San Jose school district tax parcel trails in early results

SAN JOSE — A special election measure that would extend San Jose Unified School District’s $72 parcel tax for eight years trailed in early returns after polls closed Tuesday night, with 60% of voters supporting a measure that requires two-thirds yes votes, according to results released by 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 a count issued after the polls closed at 8 p.m., which included numbers from 100% of precincts, 60.02% of people voted in favor of the measure and 39.98% voted against the measure, according to the Registrar of Voters’ Office. About 23,000 votes had been counted. The measure needs to receive two-thirds support to pass, according to the voter guide.

The next election results will be posted Wednesday by 5 p.m., the Registrar of Voters’ Office said. Out of 153,317 registered voters, 23,244 people voted in the election, according to the Registrar of Voters’ Office.

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.

The San Jose Unified School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mark Hinkle, president of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association and an opponent of the measure, said that the initial results indicated to him that the taxpayers still have a chance to not pay the new tax. He pointed out that a civil grand jury report from last year found that the district was adrift.

“The idea that voters in the district would reward 50% of the students failing English standards and over 60% failing in math — that a rational voter would vote to fund that just boggles the mind,” Hinkle said.

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.

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.

Staff writer Molly Gibbs contributed reporting.