SAN JOSE — After the polls closed Tuesday night in a special election that will decide whether San Jose Unified School District’s $72 tax parcel will be extended for another eight years, early results showed about 60% of voters casting ballots in support of the measure, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ Office.
The parcel tax, which was first passed in 2016 as Measure Y and is set to expire in June, provided the district with almost $5 million per year to pay staff and support academic programs. Measure A would renew the tax parcel for another eight years at its current rate.
In the first count issued after the polls closed at 8 p.m. which included counts from about 10% of precincts, 60.02% of people voted in favor of the measure and 39.98% voted against the measure. About 23,000 votes had been counted. The measure needs to receive two-thirds support to pass, according to the voter guide.
The district’s request to voters for more funding comes months after voters approved a $1.15 billion local bond measure to support the school district to provide employee housing and upgrade facilities. That measure will cost taxpayers about $81 million annually for 30 years.
A statewide $10 billion campus improvement bond was also passed by voters in November, but the school district previously said that would not be sufficient to fund renovations.
The bond measures can only be used for equipment, school buildings and technology, whereas the tax parcel has been used to purchase class materials, increase pay to help with teacher retention and extend school library hours.
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Supporters of the tax have said that the parcel tax will allow the district to maintain consistent funding, and that losing this funding would lead to teacher vacancies, cuts to academic programs and staff turnover. Critics have called it a money grab that did not sufficiently accomplish its goal of supporting academic programs amid test scores that have not recovered from pandemic learning loss.
The tax parcel is overseen by an independent citizens’ oversight committee. Some residents, including homeowners over the age of 65 and low-income homeowners with disabilities, can apply for an exemption from the parcel tax.
The election was conducted by mail. Ballots have to be postmarked by Tuesday and arrive by May 13 to be counted, according to the Registrar of Voters’ Office.
Staff writer Molly Gibbs contributed reporting.
