Confusion blamed for defeat of parcel tax

BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer

A parcel tax for the Redwood City Elementary School District came up short because voters were confused and want to see more results, the board president said yesterday.

Redwood City’s Measure C faced online pushback — some fair, and some misdirected, board president David Weekly said in an interview.

For example, some voters said they opposed the parcel tax because the district closed TIDE Academy, a small tech-focused school in Menlo Park. But TIDE Academy is part of the completely separate Sequoia Union High School District.

Voters also may not understand the difference between a parcel tax and school bond measures, which Redwood City has passed twice to pay for facility renovations.

“Folks may have looked at that and said, ‘Hey, we already gave the district some money. Isn’t that good enough?’ and may not have really been able to understand school finance, which is admittedly a very complicated subject,” Weekly said.

Money from the parcel tax would’ve been used to give teachers raises, Weekly said.

The parcel tax would’ve brought in $12.2 million annually for eight years, with property owners charged 17.5 cents per building square foot.

That comes out to $350 per year for a 2,000-square-foot home.

The district’s current budget is $151 million and will remain balanced without the tax, Weekly said.

The district already has an $85 per-parcel tax, approved in November 2016 to bring in $1.9 million per year.

The district has 12 schools and 7,428 students. The board has tried to reduce the number of administrators as enrollment declines, Weekly said.

“That’s been difficult but also healthy.

But we’re at a point now where we could really use the community’s support to keep our teacher pay, especially for folks who are newer to the profes-sion, competitive with surrounding districts,” he said.

The district could miss out on higher qualified teachers starting in the 2027-2028 school year, Weekly said.

“It’s a bummer,” he said.

Weekly said he saw “Yes on Measure C” signs throughout Redwood City. A campaign led by parents Jessica Shade and Carlo Contavalli had an online presence and information sessions with PTAs.

The Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association wrote a ballot argument against the measure, but there was no organized opposition.

Moving forward, the district needs to show results on state test scores, improving English literacy by third grade and ensuring students are reaching their expected growth each school year, Weekly said.