RSCA Endorses School Bond Measure I

In my May letter, I wrote about a number of different school bond options that were then being considered by the Belmont Redwood Shores School District to address overcrowding at the Belmont elementary schools and repairs and modernization needs at the Belmont elementary schools and Ralston Middle School.

RSCA opposed one of the early proposals, which was for a single District-wide bond to address all of these facilities issues across the School District. While being long-time supporters of our local schools, RSCAÕs primary concern was that a District-wide bond would be inequitable to Shores taxpayers since our portion of the bond payments would be far larger than our share of the benefits, with most of the bond funds going to improvements at the Belmont elementary schools.

At the same time, while we opposed a District-wide bond, we voiced our support for different bond options under consideration that would equitably match taxes paid by Redwood Shores residents to benefits received. In response to RSCAÕs advocacy and input from many Redwood Shores residents, the School Board abandoned plans for a single District-wide bond and instead adopted an equitable 2-bond plan, which will be on the ballot this November.

This plan involves one bond that will only be on the ballot in Belmont as Measure N (Elementary School Repair Measure) and a separate bond that will be on the ballot District-wide as Measure I (Ralston Middle School Repair Measure). Measure N (Belmont-only) will authorize the District to issue $35 million in bonds for improvements at the Belmont elementary schools. We (in the Shores) will not be voting on Ð or paying for Ð this bond.

Measure I (District-wide) will authorize the District to issue $25 million in bonds for projects including repairs and modernization at Ralston Middle School, repairs to the DistrictÕs Maintenance Building, and the retirement of $6M in debt for completing Sandpiper Elementary. The impact on Shores taxpayers will amount to approximately $11 per $100,000 assessed valuation. (e.g., this would amount to $110 dollars in taxes annually on a house that is assessed at $1,000,000).

RSCA supports Measure I because we believe that it provides good value to Shores taxpayers and will benefit our kids who attend Ralston Middle School. In particular, Ralston Middle School is over 50 years old and is need of repairs to leaky roofs and outdated ventilation and updating to aged labs and classroom technology. We also think that it makes good financial sense for the School District to use bond proceeds to retire the Sandpiper debt instead of making payments from operating funds as is the case today. If Measure I passes, the District would be able to use these operating funds (approximately $350,000 annually) towards school programs instead of loan repayments. For additional information on Measure I please refer to the Measure I website at http://yesforralstonmiddleschool.com.

Congratulations to Sandpiper Students, Teachers and Principal McDaniel

Every year our public school students take a battery of tests (STAR tests) on California’s curriculum standards. STAR results for students at each school are combined into an Academic Performance Index (API) for that school, which ranges between 200 and 1000. The state’s goal is for all schools to achieve scores in excess of 800.

The API scores in our District have been steadily rising over the last several years, with all of our schools now scoring over 800 and a few schools scoring over 900, with Sandpiper generally being at or near the top of the School District. It was recently reported that last year Sandpiper achieved an outstanding API of 947, which is in the same league as elementary schools in Palo Alto and Menlo Park.

In addition to being good academic news, this is also good news for all property owners in the Shores, since it is well documented that strong performing schools contribute to strong real estate values. So please join me in congratulating the entire Sandpiper School community on a job well done.

Stay Alert for Safety

The perception is that Redwood Shores is about as safe as Mayberry, which is close to true. However, there recently has been a spate of vehicular burglaries in the Shores. For example, in the last month there were 12 vehicular burglaries here, about half of which occurred at businesses along Twin Dolphin, the others being at residences (both homes and apartment complexes) across the Shores.

Redwood City Police Officer Kenneth Faljean explained to the RSCA Board that in many of these incidents the cars broken into were unlocked and/or had valuables or cords associated with GPS units or MP3 players in view. Ken also noted that burglars who commit crimes like these are opportunistic and that the best way to avoid being their victim is to lock your car and keep any items of potential interest, including electronics cords, out of sight.

While any crime in the Shores is a concern, Ken provided some statistics to help put things in perspective: while we’ve had 12 vehicular burglaries in the last month, another beat in Redwood City has had as many as 150 in the same period of time. So, on an absolute scale, we’re practically crime free. That said, we can reduce our already low crime rate by taking some simple precautions.

On another safety-related point, Officer Faljean shared some information on traffic citations issued by the Police in Redwood Shores. It turns out that in the last month around a third of the 126 citations issued were for stop sign violations, including rolling stops. Be advised that the police are on the watch for this type of violation, which you can easily avoid by stopping completely at intersections. In addition, the Police pay close attention to crosswalk violations, where a driver proceeds through an intersection when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk. This sort of violation can lead to an expensive ticket, and obviously is dangerous to pedestrians. This is a particularly serious issue now that our two schools are in session. So, please pay attention when you’re at a crosswalk, especially near our schools, and be sure to yield to pedestrians until they are through the crosswalk.

New School Opening

On August 15, I was proud to attend the ribbon cutting and open house for our new school, Redwood Shores Elementary. I hope you had a chance to see it — it’s a beautiful school on an ideal site that will provide a great learning environment for our kids. Its opening ensures that all of our elementary-age children will be able to attend school close to home. As such, the opening of the Redwood Shores Elementary completes Redwood Shores and is a tribute to those in our community who made it possible. This includes the many Shores residents who worked for six years to make this a reality (including the New Shores School Advisory Committee and the Measure C Bond Oversight Committee), and the community as a whole — which overwhelmingly voted for the bonds that paid for the project.