A group of parents and community members are actively involved
in recalling four members of our Morgan Hill School Board for
perceived failures in budget management and oversight of the recent
construction of (among others) the new Sobrato High School, and
Barrett Elementary School. The cost overruns are reputed to be as
much as $50 million, although the figure of $30 million might be
closer to the mark.
A group of parents and community members are actively involved in recalling four members of our Morgan Hill School Board for perceived failures in budget management and oversight of the recent construction of (among others) the new Sobrato High School, and Barrett Elementary School. The cost overruns are reputed to be as much as $50 million, although the figure of $30 million might be closer to the mark.
School Board President George Panos has argued that the anticipated cost of $300,000 for the recall will waste limited financial resources, and the community of Morgan Hill would be better served to wait until the fall election when three of these same Board members will be up for re-election.
I gather from the responses of the recall group that that particular argument doesn’t hold water with them and they are dedicated to removing these Board members, regardless of the cost. And I say, good for them.
I think it is wrong of the Board to urge this community of Morgan Hill to cease efforts to gain their basic constitutional rights just because that effort may result in the spending of money. Everything of value in this public society of ours costs money – we pay for police and schools and parks. We pay to have books in our library, pave our streets, feed the poor. We pay for the School District offices, the rooms where they carry out their public meetings, the paper on which they print their agendas.
Public money, well spent, is never wasted. And what better expense than to guarantee control over the public agencies which we have elected to serve us? Can any thoughtful person really believe that just letting our government slide along, doing good or bad, acting in our best interests or not acting in our best interests, is the right way for us to manage our civic life?
A recall election is direct citizen action, lawfully carried out and undeniably part of our legacy of constitutional rights as Americans. It is conduct that is meant to improve our civic life, not tear it down. It is an act that promotes the peace and establishes the order of our laws. It is the process that we have established to decide the issues that arise among us.
So why have we come to this point of recall?
I would argue that the seeds of this problem were sown many years before today, indeed, as far back as the bond election of 1999 when Morgan Hill voted to pass the Measure B bond for $70 million dollars to build the new Sobrato High School and renovate Live Oak. The plan was to have two smaller four-year high schools, move the ninth graders out of the middle schools and alleviate overcrowding brought on by the growth of the town.
To say that it was a divisive election is to put it mildly. The people who did not support Measure B were called an “anti-school minority” and were accused of being “against kids”, but they raised the very same questions of cost and cost projections that are the underpinnings of this recall today. The “No on Measure B” group argued that $70 million was not enough to get the job done. The actual projected costs by the District itself were more like $85 million but no discussion was ever held to determine where the cuts would be made to make the bond work.
The enrollment projections of the District were also questioned. The District used very old enrollment projections to support the claim that the schools were getting more and more crowded and the bond was the only solution. The facts then, as well as now, are that enrollment was dropping and continues to drop; whether due to new private schools, the economy or demographics which have higher income families with less children, it is still not clear, but the reality is that we have hundreds less students than projected.
Other community sentiments about school boundaries, magnet academic programs, interscholastic sports opportunities and elective offerings were also raised as areas of concern by the “No on Measure B” group. I know that since 1999 all of these issues have resurfaced in one form or another and have been part of the growing frustration with the current School Board.
The sad part of all this is that both the pro-Measure B and the anti-Measure B in the 1999 bond election really did have the best interests of our town and our children at heart. Although they clearly did not agree on the best course of action to serve those interests, both sides tried hard to make their view known and urge the town to act in accordance with their vision. The tenor of the debate at the time became very divisive and angry, a situation which, I believe, did not allow us to think as clearly as we might have about the jobs we were proposing to take on.
I urge us to think calmly this time, as we sort our way through a recall effort and possible election. Let’s not take such black and white sides, let’s not call people “anti” or “pro” anything. Let’s just look at the facts, measure our options and act in a way that we agree will most likely promote our goal of a great local public school district.
My family and I have experienced schools of all sorts, public, private, high schools, colleges and elementary. My experience with all these different schools has taught me the incredible value of a great public school. As the cost of living continues to rise here in the Bay Area, the public schools become more and more important to all young families struggling to pay the mortgage and still give their children all the educational advantages they are going to need for their futures. If a recall gets us on the road to excellence, I say it is money well spent.
Julia Hover-Smoot is an attorney and has two children. Readers interested in writing a guest column should contact editor Walt Glines at [email protected] or 779-4106.
