Measure Q is an initiative on the Nov. 5 ballot and is projected to create about $2.2 million for the Milpitas Unified School District (MUSD), an alternative to the proposed budget cuts across the district earlier this spring, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said.
Milpitas property owners will pay a $119 parcel tax if Measure Q passes in the upcoming Nov. 5 ballot, according to Jordan. This move is aimed at addressing the school district’s budget deficit of almost $3 million dollars, Jordan said. Senior citizens would qualify for an exemption from the parcel tax, Jordan added.
With Measure Q “we (MUSD) will maintain health clerks full time at their school sites, the two health clerks at Milpitas High School, and maintain the (additional) counselor position,” Jordan said. “We will be able to continue to maintain our mental health support that we have already, and we’ll also be able to provide some support for athletics that isn’t there now.”
The original funding that allowed for positions like additional health clerks and mental support professionals came from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSERI) Fund which provided $637,462 in 2020 and had to be expended by 2022, Jordan said. The district began looking at alternative funding sources, including bonds and grants, in the aftermath of the pandemic, Jordan added.
“Schools can get their regular state funding,” Jordan said. “We also get grants if we write for them (…) and we’ve already done all that, so it leaves the parcel tax. We’ve also sought donations, but donations aren’t going to come in at the amount that you need in or- der to maintain those positions.”
The parcel tax would help retain teachers and staff while preventing the shutdown of key STEM programs, Jordan said. The tech elective at Rancho is one of the STEM programs that is at risk of being cut down if Measure Q doesn’t pass, Jordan added.
“If we want our graduates to be the ones who are leading and designing and creating the work of the future, if they don’t have a basic understanding of computer science concepts, and aren’t using AI, then they’re going to be left behind, and it becomes a big equi- ty issue,” Jordan said. “And at thesame time, if we (educators) don’t have those tools, then it impairs our ability to do our best work so that we can serve our kids to the best of our ability.”
The second NJROTC position is also at risk of being cut down if Measure Q doesn’t pass, Jordan said.
“Before the board took action to reduce those positions, we had in the boardroom that night (Feb. 13 school board meeting) some students speak about not reducing the NJROTC program,” Jordan said. “ We had coaches and other staff members talk about the need for athletic funding (…) we had about 40 people in the boardroom, and we had a number of people online, plus about 50 written comments about why we should keep the health clerks and not reduce them.”
The district will create an in- dependent citizens’ oversight committee to help ensure that the funding gained from the parcel tax is used appropriately and responsibly by the district if Measure Q passes, Jordan said. The district will recruit invested members of the community to then build the oversight committee, she added.
“It’s a legal requirement from when you have a parcel tax or a bond and the government sets parameters of types of people who should be on there (the committee),” Jordan said. “So, for example, there needs to be a senior citizen, there needs to be a person who’s a taxpayer, needs to be a certain number who are parents in the district.”
As first vice president of the Milpitas Teachers Association (MTA), a high school teacher, and a Milpitas resident, Brett Webber plans on voting yes for Measure Q, he said. The MTA, representing 98% of MUSD teachers, voted unanimously in mid-September to endorse Measure Q, Webber said.
“We (MTA) believe that a good community is based upon educating our youth, and a parcel tax of $119 is a good investment for our future,” Webber said. “So I would encourage people to investigate it, look at it, and decide whether they support it.”
A Measure Q committee was established this past spring, which includes Principal and Chief Innovator Greg Wohlman as well as Superintendent Jordan, to create promotional material to help explain the importance of Measure Q in minimal words to fit signs and flyers, Wohlman said. He re- mains optimistic that Measure Q will pass due to his belief that Milpitas residents will value their schools, Wohlman added.
“I know we have successful schools in Milpitas and there’s a lot of positive chatter in our community about our schools, and it’s talked about from our alumni, our graduates that come back (…) and they’re proud of our students here,” Wohlman said. “I think it is a positive thing that instead of the norm which is to add and to build, which our community needs to keep doing too (…), but maintain-ng what is here and that’s our ask for right now.”
Beyond Measure Q specifically, Jordan thinks that it is import-ant for high schoolers and young adults to research different bal- lot measures and then make in- formed decisions on matters that impact their future, both on local and national levels.
“We have to have people who are voting and considering all the different angles and opinions and the pros and cons of any kind of ballot measure, any kind of candidate, whatever it is,” Jordan said. “We need you, your generation, we need you to lead in our democracy. So, we need you to vote and if you haven’t registered for voting yet, you can start registering at age 16.”