BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
The Palo Alto school board is grappling with whether to ask voters to renew a parcel tax sooner or later.
A special election on March 2 would give the board and employees more certainty about potential layoffs as the district faces $33 million in budget cuts for the next school year, Superintendent Jason Glass said at a meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 13).
But an election on May 7 would give the district more time to do polls, build trust and tailor the ballot question to what voters want.
“People don’t generally give their money to organizations that they feel are in disarray or that they don’t trust,” said Glass, who has been trying to rebuild trust since he was hired over the summer.
The board agreed to have a special meeting to discuss the election date with consultant Charles Heath.
The district’s parcel tax, which brings in $17 million per year, is set to expire next year after a renewal came up short in the June 2 election.
At the same time, the district is facing budget cuts driven by new union contracts that gave employees a 10.4% raise and $10,000 in bonuses.
The deadline to give layoff notices to teachers is March 15.
Board members said they’re interested in a March 2 election to avoid unnecessary notices, which may cause teachers to look for other jobs.
“I really worry about the impact of notices going out, not just on the people who receive the notices, but on the morale of their colleagues,” board member Alison Kamhi said.
Board member Shana Segal said she would keep the parcel tax at $941 per year, rather than the $800 parcel tax that failed in June.
Segal said the parcel tax is more likely to pass because the district’s budget outlook is clear.
“I think it would actually pass in November if it were on the ballot,” she said.
Last attempt failed
The parcel tax in June received 62.4% support and needed two-thirds support to pass. The tax faced an unprecedented opposition campaign from former board members Todd Collins and Ken Dauber. They criticized the district for overstating its financial needs.
The last time a parcel tax failed in Palo Alto was November 2004, when a $521 tax fell less than 1% short of two-thirds approval. Supporters regrouped and passed a $465 tax with 73% support in June 2005.
While the board decides when to ask voters to renew the parcel tax, Palo Alto voters are casting their ballots to decide whether to raise the city’s sales tax by half a cent. If approved, Measure P will allow the city to buy eight acres of the Cubberley Community Center from the school district for $65 million.
A stellar argument why new blood is needed on the School Board, hopefully with at least some capacity for self-reflection.
Here we go again heading for the same dead end.
Why are we not voting on this in two weeks? Why are they scheduling special elections at random times of year when people with kids and jobs are not paying attention and the electorate is overwhelmingly oldsters. That the upcoming November election was not going to be kind to real estate barons was obvious a mile away. No need to pay an “election consultant” to tell you that….yet somehow this was missed?
NO
不
Live within your means
The only hope for PAUSD to pass a new parcel tax is getting new board members like John and Avery elected. The voting taxpayers are literally screaming for transparency, accountability and change from status quo. In order to maintain some balance, deals will need to be cut for some, but the hammer will need to come down on others like Don’s leftovers. Charen and Herb are the main culprits of PAUSD’s self-inflicted -$33 million deficit, full stop. The CBO is the person responsible for “FINANCIAL STABILITY” of the district. And why did Herb offer the unions what the Palo Alto taxpayers couldn’t afford? Jason needs to have some discernment and situational awareness that those responsible are not in the “rear view” but in fact are in the driver’s seat still and one of them was recently promoted even after the union contract debacle, huh? Jason needs to be laser focused and stop getting distracted with issues that are not in his job description and completely out of his jurisdiction. Stay in your lane Jason, focus on Palo Alto Unified. If employees are inevitably going to get pink slips, show some real leadership and start with those responsible – Charen and Herb. November 3rd cannot come fast enough! John and Avery please be ready to hit the ground running. The community will quickly rally behind you guys when you direct Jason to make the accountability changes necessary in order to gain back the voting tax payers’ trust.
What a great campaign that will be! They’ll say: We need your tax dollars because we gave away the store to the teachers unions and now we’re on the verge of bankruptcy and state receivership. So, please, send us more tax dollars. We’ll be responsible this time. No more $18,000 sushi machines. Promise. Pinky swear.
Teachers are making out like bandits but Alison Kamhi is worried about teacher morale if the district sends out a few layoff notices. Please,
Palo Alto voters are addicted to voting for people who are 100% dedicated to blocking new ideas. They trade jobs with each other. Why not have some new blood who have achieved in areas other than politics, such as Wang and Craig. Take Joe Simitian as Mr. Bad Example. He’s been on the Palo Alto school board, the Palo Alto City Council, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, the state Senate and the state Assembly. He just recently lost a bid for Congress. He’s intimately involved with the whole incestuous system and yet people in Palo Alto think he’s wonderful. We need to put the career politicians out of business and give others a chance.
It’s like a pig at the trough. They can’t stop eating