Mail-in ballots push the high school parcel tax to victory
Measure B, the West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) parcel tax, made it over the hurdles last week, when the registrar of voters posted the final numbers, noting that all votes had been counted. The measure passed with 68.91% of the vote, clearing the two-thirds majority requirement.
“We of course were ecstatic to learn that the Measure B parcel tax had passed,” said Jeanne Fernandes, president of the WSCUHSD board. “Hard work went into this by a myriad of folks, and the district extends our thank yous 1,000 times over to everyone who worked on the project. The number of people who volunteered to help this measure pass is a testament to the widespread support for our schools. A huge thank you goes to our voters, who believe in what we do. Thank you so much, west Sonoma County. We also want to give a tremendous shout out to Jim Walton, who volunteered his time to lead us to victory.”
It’s been a nerve-wracking five months for Walton, who directed the campaign for Measure B. The measure came up a few percentage points short of passing on Election Day, and Walton has spent the last few weeks watching the votes inch ever so slowly upward.
“I’m just glad it’s over and that it passed,” he said.
The passage of Measure B will save the high school district from having to make many of the cuts that it outlined at its last meeting, but the district still has a sizable budget shortfall — and now the coronavirus pandemic has thrown a wild card into the game.
“Prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the district’s budget shortfall was approximately $400,000 for this year,” Fernandes said, noting that that number was based on the assumption that Measure B would pass.
“With the California state budget being stretched due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state of all school budgets are an unknown at this time. We are certain that the Governor’s May revision will look quite different than the budget he proposed in January. All of California’s schools will have to reevaluate their budgets based on the crisis our state and country is currently experiencing. Only time will tell what our district’s budget actually will look like.”
Whatever it looks like, fans of Laguna High School will be on hand in hopes of calling a halt to the district’s plan of possibly moving Laguna to El Molino. Laguna parents are already organizing to make a big showing at the next WSCUHSD board meeting, which will be held on Wednesday, April 8 at 6 p.m. via Zoom. The board meeting will also be streamed on Facebook.
