[Marin-d] Tues. Art, athletics at stake in Novato schools tax vote

[david quinley]

Growing up as a teen in Novato - these type of programs - where often the things that kept me going - David Q
 
Art, athletics at stake in Novato schools tax vote
 
Rob Rogers
Posted: 05/30/2009 07:46:57 PM PDT

Click photo to enlarge 
Music students rehearse in Jason Eckl s band class at Sinaloa Middle... (IJ photo/Robert Tong)
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	* »With art and music programs, libraries, smaller classes and even high school sports programs at stake, Novato school officials say it's crucial voters on Tuesday pass a $96 parcel tax extension. 
"Without it passing, we lose our most important source of local funding," said Debbie Butler, board president of the Novato Unified School District. "The state has failed to provide consistent funding for education. We cannot let education fail." 
But educators acknowledge they're fighting an uphill battle - urging residents to vote in yet another special election just two weeks after a confusing series of state ballot measures went down in defeat. 
"I've called people about Novato's Measure A, and they've said 'Measure 1A? I already voted for that,'" said Leslie Benjamin, chairwoman of the nine-member committee that oversees spending on the Novato school district's parcel tax. "I have to make it clear that this is Novato's local parcel tax election on June 2, and that this will be locally controlled money - it won't go to the state after the election is past." 
Nevertheless, school officials are hopeful that Novato residents will come through for their schools once again. In a December 2008 poll, 85 percent of Novato voters said protecting the quality of local schools was a top priority. No opponent to the measure submitted an argument for publication in the voters pamphlet. 
"Our community has really stepped up when these budget crises have hit," Butler said. "School Fuel, 

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our foundation, year after year has helped fund teaching and staff positions, and they're going to be heading up a telethon on June 5. Our parents have really come on board for Novato Unified, and we can't thank them enough." 
Marin Registrar of Voters Elaine Ginnold expects as many as half of Novato's voters to turn out for the election. 
"I think it's going to be at least between 45 and 50 percent," said Ginnold, who has already received 9,180 vote-by-mail ballots for the election. Thirty precincts in Novato will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. 
Measure A, which requires a two-thirds majority to pass, would raise the Novato district's annual parcel tax from $155 to $251, and extend the tax - which is set to expire in 2010 - by another six years. 
School officials say the $1.7 million the tax is expected to generate each year is desperately needed by a district hit harder than any in Marin by the state's ongoing financial crisis. 
"The quality of life and property values in Novato are absolutely tied to the health of its community schools," said Ross Millerick, a member of both the school board and the Measure A committee. "We have to separate ourselves from the destiny of the state. By law, this is money that can't leave Novato. The money people are spending on their children's education will stay right here in town." 
Novato is one of three school districts in Marin that receives the majority of its funding in per-student revenues from the state. Unlike the Ross Valley and San Rafael Elementary districts, which also depend on "revenue limit" funding, Novato operates elementary, middle and high schools, adding to the district's costs. 
At $8,348 per student, Novato spends less than any other school district in Marin - less than the $9,258 San Rafael spends per student, and far less than Sausalito's $38,376. At $155, Novato's parcel tax is among the lowest in the county, far below the $269 San Rafael residents pay for their two school districts and well below the $992 Kentfield residents pay for their elementary and high school districts each year. 
In addition, Novato and Bolinas-Stinson are the only school districts whose parcel taxes do not automatically increase each year. Those increases range from 3 percent in the Dixie, Reed and Ross school districts to the Lagunitas School District, where the $287 parcel tax goes up by 6.5 percent every year. 
The district spends about 25 percent of the money it raises from its parcel tax on school libraries, and another 24 percent on a fund to stabilize programs in jeopardy. Another 13 percent supports smaller class sizes, 10 percent backs performing arts and 8 percent pays for high school counselors. 
"It keeps the music program in the district, keeps the libraries open and contributes to attracting and retaining teachers," Benjamin said. "It's been expanded a little bit to allow more flexibility for covering programs like our outstanding instructional programs in science and math." 
School officials say failure of the parcel tax wouldn't necessarily mean that high school sports, libraries, music classes or other programs would be doomed. Nor does passage of the tax extension mean those programs would be saved. Instead, passage of the parcel tax extension allows the school board to use the money it generates to pay for those programs - and only those programs. 
If the measure does fail, however, school officials said those programs and many others could be on the chopping block as a result of further state cuts. 
"If the parcel tax does not pass, we have to seriously look at everything," Butler said. 
SPENDING THE CASH 
How Novato parcel tax was spent in 2007-08: 
Fee collection expense: $52,983 (1 percent) 
Attract and retain staff: $235,000 (7 percent) 
Secondary program support, grades 6-12: $29,479 (1 percent) 
Stabilizing program fund: $861,921 (24 percent) 
Performing arts, grades 6-12: $362,978 (10 percent) 
Technology support: $173,855 (5 percent) 
Secondary counseling: $286,526 (8 percent) 
Elementary music: $230,947 (6 percent) 
Class size reduction: $466,031 (13 percent) 
Libraries: $920,243 (25 percent) 
Source: Novato Unified School District 
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Read more Novato stories at the IJ's Novato section. 
Contact Rob Rogers via e-mail at rrogers at marinij.com Print   Email   


      
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