Background

Click here to view a Power Point presentation on the history of Piedmont's parcel tax and to learn how PUSD compares to other school districts. This information was presented by Terry London at a series of community meetings held in February 2009. 

Piedmont schools are among the best public schools in California. Exceptional teachers, challenging programs and support from parents and the community all contribute to high student achievement.

The existing school parcel tax -- which represents nearly 30% of Piedmont Unified School District’s budget -is set to expire at a time when Piedmont schools are also facing unprecedented reductions in funding from the State.

Piedmont schools have already made significant cuts.  Administrative positions, non-teaching staff, instructional aides and school facility maintenance have been reduced. Employees are paying more for their benefits and salaries have been frozen.

Every effort has been made to keep cuts away from the classroom. However, with the current parcel tax expiring along with unprecedented reductions in state funding, our school district has no choice but to make deep cuts that will impact the quality of classroom instruction.

Measures B and E have been placed on the ballot to provide stable local revenue to protect the high quality of education in Piedmont.

By law, every penny from Measures B and E will stay in Piedmont to benefit our schools and cannot be taken away by the State. Measures B and E won’t prevent all of the cuts. But these measures will prevent the most devastating cuts, and without them our schools will lose more great teachers, challenging academic programs, small class sizes -- the factors that make Piedmont schools among the best in the nation. Good schools help protect our property values, which is more important now than ever.

This information is also available in a comprehensive PDF document.