December 2011 - Palos Verdes High School

GET OUT THE PARENT VOTE DRIVE AND MEASURE M
ELECTION RESULTS FOR NOVEMBER 8, 2011
GET OUT THE PARENT VOTE DRIVE
In this past election all the schools on the hill joined in an effort to increase our parent voting
percentage from a historically low turnout of about 15%, which is consistent with the average
parent voter turnout in other communities, to a number that reflects the above average
performance of our parents, teachers, students and community. This effort to Get Out the Parent
Vote at PVHS was spearheaded by the PVHS PTSA and Dr. Stephany and was intended as the first
step in a long term process to motivate parents and students to engage in our democratic
process and exercise one of our most hard fought fundamental rights as a United States citizen;
the right to vote. The final numbers were not available at the writing of this article but a review of
the numbers and report will be sent to all in the coming weeks. We are cautiously optimistic that
the campaign did positively impact parent voting and will result in an uptick in the Palos Verdes
parent voting percentage.
MEASURE M – Keep Our PVP Schools Strong Campaign
Local funding has become more and more important to school districts in California as the state
continues to struggle with the financial crisis that has swept the nation. Education analysts
consistently advise school districts to prudently plan by reducing their budgets into the
foreseeable future. Fortunately, in Palos Verdes, many of the funding gaps in prior years’ have
been closed through contributions from PTSA’s, Booster Clubs, the Peninsula Education
Foundation and other Palos Verdes community members. In addition, the single largest local
source of funding has been parcel tax and bond measure funding. This past summer, the PVPUSD
School Board voted to move forward with Measure M; an effort to combine and extend the
existing parcel taxes of $374, all of which stays in Palos Verdes to support local schools. It would
require a 2/3rds majority to pass.
A tremendous effort was undertaken to pass Measure M and, in the end, the measure did pass.
Unofficially, of 13,771 voters, 9,484 voted yes on Measure M and the measure passed by just
over 300 votes. As a result, the Palos Verdes school district can predictably budget $7 million of
local, stable funding. Within days of its passage, the Legislative Analyst Office reported that
California’s projected revenue will be $3.7 billion below budget triggering mid‐year cuts to K‐12
education among others. The magnitude of the final cuts will not be known until late December
or early January of next year but the local impact on PVPUSD is estimated at about $3 million.
While the Measure M money does not represent “new” dollars to the district, it does provide
significant and predictable funding that cannot be cut by the state. For that and for all the efforts
of Palos Verdes parents, businesses and residents in support of Measure M, we say,
“Congratulations and thank you!”
The Wave December 2011 - January 2012 Page 31