$1 million measure fails to pass
Morgan Hill – Music, athletics, agriculture and technology in the Morgan Hill Unified School District suffered a blow Tuesday as Measure E, a proposition designed to benefit those areas in the district, failed to gain the needed two-thirds majority.
With 100 percent of the precinct reporting, the measure had garnered 4,442 votes, or 55.33 percent, compared to 3,586 no votes, or 44.67 percent.
MHUSD Board President Mike Hickey said he was not discouraged.
“We’re never going to stop looking for ways for students to excel,” he said.
Measure E asked for voters to commit to $8 per month, $96 per year, to enrich the school district’s coffers by more than $1 million per year.
Seniors in the district over the age of 65 were exempt from the tax.
The parcel tax initiative is not dead, according to MHUSD Superintendent Alan Nishino.
“We’re just starting, here, there’s an energy here … we just have to realize that … Yes, we have a lot of work to do here,” he said. “We have quality teachers, quality students.”
Hickey said he was disappointed with the results of the voting.
“But what I want Morgan Hill to understand is that we won’t give up with this,” he said. “This is important to us as a board, and we will not let this go. Our school programs demand that we stay on this.”
Hickey said the School Board will try again in November.
The bond that built Barrett Elementary and Sobrato High School passed on the third try in July 1999.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@mo*************.com.
