Officials thank voters

By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

California Proposition 30 emerged victorious after a tense day at the polls Tuesday, garnering 53.9 percent approval from state voters.

The measure, promoted by Gov. Jerry Brown as a vital boon to the state’s public school system, raises tax rates on those earning more than $250,000 and bumps up the state sales tax, temporarily, by 1/4 cent.

Because Prop. 30 passed, California’s public schools were spared nearly $6 billion in cuts at a time when many school officials across the state — including in Benicia — say there is simply no more room for budget slashing.

Among those officials who were pleased to see Prop. 30 pass: Benicia schools Superintendent Janice Adams, who expressed relief Wednesday that no revenue reductions would occur in the current school year.

“We are all very relieved about the passage of Prop. 30 and appreciate the support of the voters of California,” she wrote in an email. “Without the passage of Prop. 30 we would have faced a large midyear reduction in revenue.”

She said BUSD had prepared for the possibility that Prop. 30 might not pass. “The district set aside funds to address this possibility and we are extremely relieved that these funds will not be needed for midyear cuts,” she wrote.

Adams pointed out that Prop. 30 does not provide additional funding for the current year, but allows the district to keep what it already has.

“This is great news for the students and staff of Benicia,” she wrote. “We have already absorbed massive reductions to our revenues and more would have been extremely detrimental to students.

“We are all celebrating this positive outcome for education.”
Rosie Switzer, president of the BUSD Board of Trustees, worked the polls at Matthew Turner Elementary School on Tuesday. “It was a 17-hour day, so I didn’t even know any results until I was driving home from there last night,” she said Wednesday.

Switzer called Prop. 30’s passage “a great relief.”

“Even though we had money set aside in a special ‘trigger account’ reserve in case it didn’t pass, now that it did pass we won’t have to guard that money for trigger cuts,” she said.

If Prop. 30 hadn’t passed, in addition to the reserves, “we would have also tightened our belts, and probably had to do some layoffs, or at least contemplate layoffs,” Switzer said. “We’re at the point where we don’t want to really have anybody lose their job, so we would find other areas to cut in, whether it’s people having to supply their own paper, or whatever.

“I know that kids are already supplying a lot of their own supplies,” Switzer added. She recalls that when she was teaching all of the supplies were supplied for the students. “Now there’s a whole list that people give out of what stuff they need to bring from home.”

Jay Speck, Solano County Superintendent of Schools, thanked voters for backing Prop. 30.

“We are very thankful our schools will not have to face trigger cuts to their budgets this school year,” Speck said.

“Revenues generated by Prop. 30 over the next seven years will support K-12 schools and community colleges beginning in the current school year. The passage of Prop. 30 means that Solano schools will not have to cut $24.1 million or possibly reduce the school year by up to three weeks.”