What is Measure Z and why Does it Matter?
There's a special election in March for Measure Z - what you should know.
This is from a Nextdoor Post I put up the other day - I wanted to send to my newsletter group as well since it generated a fair bit of discussion.
Since there is a lot of discussion about Measure Z, and these Measures are really difficult to understand I decided to take a hack at a summary. I hope this is somewhat helpful. Please note I'm a parent of two kids at Wagner and we love the schools here (so I am in support of the measure).
What it means: Measure Z is a local ballot measure placed by the Orinda Union School District Board of Trustees. It is aimed at providing a source of funding for the school district to improve the quality of education by attracting and retaining highly qualified educators, supporting academic programs, and reducing class sizes.
Why it matters: Orinda USD schools rely on locally controlled school funding to support their programs, but the district is facing a structural deficit (expenditures are higher than incoming revenues). Approving Measure Z would provide approximately $2 million in annual revenue for the district, which would theoretically maintain high-quality education for all students. Good schools also tend to correlate with higher property values.
Numbers you should know:
Measure Z would cost property owners $295 per year for seven years.
The measure would provide approximately $2 million in annual revenue for the district.
Orinda USD is one of the lowest funded districts in the state, based on the LCFF (Local Control Funding Formula) per student funding. The district currently receives 62% of its total revenue from LCFF, 25% from local revenues, and 12.3% from other state and federal sources.
LCFF was enacted in 2012-13 to replace a 40-year funding model and consists of a base grant, a supplemental grant for low income, English learners, and foster youth, and a concentration grant.
The district is considering Z to address staffing and financial stability issues. The community response to the potential tax is mixed - as you can tell by the Nextdoor discussions.
I hope this helps!
Sunil