A bid by the San Jose Unified School District to renew its $72 parcel tax has been soundly rejected, as a small turnout of district voters was falling nearly 1,700 votes short of the required two-thirds majority in mail ballots counted through May 12.
Since the May 6 deadline to mail ballots for the parcel tax renewal, another 3,671 ballots trickled into the Registrar of Voters office, but the percentages of Yes/No votes held steady, ensuring a defeat for the measure.
The San Jose district – the largest of the city’s 19 school districts – had touted the renewal of a nine-year-old parcel tax as a prerequisite for student success.
But Measure A, as the renewal measure was called, drew the support of 60.5% of the voters in the mail-ballot-only election, according to the Santa County Registrar of Voters.
San José Unified voters had approved a parcel tax, which provides approximately $5 million a year, in 2016. That tax expires June 30.
The district said the parcel tax renewal was necessary to:
- Maintain and improve core academic programming in reading, writing, math, the arts and science
- Improve programs to prepare students for college and careers
- Attract and retain high performing teachers and educational staff
The elections office reported at 5pm May 12 that the parcel tax renewal was approved by 16,268 voters – 60.5% – and rejected by 10,608 voters – 39.5%, far short of the two-thirds majority required for approval.
County election officials said 110 mail ballots remained to be processed, with just one day left for any outstanding mail ballots to arrive and be counted.
Approximately 17.5% of the district’s 153,317 registered voters sent in mail ballots, the county reported.
The parcel tax was supported by majorities in downtown San Jose, but opposition in a dozen precincts in South San Jose ensured its defeat, according to precinct reports by elections officials.
The district said on its website that no money raised by the tax could be used for administrators’ salaries or pensions, and that homeowners age 65 and over and low-income homeowners with disabilities would continue to be eligible for exemption from the parcel tax.
San José Unified voters last year approved Measure R, a school facilities improvement bond measure, for school buildings, technology and equipment. Funds from that bond cannot be used for teaching and academic purposes.
San José Unified School District is a TK-12 unified school district that covers a large portion of the city of San Jose. The district has approximately 25,000 students in 41 schools from downtown San Jose in the north to the Almaden Valley in the south.
Why would South San Jose residents care? Their schools are far better maintained and staffed than downtown area schools – and some feed into union for elementary/mid then campbell district for high school (i.e., alm valley). Same with their parks, sidewalks, etc. Not shocking, sadly – as parts of San Jose, like the South, continue to be buffered from any major issues due to a lack of equity for downtown and east SJ families.
What was San Jose Unified’s response to Covid tyranny? Did they resist opening schools and force masking after reopening? Because it was known from the outset that kids weren’t at risk and masks don’t work to stop respiratory infections. Those responsible should be in prison.
Sorry but Time to Be Honest your comment is misinformed about school attendance boundaries as well as condition of facilities across the district. Facilities are all in poor condition – but that is NOT what this parcel tax supported at all. That would be the recently passed bond measure, which costs home owners in the southern part of the district significantly more than other district areas.
Consultants advised the district that renewing this parcel tax would be easier than putting forward a new one, on the heels of the very pricey bond measure, despite the fact that the funds were VERY loosely aligned with the stated main purposes of the tax:
1. Maintain and improve core academic programming in reading, writing,
math, the arts and science ($25/student for instructional materials)
2. Improve programs to prepare students for college and 21st century
careers (extra hour of library staffing per day)
3. Attract and retain high performing teachers and educational staff
(retention bonus)
For the last several years this parcel tax paid for virtually all, not just “high-performing” teacher and educational staff bonuses, sick time payouts, and media center coverage hours that will be funded from other monies in the future. PTOC minutes verify that the ballot language was misleading and yet rather than clarify and correct, they chose to attempt a renewal. For me, this was not transparent and past spending (or discussions for future dependent care payment for certain staff) does not achieve the goals of the tax.
Like much of California, the San Jose Unified School District doesn’t have a problem with tax revenue; it has a problem managing taxpayer resources responsibly.
Why did I vote against it? Leadership of SJUSD is rotten to the core. Until Alberran resigns and this school board is voted out I will not trust them with my tax money. See the civil grand jury report. https://santaclara.courts.ca.gov/system/files/civil/district-adrift-leadership-issues-san-jose-unified-school-district-final.pdf