On a regular basis, we will be publishing letters from residents to residents in the edition we call “MB Residents Speak…” If you have information or an opinion, and you would like to share it with your MB neighbors, please email your letter to MBStrong2021@gmail.com.
Dear MB Residents,
The Parcel Tax Measure provides exemptions for seniors and for residents on disability (SSI and/or SSDI; both social security programs) It DOES NOT allow for exemptions for Disabled Veterans. If you’re a disabled veteran (service-related disability), you aren’t exempt. Since Disabled Veterans get their disability payments through the Department of Veterans Affairs, the bar to add social security disability is high. It’s hard to imagine a Manhattan Beach resident on both VA and Social Security disabilities, but having someone on VA disability (like me) is not unheard of. Another example of how rushing to get this on the June ballot as a 50%+1 measure isn’t well thought out.
-Bill Harding - MB resident for 19 years
Dear MB Residents:
I am a lifelong resident of Manhattan Beach and will be voting “NO” on Measure A for the following reasons:
1. This tax is being ramrodded through by a citizen group and not by the school district. A simple majority gets it passed versus the normal 2/3 vote required for tax measures, as was Measure MB which passed in 2018.
2. MBUSD has a spending problem. No one has done a thorough audit of the district's expenses to see where cuts can be made in order to live within the existing funding.
3. Why do we need to keep the same infrastructure in place — and ask property owners to pay almost 5x more — when enrollment has decreased by over 700 students (more than enough to temporarily close one elementary school) since the 2018/19 school year?
I grew up in MB. When I was a student there were eight elementary and two middle schools in MBUSD. Mira Costa was then part of the South Bay USD. When I was a young adult our K-8 district decreased to four elementary and one middle school. (We have since added one more elementary school.) Tough choices were made and the district survived and flourished. No bonds or parcel taxes were necessary. We need that kind of leadership again.
With the recent loss of over 700 students, mostly in our elementary schools, we can consolidate into four schools like before, reduce our operating costs and live within our current budget. I think we can do so without affecting class size, especially if declining enrollment continues.
For the approximately 30% of students from outside Manhattan Beach who attend our schools, including Hermosa Beach, I suggest implementing a mandatory tax-deductible donation to the MBEF at the beginning of the school year to cover their marginal cost to the district. No tax-deductible donation = no enrollment. If Sacramento refuses to provide a fair allocation to our schools, we need to cover our costs for those who are not contributing to our existing bond measures and parcel tax. They need to pay their fair share like everyone else because we cannot afford to continue to subsidize them.
If parents are concerned about class size in the future, we can control that by how many out-of-district students we accept each year.
So let’s vote “NO” until we conduct a thorough audit and make an appeal based on actual needs, not what a few parents believe is necessary.
-James Harger - Pennekamp ('70), Foster A. Begg ('72) and MCHS ('76)
To MB Residents,
As has been previously discussed, we cannot ignore the painful reality that “the State will absolutely decrease per-pupil funding of districts like MBUSD as we impose more and more parcel taxes upon ourselves. This will continue to get worse as well-intentioned citizens of communities like MB vote for parcel taxes.” The State will continue to take and squander fiscal resources, students such as those in MB will be denied access to equal educational resources, and we will be left, ultimately, having no more fingers to plug the holes in the fiscally bleeding “dike”.
What hasn’t been discussed and who aren’t being held responsible for contributing to the financial decline of our school system by their causative actions is the current MBUSD School Board and subsequently many educators. As we know, school districts can only collect ADA (daily attendance allowances) when a student’s bum is in a classroom chair. No student, no money coming into the district. Recent School Board and educational actions and activities (based on figures published last Fall) have contributed to MBUSD losing near-to 700 students. How convenient to simply not admit to, mention, nor reduce budgetary spending based on this jaw-dropping reality and impact and, instead, attempt to cover it all up under the umbrella of this new massive, ever-increasing money grab.
With no responsibility recognized/accepted for contributing to current issues, nor any accountability held for how funds are actually going to be utilized, we can only be assured of two things… The nonsense currently plaguing our school system will increase and continue to negatively impact our students and residents, and we will find ourselves being the man who continues to hit himself over the head with a hammer while wondering why he has a headache.
-A current 48-year Resident Homeowner
Dear MB Residents:
A vote against Measure A is not a vote against kids, schools, or our community.
My family put our kids through MBUSD and we gave to MBEF far exceeding the 'MBEF Ask' every year our kids were in MB schools. We contributed as well to MBEF Endowments and made in-kind donations to the Wine Auction.
In addition to the existing $225 parcel tax, and despite our kids having graduated from Mira Costa, my family continues to donate to MBEF because we will always value the schools and our community. In fact, my family's commitment to education continues to increase, with most of our donations now going to our kids’ universities.
I understand why families with kids currently in MB schools would be in favor of a band-aid approach to get their kids through the system. I also understand why some public school families are using their powerful special interest to promote Measure A: MBEF only achieves a 55-64% success rate annually for its MBEF Ask.
MBEF cannot get its own aligned constituency to meet the voluntary fundraising goals, so it is shifting the burden to a mandatory community-wide tax. That's a big band-aid.
A responsible community provides funding to its schools alongside its police and fire departments, and to fill the potholes. Measure A isn't responsible.
Sincerely,
-30-year MB resident that supports the schools, not Measure A.
Email WeTheParentsMB@gmail.com for a sign.
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