Yes on Measure EE – Let’s Keep Our Schools Safe and Strong
All nine of the LASD Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and the Los Altos-Mountain View PTA Council have endorsed Measure EE, and we hope others in our community will join us and our families by voting YES on EE.
Measure EE is the Los Altos School District’s (LASD) bond measure to fund essential repairs and upgrades to our aging facilities. LASD is in the top 1% of California schools. All LASD schools are California Distinguished Schools, and three are National Blue Ribbon Schools. The caliber of our school district is a top reason families are attracted to living in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View.
The condition of our facilities does not match the quality of education we offer. It’s time to repair and upgrade our aging facilities. We need local funding for basic repairs like fixing leaky roofs and windows and for upgrades to our HVAC, plumbing and electrical systems. Some facilities are over 25 years old and deteriorating. Our facilities are inadequate for the current student population, as many classes are held in portables that are past their prime.
As our educational programs evolve, our facilities need to keep pace. For instance, with Kindergarten now full-day and Transitional Kindergarten on campuses, our 4- and 5-year old students need age-appropriate classrooms with attached and appropriately-sized bathrooms, rather than the aging one-size-fits-all portable buildings many of their classes currently occupy.
Like all school bonds, Measure EE includes strict accountability measures. All funds would be controlled locally and could not be accessed by the state or used for administrators’ salaries. An independent citizens’ oversight committee would regularly review district use of bond funds and mandatory annual audits would ensure all funds are spent as voters intended and for the specific uses outlined in the measure.
We need to repair and upgrade our buildings and replace dilapidated portables with permanent classrooms–providing learning spaces that are safe, useful, accessible and appropriate for our children, teachers and staff.
Please help keep our schools strong by voting YES on EE.
On behalf of Los Altos-Mountain View PTA Council & LASD PTAs:
Abigail Mortimore, Brandon Stroy, Brittany Stevens, Brooke Lopez, Christine Corbett, Herb Marshall, Jenny Peck, Jessica Shambora, Jim Malone, Jocelyn Jackson, Kathy Lyon, Katie Schmidt, Kelly Sanders Lo, Laura Gao, Marvin Pena, Peipei Yu and Uyen Nguyen
We Strongly Support our Public Schools. We cannot Support EE’s $350 Million Tax
We, the undersigned, strongly support our public schools. But we cannot support Measure EE’s additional $350 Million tax.
There is NO need for a new 10th school site. This tax has NO Accountability and NO Senior Exemption.
In 2014, our community rallied to pass Measure N, a $150 Million tax that was supposed to solve the Los Alto School District/Bullis Charter School facilities dispute and provide improvements for the 9 existing LASD campuses
In 2019, LASD spent $155 Million to purchase the 11.7 acre Kohl’s site in Mountain View.
In Oct 2024, LASD is asking taxpayers for an ADDITIONAL $350 Million tax. The site stands as it did in 2019. Nothing has been built, not even the four acres of joint use athletic facilities, including a track, soccer and baseball field and other facilities, that were legally contracted to be built by Sept 30, 2024.
Furthermore, LASD enrollment has decreased by 28% – 1,314 fewer students than in 2014. LASD currently has the excess space on its 9 existing campuses to house all 3,361 LASD and 1,000 BCS public school students.
LASD Trustee Ivanovic called out that Measure EE doesn’t mention that over 40% of the bond money will NOT go to LASD facilities. I fault the LASD board for not being forthright. I encourage others to vote against the bond measure.
LASD: Sell the 10th site. Use that taxpayer money for existing campus improvements. Come back in a few years with a right-sized plan. Detail exactly how you are going to spend our money with the accountability and consequences if the money is not spent as promised. We will be the first to endorse that transparent, responsible plan.
Signed by: Kurt Carlson, Courtenay Corrigan (Former Los Altos Hills mayor), Michael Ellerin, Brett Ford, Millie Gong, Tony Lima, John Radford (Former Los Altos Hills mayor), David Roode, Norma Schroder and Thomas Yih
With accountability in place, Measure EE is a wise choice
As a member of the Los Altos School District Bond Oversight Committee, I am confident in supporting Measure EE because of its strong accountability provisions. Measure EE is about repairing our aging schools RESPONSIBLY. By law, no funds can be used for administrator salaries, which means every dollar directly benefits our students.
Public records, annual audits and an independent citizens’ oversight committee guarantee transparency and ensure that money is spent exactly as promised. Engaged citizens like myself are here to ensure that locally controlled funding is spent in the right place, for the right reasons. Every dollar raised by Measure EE will remain under local control and all funds will go directly into our schools.
We owe it to our community to support this measure and show that our commitment to excellence and accountability is stronger than ever.
Join me and vote Yes on EE to support local students.
– Emily Harris, LASD Bond Oversight Committee and LAEF Board Member
Yes on Measure EE
I’ve been involved as a volunteer with the Los Altos elementary schools for just under three decades now, the last twenty as a member of the Citizens Advisory Council on Finance. I can tell you, there’s a lot of oversight and accountability of the LASD finances, both capital and operating.
It’s no secret that top-ranked education at LASD is one of the reasons so many families choose to call our area home. However, our schools have not been upgraded in nearly 30 years, and it’s time we step up to ensure our students’ future. Measure EE offers us an opportunity to invest in urgent repairs and restore the small neighborhood schools that are integral to our community’s identity.
There is a plan published for Measure EE, but there’s more need than dollars. The decision on spending priorities will be a public process involving all of us: parents, neighbors, and other citizens.
Stay involved, invest in our students, invest in their future. Vote Yes on EE.
– Curtis Cole, Citizens Advisory Committee for Finance member
I’m Casting a ‘No’ Vote on Measure EE
Many residents have children and young adults who attend our local schools, so it’s important to create a learning environment that’s safe, enriching, and conducive to learning for students.
Residents are also weary and careful about new propositions that over promise on results for the purpose of collecting more taxes. Instead, local school districts like Los Altos SD should exhaust every means possible to use taxpayer dollars wisely, carefully, and efficiently.
The publicly-available information points to a school district that’s not being a good steward of taxpayer dollars, asking for $100M’s to build an expensive 10th campus while LASD enrollment is in decline. Instead, the course of action should be to provide a plan with clear details of the upgrades and improvements for existing schools. Also, given the enrollment decline, LASD should sell the Kohl’s property and use those funds to pay for improvements and upgrades.
LASD should prove that they are creative and careful when spending limited tax dollars, before they go to the taxpayers and ask for more money that’s not likely to be spent wisely.
– Omar Dajani, Los Altos