Elections: South Bay, Peninsula schools seek bonds, parcel taxes

snoguchi@mercurynews.com

Faced with overflowing classrooms amid an economy finally out of the doldrums, 13 school districts in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties hope voters will tax themselves to pay for such things as new schools, technology and teachers’ salaries.

South Bay and Peninsula voters historically have done so, even during the Great Recession, passing tax measures with the required supermajorities — 55 percent for bonds and two-thirds for parcel taxes.

One of the unusual measures on the Nov. 4 ballot is East Side Union High School District’s $113.2 million measure to fund technology for 18 years. East Side officials hope Measure I will solve a perennial problem common among schools: how to pay for technology.

The Fremont Union High School District school district in Sunnyvale and Cupertino is going after two tax measures. The district is trying to accommodate projected enrollment growth of 1,800 students in six years. So it wants a six-year extension of its $98 parcel tax for teachers and programs, in addition to a $295 million bond measure.

“We wanted to be able to do responsible multi-year budgeting,” said trustee Bill Wilson.

A survey indicated voter support for both measures.

Belmont-Redwood Shores is seeking its fourth bond in 10 years. It’s received enthusiastic response to its call for endorsements, and as a result isn’t planning any phone banking, said campaign co-chairwoman Kelly Redmon. The district needs more classrooms, she said, with enrollment growing 42 percent in seven years enrollment and projected to continue increasing.

Most campaigners, however, are taking nothing for granted.

Supporters of Measure N in Los Altos have been phone banking, and plan to walk precincts next weekend. “Our school district is growing by leaps and bounds,” said campaign chair Vaishali Sirkay. To keep small neighborhood schools, she said, the district needs funds for another school site.

While a truce has resolved legal disputes with Bullis Charter School, bitterness remains after a decade of discord. But when people ask why the district might be raising taxes to build a school for Bullis — whose lawsuits have cost the district millions of dollars — Sirkay points out that the charter school must find a permanent home. Allowing it to displace a neighborhood school isn’t an option that most residents would accept, she said, and the district needs to house all students.

Santa Clara also hopes to build new schools, a K-8 and high school on the former Agnews Developmental Center site in North San Jose, to accommodate skyrocketing growth from new construction. “We have the land, but we have no funds to build a school there,” said campaign chair Teresa O’Neill. Measure H would generate monies for construction and improvements districtwide in energy efficiency and modernization.

Most of the measures do not face active campaigns against them, although the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association submitted ballot statements in opposition to all the school tax measures.

“Taxes are killing the middle class,” said Mark Hinkle, the group’s president, as he listed the various taxes residents pay. “We, in California, are suffering death by a thousand cuts.”

The Berryessa Union School District in San Jose faces opposition to its $77 million bond from two activists, David Hernandez and Dale Warner, who say the district hasn’t been accountable in construction spending.

Besides, “there’s no evidence-based research that bonds increase student achievement,” said Hernandez, a former school board candidate.

Berryessa Superintendent Will Ector said the district has been both accountable and transparent. Trustee David Cohen points to the need. The district hasn’t passed a bond in 15 years, and two middle schools have gyms with linoleum tile floors, so their basketball teams can’t play home games. Among a host of other needs, Cohen said, campuses need fencing for security, driveways need to be reconfigured to handle traffic, and technology needs updating.

Contact Sharon Noguchi at 408-271-3775. Follow her on Twitter at @noguchionk12.