Dublin School Board Seeks Community Support to Petition State for School Funding

DUBLIN, CA–Dublin parents and community members are being asked to help petition the State of California to support state funding of needed school capacity to address the current overcrowding crisis facing many Dublin schools. Governor Brown recently publicly came out in opposition to the proposed $9 billion school bond measure scheduled to go on the ballot in November. Governor Brown speaking to the Los Angeles Times, “It’s a blunderbuss effort that promotes sprawl and squanders money that would be far better spent in low-income communities.”

In response to the funding crisis, Dublin School Board members recently travelled to Sacramento to share Dublin’s funding challenges.

The Dublin School Board is also asking Dublin parents and community members to read, sign and return the following letter (printable version here) to any Dublin public school office or the District office.

Here is the text of the letter (a ready to print version is available here):

Dear Governor Brown:

We are proud of our schools in Dublin. Our students are thriving. Over the last decade, we have improved the quality of our educational program and facilities and are now among the top districts in the state.

At the same time, Dublin schools have experienced unprecedented growth. Our student population has nearly doubled in size over the last decade. The rapid influx of new residents and the high quality of our schools is creating demand for up to 5,000 additional seats in the next decade. In buildings we don’t have. On land we don’t own.

Dublin finds itself in a difficult position. We are not receiving state funds for our facility’s needs, yet are simultaneously prohibited from charging the highest level of developer fees. This has placed an unfair and unreasonable burden on Dublin schools and our community. Residents have strongly supported local school facilities with two general obligation bond measures, totaling $283 million. Three additional schools are necessary, and in spite of our local efforts, we find ourselves in an untenable situation. We simply cannot meet our future needs under the current school facilities funding model.

We respectfully call on the State to take action to meet its constitutional responsibilities to school facilities funding, our students, and our community. Specifically, Governor Brown, we ask the following:

• Support the $9 billion state bond measure that will be on the ballot in November.
• Support reform of SB50 (The Leroy R. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998) to give fast-growing districts and their municipalities more flexibility.
• Establish a Facilities Relief Target, akin to the Economic Recovery Target formula in LCFF. Help districts experiencing unusually high growth to build the necessary facilities to house students.

We have done the right things in Dublin. We have created strong schools and rallied community support. We have partnered with our City and reached agreements with developers within the constraints of the law. It is not enough. We need the state to do its part now to help us provide adequate facilities for our students.

Sincerely,

Concerned Dublin Resident

Address: ______________________________________________ Dublin, CA 94568

cc:

Senator Steve GlazerAssemblymember Catharine Baker

Eraina Ortega, SAB Chair

Senator Loni Hancock

Senator Ted Lieu

Senator Sharon Runner

Assemblymember Susan Bonilla

Assemblymember Rocky Chavez

Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian

Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Instruction

Daniel Kim, Department of General Services Director

Governor’s Representative Cesar Diaz