Dear Community Members,

We are proud members of the Eureka Union School District Board of Trustees and voted unanimously to place Measure A, the Eureka Union School District Classroom Repair, Student Safety, Academic Excellence Measure, on the March 3 ballot.

We voted to place Measure A before the voters because the State of California’s existing public school funding formula has failed the children, staff and citizens of the Eureka District community. Because of the demographics of our community, Eureka is the lowest funded school district in Placer County and one of the lowest funded elementary school districts in the entire State.

Many blatantly false statements have been made about Measure A and we would like to take this opportunity to correct the record.

  • State law prohibits the use of bond proceeds to be used for teacher or administrator salaries, benefits or pension contributions.
  • All District owned facilities are either housing students or are fully leased, providing much needed operating income.
  • The District annually invests in its facilities, but limited funding (and absolutely no State funding for facilities) does not allow us to keep up with the demands of aging facilities and invest in our most important asset and responsibility – our students.
  • We accept inter-district students because we believe these students deserve access to the outstanding education provided in our District and these students provide vitally needed operating income. Although the parents of those children will not pay the taxes imposed by Measure A, dramatic program cuts would be required without those students, making them a tremendous benefit to the entire Eureka community.

The list of people endorsing Measure A (all of which can be found at www.CitizensForEurekaSchools.com) is an impressive list of our community’s leaders, both Republican and Democrat, including Assembly Member Kevin Kiley, Roseville Mayor John Allard, Sheriff Devon Bell, the Roseville Chamber of Commerce PAC, the South Placer Fire District and former Roseville Mayors Susan Rohan and Carol Garcia.

Measure A was not thrown on the ballot quickly, but only added after many years of thoughtful study, deliberation and attempts to address budget constraints through every possible means other than asking for a tax increase. We have provided details to the community on the District’s fiscal/budget management efforts in town hall meetings held in January. It has been our goal to educate voters in our community about the State’s funding impacts to our local school district.

It is easy to assume that government agencies, such as school districts, are wasting money, but we can assure each and every voter that there are no other sources of money for Eureka to address the growing needs associated with aging facilities, requirements to address the safety of students and staff and our ability to keep pace with the changes in how students learn to ensure they are competitive in today’s global economy.

Eureka has not asked voters to approve a bond since 1993. Those bonds will be fully paid off by August of 2022, so Measure A will result in a very small property tax increase. We understand and respect that many will vote “no” as a matter of principal. But we urge you to consider the negative repercussions to our community if our cherished school district, a gem in South Placer County with the best test scores in the 4-county region, is allowed to fall further into disrepair and no longer draws families from all over the region to our community, bolstering property values and maintaining the vibrancy of our community. We urge you to consider the possible repercussions of schools that do not meet basic standards of safety needed in today’s environment. The State simply does not provide the funding to the Eureka District to ensure basic standards of safety are met.

Families move to the Eureka community because of the schools. Study after study shows the strong correlation between strong schools and strong property values. Eureka is an island in between other districts that are all growing in student population and have higher per-pupil funding. To remain the top performing school district in the 4-county region, Eureka needs Measure A. It is a wise investment for everyone. Strong schools make for stronger communities.

Please join us and dozens and dozens of community, business, education and law enforcement leaders and vote YES on Measure A.

Sincerely,

The Eureka Union School District Board of Trustees

Jeffrey Conklin
Ryan Jones
Melissa MacDonald
Renee C. Nash
Andy Sheehy