PIEDMONT — The school board at its recent meeting held the first reading of the two proposed school parcel taxes that will go on this November’s ballot.
Measure A will be an early renewal of the current yearly flat tax that Piedmonters pay of $2,656 per average-sized parcel. If the measure passes, the new flat tax would be $2,763 per year. It would run for eight years and generate $207,433 or more in revenue to preserve programming, class sizes and staffing levels. Measure B will ask voters for an extra tax of 25 cents a square foot per building to raise an additional $2.6 million for retention and hiring of Piedmont teachers.
Churches, utilities and Supplemental Social Security (SSI) recipients would be exempt from the new taxes. The board will finalize placement of measures on the ballot at their June 26 meeting. If approved, the taxes would go into effect July 1, 2020. The board members, with trustee Megan Pillsbury absent, held a detailed discussion on proposed revisions to the interdistrict transfer policy. Superintendent Randy Booker explained that there is declining enrollment in Piedmont, particularly in kindergarten.
“We can probably take in 10 to 14 more kindergartners,” many of whom could come from outside the district, Booker said. Booker prepared a priority listing for such applicants. The board voted 3-1 with Sarah Pearson dissenting.
“It makes sense to prioritize children whose parents pay Piedmont school parcel taxes,” Pearson said. “We need more time to talk about this. (This policy) may engender ill will.”
For a complete copy of the proposed new policy, visit bayareane.ws/2Zs3vlO. The board by a 4-0 vote approved Booker’s announcement that effective this July 1 the district will add $685 to the salary schedule prorated to each employee’s work hours for California School Employees Association (CSEA) bargaining unit Chapter 60. Language in the agreement with CSEA was also “cleaned up” and revised, Booker said. Negotiations will reconvene if the final 2019-20 state budget provides additional ongoing funding for that year.
In other business: The board voted to prohibit the in-town purchase or use of herbicide products containing glyphosate, which is deemed a health hazard by the California Environmental Protection Agency. The least toxic pest management will be required on all school properties.
