This story was originally published in the March 23 edition of the Daily Post. To get important local news stories first, pick up the Post in the mornings at 1,000 Mid-Peninsula locations.
Enrollment in the East Palo Alto-based Ravenswood School District is expected to jump by 21% due to the decision last year by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan to close a private school they had opened, a ballot argument for a bond measure states.
Zuckerberg and Chan announced last April that they are closing tuition-free The Primary School, forcing over 400 students to find a new school. Most of those students will end up in the Ravenswood City School District.
Zuckerberg and Chan’s charity, which provided the funds to the school, didn’t provide a reason why the couple cut off funding.
In the June 2 special election, voters will decide the fate of the bond measure, known as Measure A. The ballots will be mailed to registered voters in early May and they’ll be due June 2. If Measure A passes, it will raise property taxes in the Ravenswood City School District, which includes East Palo Alto and part of east Menlo Park.
The increase in students, from 1,400 to 1,700, is an argument proponents of Measure A give in their ballot statement.
The ballot argument is signed by two school board members, Laura Nunez and Jenny Bloom, and three residents, Olatunde Sobomehin of the StreetCode Academy, Juanita Croft and Marco Chavez.
The bond measure, which will be repaid through a property tax increase, will pay for improvements to classrooms. The bond measure would generate $4.9 million annually. The tax rate for the bond would be $27.50 per $100,000 of a property’s appraised value.
Zuckerberg and Chan decided to close The Primary School in April 2025 before they moved to Miami, Fla., to avoid a possible tax on billionaires the SEIU-Healthcare Workers West union is trying to get on the November ballot.
Measure A opponent
The author of the ballot argument against Measure A is Mark W.A. Hinkle, a Libertarian who frequently files ballot statements in opposition to tax increases. He asks if the school board are puppets of the unions, if the schools teach the students propaganda and whether the unions shut down schools during the pandemic.
He points out that there will be no oversight or accountability if the tax passes, and that there’s no project list.
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