School District May Approach Voters in San Mateo to Build New School in Foster City

Members of the San Mateo-Foster City School District Board of Trustees last night continued discussion on the idea of putting a bond measure before voters to pay for building a new elementary school in Foster City – but this time, they considered bringing the measure to all district voters, including San Mateo residents.

Earlier board discussions on the proposed $40 million bond have focused on bringing a measure solely to Foster City voters, perhaps on the November ballot. To raise that money, district residents would need to pay an annual tax of $23.50 per $100,000 of their assessed home value. According to a district report, the money would go to purchasing private property for the school and complete construction of Foster City's fourth school campus.

Foster City’s need for a new elementary school is catalyzed by its increasing enrollment and a surge of young families moving into the area, as predicted in a district report. Board chair Mark Hudak said Foster City's current elementary school facilities are not prepared to withstand the upcoming enrollment surge.

Hudak said district voters who do not have children enrolled in a city elementary school may be inclined to believe that the current facilities are sufficient because there are empty classrooms on the campuses of some schools. But, he said, those rooms were left empty in an effort to limit class sizes, and that doesn’t mean there is enough space for the current enrollment, much less the children who will soon arrive to the city’s elementary schools.

The district has approached the city government of Foster City regarding the potential of building the fourth school on public land, but those talks have since come to a standstill, according to Micaela Ochoa, the district’s chief business officer.

Hudak suggested the board hold a community study session with residents from both San Mateo and Foster City before deciding to move forward with the process of putting a bond on the ballot and rallying support for it. District administrators are now working to set up a meeting sometime in the next three weeks, per the request of board members.

Trustee Lory Lorimer Lawson expressed concern about splitting the district’s voters.

“Wouldn’t our entire community would be better served if we were in this together?” she asked.

Trustee Colleen Sullivan supported that sentiment, and said Measure L, the district-wide bond worth $175 million passed in 2008, is not substantial enough to maintain all the district’s facilities.

Pollster Bryan Godbe, of Godbe Research, recently polled 300 voters in Foster City and found and that 53 percent of the general population said they would be willing to support a bond measure. But the district may need a 55 percent approval to get the measure passed.

The poll found that voters between the ages of 18 and 39 were most receptive to the idea of a new bond measure, while voters closest to retirement age were least receptive.

The district is facing a self-imposed deadline of April to make a decision on whether it will move forward with a bond campaign.

Godbe urged the district to educate its voting population about Foster City’s need for a fourth elementary school, as he found that a significant portion of the community believes the district has sufficient space to accommodate its students.

Should the district decide to bring the bond measure to only Foster City residents, it would need to form a School Facilities Improvement District, which the board is aiming to adopt the intention of forming by mid-March.

In other action, the board approved the hiring of recruitment firm Leadership Associates to guide the district in finding a replacement for Superintendent Pendery Clark, who announced her retirement at the Jan. 20 meeting. The Mission Viejo, Calif.-based firm will hold community outreach sessions to gain input from residents about what characteristics are desirable in a potential superintendent.

“This is an exciting step forward,” said Hudak. “I hope we made the right choice; I think we have.”

Clark will remain the district’s superintendent through the remainder of the school year.