San Mateo-Foster City School District

Measure T - 55% Approval Required

Vote YES on Measure T to provide locally controlled funding to upgrade San Mateo and Foster City schools and provide safe, modern learning environments for all students.

San Mateo and Foster City schools are at the heart of our communities. Good schools maintain our quality of life and protect our home values.

However, our schools are aging and in need of urgent repairs. These upgrades are more important than ever to ensure 21st century learning and student health and safety - the time to invest in our schools is now.

Measure T updates computer technology to allow students to more effectively work from home when health and safety requires it.

Measure T makes the modernizations our schools need to support the high demand for hands-on science education.

Voting YES on T replaces heating and air conditioning systems to filter classroom air, and remove viruses, smoke, and other air pollutants. Measure T also provides handwashing stations in every classroom for student and staff hygiene. 

Vote YES on T:

 - upgrade classrooms for science, technology, engineering, math, art, and music

 - modernize science labs to support hands-on 21st century instruction

 - provide student computers and classroom technology, as well as Wi-Fi in underserved areas, to support distance learning and ensure all students can access the internet

 - repair deteriorating bathrooms, plumbing, sewer, electrical, heating, and cooling systems

 - install and upgrade air conditioning and ventilation systems

 - upgrade schools to meet current earthquake, fire, health and safety standards

Local Funds for San Mateo and Foster City Schools

 - All Measure T funds stay local to benefit both San Mateo and Foster City schools

 - No funds can be taken away by the State or used for administrator salaries

 - Independent citizens' oversight and aduits are required

Whether or not you have school-age children, voting YES on T is a wise investment.

Join San Mateo and Foster City leaders - Vote YES on T!

/s/ Daniela Ralsford, Former San Mateo-Foster City PTA Council President

/s/ Julie MacArthur, President, San Mateo Elementary Teachers Assn.

/s/ Rick Bonilla, San Mateo City Council Member

/s/ Steve Okamotu, Former Foster City City Council member

/s/ Ray Iverson, Fire Chief

In 2015, voters in the District approved a $148,000,000 bond measure plus parcel tax increases in both 2017 and 2018. That is 3 tax increases in 5 years.

Yet the School Board is clearly not finished milking you for more: $409,000,000 more plus decades of interest payments that will doube the cost. Bond debt, like a mortgage, must be paid off with interest (legally up to 12%).

The 2015 bond debt was supposed to build 50 new classrooms for a school district with a steadily declining enrollment.

But surely that $148,000,000 bond debt plus parcel tax hikes of $298 and $209.92 have been used to increase academics, right?

Well, sadly no. Things are getting worse:

Let's look at the latest student academic performance.

 - 2018-19 school year results: 37.86% below grade level for English

 - 2018-19 school year results: 44.44% below grade for math

Source: California Department of Education - www.ed-data.org

Three school tax increases in the last 5 years have resulted in LOWER test scores!

If you reward failure, you will get more failure.

And you will also get more bond debt that you, your children, and your grandchildren will have to pay for. Bonds can last up to 40 years or more!!!

Is this the best uses of your money? At some point, enough is enough!

If you oppose this huge debt burden and declining academics, please vote NO on Measure T.

/s/ Mark W.A. Hinkle, President, Silicon Valley Taxpayers Assn.

/s/ Thomas Weismiller, Retired Army Officer

/s/ Maria Christina Laskowski, Business Transformation

/s/ Catherine Hart, Sales Rep

/s/ James T. Lawrence, Former Mayor

In 2015, voters in the District approved a $148,000,000 bond measure plus parcel tax increases in both 2017 and 2018. That is 3 tax increases in 5 years.

Yet the School Board is clearly not finished milking you for more: $409,000,000 more plus decades of interest payments that will doube the cost. Bond debt, like a mortgage, must be paid off with interest (legally up to 12%).

The 2015 bond debt was supposed to build 50 new classrooms for a school district with a steadily declining enrollment.

But surely that $148,000,000 bond debt plus parcel tax hikes of $298 and $209.92 have been used to increase academics, right?

Well, sadly no. Things are getting worse:

Let's look at the latest student academic performance.

 - 2018-19 school year results: 37.86% below grade level for English

 - 2018-19 school year results: 44.44% below grade for math

Source: California Department of Education - www.ed-data.org

Three school tax increases in the last 5 years have resulted in LOWER test scores!

If you reward failure, you will get more failure.

And you will also get more bond debt that you, your children, and your grandchildren will have to pay for. Bonds can last up to 40 years or more!!!

Is this the best uses of your money? At some point, enough is enough!

If you oppose this huge debt burden and declining academics, please vote NO on Measure T.

Would you take out a 30-40 year loan to buy a personal computer?

That would be nuts, right? But that is exactly what the San Mateo-Foster City School District wants to do with this bond measure to "provide student computers."

Do not reward failure and do not let the district buy computers that will be obsolete in 4-5 years but paid for over 30-40 years!

Just say NO to T.

More information: SVTaxpayers.org

/s/ Mark W.A. Hinkle, President, Silicon Valley Taxpayers Assn.

/s/ Thomas Weismiller, Retired Army Officer

/s/ Maria Christina Laskowski, Business Transformation

/s/ Catherine Hart, Sales Rep

/s/ James T. Lawrence, Former Mayor

Opponents use the same kind of misleading data and stock arguments against every school funding measure on the Peninsula. Here are the facts about our neighborhood schools in San Mateo and Foster City:

Fact: The California Department of Education dashboard (www.caschooldashboard.org) shows that our local schools continue to provide high quality education and hold all students to high expectations.

Fact: Student performance rankings in most schools' Math and English Language Arts are even stronger. In the last year, more schools improved their performance by double digits per CORE data analytics.

Fact: Students in our schools continue to outpace State standards by a healthy margin.

Excellent schools are the bedrock of San Mateo and Foster City neighborhoods. Our schools provide a quality education, protect property values, and maintain everyone's quality of life.

We're proud our community has supported local schools in the past. Independent citizens' oversight reports and public audits prove that past voter-approved funds have been spent as promised.

Unfortunately, we can't count on the State of California for adequate funding and our aging schools need repairs and upgrades now.

That's why we need Measure T. Measure T modernizes our schools to support 21st century science, technology, engineering, and math education , and updates technology so students can more effectively work from home when health and safety requires it.

Measure T makes critical repauirs to deteriorating bathrooms, leaky sewer pipes and outdated electrical systems, and replaces heating, air conditioning, and ventilation systems to better filter classroom air and keep students and teachers safe.

Join us - vote YES on T.

/s/ Charlie Royce, SMFCSD Citizens Bond Oversight Committee Member

/s/ Laura Bent, Samaritan House Chief Operating Officer

/s/ Alicea Wu, MD, Board Certified Physician

/s/ Marianne Wallace, Audubon PTA Vice President of Funding

/s/ Melodie Law, Former San Mateo Senior Citizens Commissioner