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For the second time this year, voters are set to decide the fate of parcel tax funding for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District that would succeed a previous measure passed nine years ago, which district officials call a critical source of funding amid ongoing budget turmoil.
Measure Q seeks to maintain existing tax rates amid the looming expiration of Measure A, the $144 annual parcel tax passed by voters in 2015 that generates approximately $6.8 million annually for the district and is set to sunset in June.
In a special election in May, while a majority of voters supported the purported renewal (Measure E) as well as a supplementary $98 parcel tax (Measure F), neither measure gained the required two-thirds voter approval required to pass. Measure E had the support of 62.95% of voters, and Measure F had the support of 57.86% of voters in the final ballot count for the special election.
Opting not to seek a supplementary measure in the general election, the SRVUSD Board of Education decided in a unanimous vote over the summer to place a renewal measure only on November’s ballot amid discussions of ongoing financial strains and the value of maintaining one of its major sources of stable, local funding.
If approved, Measure Q would maintain the existing $144 parcel tax which is set to expire next year if it’s not renewed.
In the official argument in favor of the measure, proponents urge voters to support the measure in order to maintain the existing quality of education in the district and warn of additional budget cuts should it fail to pass.
“The San Ramon Valley Unified School District is one of the highest performing school districts in California and the nation,” proponents wrote in their argument. “By maintaining high quality public schools in our neighborhoods, we protect our local property values and strengthen our community.”
The argument was signed by Contra Costa County Supervisor Candace Andersen, San Ramon Valley Education Association President Laura Finco, former Danville Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Tom Hart, and district parents Krista Glaser and Bhumil Shah.
Currently, the district is tasked with reducing expenses by $16.5 million in the 2025 to 2026 school year, following $10 million in budget cuts during the current school year which included the elimination of more than 40 positions.
Proponents of Measure Q say that the funds are necessary in order to maintain the current level of services at schools throughout the district, noting that no funds from the measure can be used for the payment of often costly administrative salaries and that more budget cuts could be on the way should it fail to pass.
They also emphasize the importance of parcel tax measure funds remaining within the community under local control, compared with other sources of educational funding that are often provided by – and decided on – by the state.
In a rebuttal to the argument in favor, opponents of the measure contend that the district is on a “massive spendathon” and critique what they call a “misuse/waste” of funds for “harmful DEI programming,” as well as on May’s special election.
Critiques in the rebuttal argument include allegations that the district “has prejudiced racial interactions as ‘supremacist’ oppressors vs. victims,” via an unnamed textbook, as well as another unnamed textbook that opponents say “advises 7th graders to check out (vile, misogynistic) ‘Straight Outta Compton’ for ‘change and empowerment,’
Opponents in the rebuttal argument also argue that the district has “confused vulnerably impressionable, very young children with inapposite or ungrammatical pronouns and LGBTQ-themed, read-aloud fictional story books.”
The rebuttal argument critiques the district’s support for trangender students and alleges that it has “contrived secretive ‘Gender Support Plans’ hidden from ever loving, attentive parents unless suddenly gender-confused children permit disclosure.”
“SRVUSD doesn’t need another 9-year parcel-tax extension. It needs better stewardship of excessively generous other funding, a wholesale reordering of priorities, and a return to the proper business of schools — the teaching and learning of beneficial knowledge and skills,” opponents of Measure Q wrote in the rebuttal argument.
The rebuttal argument was signed by school board critic and former teacher Mike Arata; Alamo Realtor and parent of three SRVUSD graduates Heather Kelly; former geoscience technician Carolyn Wetmore, also a parent of three SRVUSD alumni; retired carpenter Brendan Radich; and retired physician Andrew Rodgers, a parent of two SRVUSD alumni.
The official argument against the measure is signed by Arata, Exchange Club and Danville Area Chamber of Commerce member Dee Thompson, financial analyst and former member of the district’s Facilities Oversight Committee Jeff Black and former real estate banking officer Becky Kolberg – all parents of two SRVUSD alumni each – and general contractor Geoff Massa, a parent of three SRVUSD alumni.
Unlike the rebuttal argument in response to the argument in favor of the measure, the argument against the measure does not include critiques of the district’s instructional material and racial and gender equity practices. However, it also points to the cost of the special election earlier this year, and accuses the district of a lack of transparency and accountability.
The opponents’ argument critiques the district’s spending practices overall in addition to the cost of the special election, pointing to declining enrollment plus raises negotiated for unionized teachers and staff that were also applied to administrative salaries via a “me too” clause that has since been removed.
“SRVUSD should reduce its massive overspending, not prolong its parcel-tax cash grab,” opponents wrote in the argument against Measure Q. “Instead, Measure Q still seeks to extend SRVUSD’s annual $6.8 Million additional bonanza another 9 years.”
The rebuttal to the argument against the measure is signed by former San Ramon mayor Bill Clarkson, who is the parent of an SRVUSD alum; Marilyn Lucey, vice president of the Tri-Valley chapter of Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs and a parent of two SRVUSD alumni; SRVUSD Area 2 Trustee Rachel Hurd, who raised three district students; Vanessa Berastain, executive director for the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation and parent of three SRVUSD alumni; and former SRVUSD trustee Paul Gardner, parent of two SRVUSD alumni.
Proponents of the measure call its opponents “misguided and misinformed” and allege that they “are so dead set on taking $7 million in annual local funding from our community’s students and teachers that they are willing to use misleading facts and distortions to defeat a measure that does not increase your taxes.”
“As parents, businesses owners and longtime community members, we won’t stand for that and will stand up for our students, teachers, schools and community by voting Yes on Q,” proponents of Measure Q said in the rebuttal to the argument against the measure.
Proponents in the rebuttal argument contend that opponents of the measure ignore that funds generated by the existing parcel tax have been critical for more than two decades.
“We’re not asking for extravagant or unnecessary programs,” proponents wrote the rebuttal to opponents. “We’re just trying to keep qualified teachers and academics in local classrooms.”
They pointed to existing oversight mechanisms for parcel tax funds and other district budget items including independent citizens’ oversight and annual audits that “ensure all funds are spent as promised,” and point to the SRVUSD’s limited funding sources compared with other districts in the state.
“San Ramon Valley Unified School District is already among the lowest funded unified school districts in California,” proponents wrote in the rebuttal. “Without Measure Q, our funding will only fall further behind.”
More information on the campaign for Measure Q is available at qualitysrvschools.com. More information on the campaign against the measure is available at betterschoolsnotmoretaxes.com.
Voting NO.