Elementary Faculty, above, is the one college within the Cupertino Union Faculty District positioned in Los Altos.
The Cupertino Union Faculty District Board of Trustees voted unanimously Thursday (Jan. 21) to position a parcel tax on a Could four poll, although some trustees expressed skepticism in regards to the measure’s probability to cross.
“I simply am significantly involved about whether or not or not we’re going to have the help to get 67%,” mentioned Phyllis Vogel, the longest-serving present trustee and a former trainer and administrator within the district.
Parcel taxes require two-thirds approval. The district tried and did not cross a parcel tax through the March 2020 major election. Though almost 60% voted for the measure, it fell wanting the required two-thirds.
CUSD is now going to attempt once more, asking voters to help a $398 tax on every parcel of land throughout the district. That might change the present $250 Measure A parcel tax, for a rise of $148 per parcel. The brand new tax would elevate an estimated $14 million yearly and final for eight years.
The board’s resolution to position the measure on the poll comes as CUSD faces a troublesome monetary image. The district has skilled declining enrollment in recent times and made repeated price range cuts. CUSD will get much less cash per scholar than many neighboring districts and is primarily funded based mostly on scholar inhabitants by the state, fairly than by native property taxes.
Final fall, the district was contemplating closing a number of colleges as quickly because the 2021-2022 college 12 months to save cash. That prospect met with sharp opposition from dad and mom, who turned out in massive numbers to talk at board conferences, signal petitions and attend protests.
The trustees have pledged that if the parcel tax passes, no colleges can be closed for monetary causes through the eight years the tax is in impact.
Because the board formally determined Thursday night to place the tax on the poll, solely six members of the general public turned out to talk. That was a far cry from the quantity who spoke out towards college closures just a few months in the past.
‘We don’t have a alternative’
At Thursday’s assembly, Vogel mentioned she didn’t assume the possibilities for passage seemed good, based mostly on the general public feedback that night time, emails despatched to the board and engagement numbers for an internet site meant to gauge help for a parcel tax.
“I perceive that if we determine to not exit for the parcel tax, then we’re placing ourselves between a rock and a tough place, as a result of then we’re pressured to make some draconian choices with out giving the neighborhood yet another probability to assist us,” she mentioned. “However giving the neighborhood yet another probability to assist us goes to price us 1,000,000 {dollars}.”
That’s roughly the quantity the district estimates it is going to price to position the parcel tax on the poll. The less different gadgets on the poll, the dearer it typically is. The price of an election is break up among the many numerous measures.
Trustee Satheesh Madhathil mentioned that for the reason that marketing campaign to cross the parcel tax is simply beginning, gaining help will take time and requires extra voter schooling.
“I perceive the challenges round this, however we don’t have a alternative,” Madhathil mentioned. “I feel we ventured in and that is the one method through which we will save the district.”
Finally, all 5 trustees voted to position the measure on the poll.
Among the many half dozen public commenters on the assembly, some mentioned the board ought to be closing colleges fairly than asking voters for extra money, whereas others needed the board to vow to carry off on closing colleges for any cause, together with low enrollment.
Though the district has promised to not shut colleges for monetary causes if the parcel tax passes, it has left the door open to different causes for closures, together with the declining variety of college students within the district. Enrollment has dropped from a peak of 19,194 college students in 2013 to roughly 15,680 in 2020.
The trustees typically agreed to prioritize the problem of declining enrollment within the subsequent few months, and work on figuring out what their course of and issues can be for non-financially pushed college closures. Nevertheless, trustees differed considerably in whether or not they supported making a agency dedication to not shut colleges as a consequence of low enrollment.
If the parcel tax fails, Superintendent Stacy McAfee-Yao mentioned the board would doubtless be taking a look at pulling numerous “levers” to chop spending beginning within the 2022-2023 college 12 months. These may embrace closing colleges, rising class sizes and implementing furlough days. Some smaller cuts may doubtlessly be carried out as quickly as the autumn, McAfee-Yao mentioned.
Past the problem of faculty closures, trustee Sylvia Leong mentioned it’s an “indisputable fact that we simply don’t have sufficient funding” and mentioned she desires to ensure that will get communicated to the general public.
“We all know what we want. We all know what our children want. We all know what the district wants,” Leong mentioned. “We simply have to ensure that that message is obvious to the voters.”
The post CUSD board approves parcel tax for May ballot appeared first on Correct Success.
source https://correctsuccess.com/taxes/cusd-board-approves-parcel-tax-for-may-ballot/
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