The MUSD Board of Education unanimously passed the resolution to support Measure A during a board meeting on Oct. 28, 2025. Santa Clara County’s Measure A proposes a temporary, county-wide general sales tax increase of five-eighths of a cent, estimated to generate approximately $330 million annually in locally controlled revenue, according to the board’s resolution shown at the board meeting.
The purpose of Measure A is to fill the gap in funding for health and mental health care, and keep Santa Clara County’s hospitals open, Superintendent Cheryl Jordan said. While some people may think that some services that Measure A will support won’t affect them, the funding the county is losing comes from the federal government, which helps keep hospitals open, she added.
“Even if we have our own private insurance, if one of us has an accident on the highway, for example, like 280 or 680, the closest hospital, and also the closest hospital that many of our own families here in Milpitas go to in an emergency is Valley Medical,” Jordan said. “That has a potential of being closed without those funds.”
School boards can only endorse measures, so the MUSD school board takes its ability to endorse measures seriously and rarely supports any kind of measures, Jordan added. But in Measure A’s case, it is a measure that directly impacts the families in Milpitas because there are potential cuts to medical and healthcare support for those in need, she added.
“Because the business of the school district has to do with student learning and circumstances for learning, they wanted to make sure that our residents, who are voters, understand what Measure A is because, indirectly, it will support our students in Milpitas,” Jordan said.
The board and Superintendent Jordan recommended the resolution to support Measure A because, besides wanting to make sure that the district still has medical health facilities available for emergency situations, the district has approximately $600,000 in direct and in-kind services that the county provides for the well-being of the district’s students, Jordan said. The district is able to have both the positions of the Schooling Services Coordinator and the Schooling Services Supervisor because the county funds them, she added.
“If the County of Santa Clara has to redirect funds to medical, then those two positions and support to all of our kids (are) in jeopardy,” Jordan said.
If Measure A is passed, then the county will not have to draw from its other funding sources to fill the funds that they have lost due to federal cuts, Jordan said.
“That means that they won’t have to draw from their other funding sources that they currently use to support, for example, a couple of the counselors at the Wellness Center at Milpitas High School,” Jordan said. “I’m not saying that they would definitely cut those, because I don’t know that for certain, but it is a potential service that the County of Santa Clara provides by way of their behavioral health services.”
If Measure A is not passed, the district will have to see what the county does, Jordan said.
“Our immediate step is to watch what the County of Santa Clara is going to do,” Jordan said.
Santa Clara County also funds mental health counseling services for students at Rancho, Rose, Randall, and sometimes Milpitas High School, Jordan said.
“If the county of Santa Clara has to redirect funds to medical services because they have lost ($3.5) billion in the federal government, then it’s going to have a ripple effect on our services to our students,” Jordan said.
MHS’s Wellness Center is currently at the end of a four-year grant from the county, Wellness Center Liaison Storm McNerney said. However, the district already wrote the funding for the Wellness Center in their Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), which covers the district’s funding plan for the next three years, she added.
“We’ve been a fully, 100 percent grant-funded program until the LCAP started to secure more funding for us to keep going past the end of the current grant through the County Office of Education,” McNerney said.
The fact that the Wellness Center is already covered by the LCAP, and that the district passed Measures E and Q in the last election cycle, are good signs that the Wellness Center is going to be sustained for at least a few more years, McNerney said. However, this does not mean that the Wellness Center can go away at any time, she added.
“Every three years, the school has to re-strategize their funding for three years,” McNerney said. “There’s nothing technically scary or anything wrong happening right now. It’s just that we’re in a little bit of a transitional period.”
If Measure A does not pass, then the Wellness Center is not going to magically disappear, McNerney said. The Wellness Center is secure in the meantime, and regardless if things are going well for the Wellness Center, they will always need to show that they are meeting their goals and making an impact, she added.
“With these types of programs, if you’re not making an impact and you don’t have a tangible way to show it, it can be hard to keep funding secure,” McNerney said. “But if you are able to show that you’re meeting goals and making a positive impact, you’re more likely to keep getting funding, potentially.”
Santa Clara County is lucky to have progressive supervisors who support Measure A, as it is a direct response to the passing of H.R.1 — President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act — and H.R.1’s intent was to cut social services and federal funding that provide these public services, nonprofit organization Lead Filipino’s Equity and Outreach Coordinator Marnelli Canosa said.
“So if it (Measure A) does pass, it does feel like a success for folks who do care about health care, as everything is political,” Canosa said. “However, if it doesn’t pass, there are multiple ways for folks to receive the care that they need, and that’s through community-based organizations and nonprofits.”
Even though many high school students may not be of age to vote, it is important to understand how bills such as H.R.1 or Measure A will affect you and your community, Canosa said.
“And always talk to your folks about it too, because they may not have the time to dedicate and think critically about the impacts of these measures,” Canosa said. “Having a conversation and voting in a community, as opposed to isolation, helps you think more critically about the impacts.”
Measure A is an example of the process of civic responsibility, and that everyone has a role to play, Jordan said. In Milpitas’ case, we can see what a school board can do when there is something in jeopardy that impacts the lives of students, Jordan said.
“And then in turn, each of us as voters has a civic duty to carefully read ballots, consider both sides and make the best selection that they think will benefit themselves and our community,” Jordan said. “And to all of our students at Milpitas High School, remember, once you turn 16, you can register to vote—so don’t give that power away.”
