Tonight at a special board meeting (where I actually dialed in from New Orleans — on a business trip), the School Board unanimously approved placing a measure on the November ballot to increase the existing parcel tax by $75 per parcel, for a total of $185. In addition, this measure would not have a set term, which is frankly what the most successful school districts have done.
Next steps — an independent campaign committee will be formed (technically, the school district or the school board can no longer officially do any work to promote the measure — although we all could certainly act as individuals in our own time). The campaign committee would raise the required money and run the campaign.
What you can do to help:
- Donate money to the campaign (more info on this soon)
- Volunteer for the campaign
- Tell all of your friends to do the same
- Vote YES on the measure in November
This November promises to be an exciting election for many reasons, and it’s absolutely critical that we pass this parcel tax measure to ensure that we’re doing the most we can for the kids of San Carlos. This money will go to new programs and to attract and retain excellent teachers. In addition, it will give us a stable source of income which is crucial given how unstable state funding has been (and will likely continue to be).
I will contiue to update you more as this process moves forward — but in my humble opinion, this is probably going to be the most important issue we tackle this decade! Because without the resources, all of our dreams of an inspired education for our children are just that — dreams.
