Allegations against School District, criticisms of Measure D are unfounded

1. Ms. Wilder is a bond supporter and even is a signee of the ballot measure and the rebuttal to the no vote. Why would someone that signs her name on the issue, and then make derogatory comments in the press against it?

2. The school district did indeed meet with the city council earlier this year at the flex theater on the San Mateo campus, I was there! I believe they toured parts of the school and then listened to a presentation of the district spending policies. I did not hear one word or question of “mis-management”. Ask Tom Mohr why the board feels it should not meet with the city council again. It’s legal, not spinelessness. I have been to several district board meetings where the budget and spending is discussed or presented and there is not the slightest hint of “mis-management”, Teacher’s strike? Huge office spaces for administrators?

Luxury cars or trips at tax payer’s expense? What mismanagement? When 85% of the entire budget goes for teachers alone, there is not much left over for everything else.

3. Why is only the Foster City Council asking for meetings? None of the other city councils are whining. Is there some other reason that only Foster City is complaining?

4. The worst inaccuracy is that “you will not be doing anything for the students in Foster City”. This really perplexes me. Every student that goes to public high school form Foster City will reap the benefits of this bond issue. No matter which of the 4 schools they can attend, they will all be improved greatly and brought up to current standards. Where does she think the kids go to school? Hayward? Sequoia?

5. Mismanagement? Has she been listening to the problems of many local school districts, especially since Prop. 13? Has she heard of major problems in S.F.? Teacher strikes in Pittsburg? Score and teacher problems at the Sequoia district? Bribes in E.P.A?

How about Fremont and its 30,000 students in one district? Los Angeles just built one high school at a cost of $170 Million and cannot open it due to toxic land. They have 150,000 in their district. There are many instances of ‘mismanagement that abound. I sure don’t see it here. Even the district offices are stuck in the parking lot in two small, old, buildings at San Mateo High School.

6. Frills? Make a list of the ‘frills’ she sees at San Mateo, Aragon, and the other schools. Is she referring to the swimming pool at Burlingame? A $2 million pool that the district only paid $300,000, (a donor kicked off the extra cost). Sounds like a great benefit to the community and a very good deal for students and taxpayers alike. Their old pool had been closed, I believe, for 7 years. Seen the Olympics recently and the physical shape of students? Tell me how a community access pool is a frill. How about the new private school in Foster City? Are they providing frills to the Foster City community? I sure hope so.

7. Since proposition 13, no school district has enough money to replace ageing buildings and heating systems, construct new bathrooms and modernize for the 21st century in their regular budgets. Any district that had the $190 million that is needed to upgrade the schools in their regular budget would clearly be considered as excessive, (especially based on teachers and administrators paychecks!). San Mateo’s main building was built in 1927 and much of the infrastructure looks like it. The last bond issue was in 1960, forty years ago! We should have passed a bond many years ago and it is only through good management and dedicated, committed, district people that they are able to function as well as they do.

As a 24-year resident of Foster City, I wonder when these elected officials are going to stop punishing the next kids attending high school for the lack of local high school. Half the land was developed and sold years ago, the new Jewish school has taken over part of the rest of the land and now the Episcopal high school will fill the remaining portion of the Marina High School site that we all wanted years ago. It makes no sense, (as even the Foster City voters decided), to build and maintain another high school when Crestmoor has been closed and there is stillroom for growth in several of the high schools nearest Foster City. We had our chance to build and run our own district and wisely turned it down.

I would like to see the councilmen, that are not supporting measure D, explain to the next Bowditch graduation class and future ones, that are heading out to the high school, that they are not for better bathrooms, better lighting, better classrooms and labs, ADA compliance, and the other advantages that will benefit all their high schools, because 25 years ago we were promised a new high school and didn’t get one. Did Tom Mohr make the promise? How many more graduating classes will pay the price of old and outdated classrooms?

My father was a school engineer, and I used to go into the school on weekends when it was really cold in Cincinnati, when I was young. The heating and cooling systems in San Mateo are older than those I saw 40 years ago. With literally hundreds of computers in classrooms with little or poor ventilation, and poorly sized, when are we going to put up and support improved educational opportunities in this county.

Any 35 to 70 year old school needs upgrading and improvements and with the reduction in this bond issue from $190 million to $137 million, now is the time to get it done.

A divided community? Poor interest in the bond issue? Last election over 66% voted for that bond issue, a clear sign of majority support but not quite enough to hit the full2/3 majority. Break up the district? I’m sure voters would be really happy with 6 districts, 6 superintendents, 6 sets of buyers, 6 sets of contracts with teachers, and 1st graders and high school seniors grouped together. That really scares me.

Thank you for your time. I hope in the interest of balanced reporting and an interest in improved education and teaching opportunities in San Mateo county, that you would report comments from people that judge this bond issue based on need and benefits vs. costs, like Jackie Speier, Byron Sher, Sue Lempert, Jim Ruane, and other city councils that are not penalizing our children for past decisions that should have been buried years ago. Lets look forward to promoting a bright future for San Mateo County High School District graduates, teachers and parents.

Jeff Brown

Foster City