Mirador6 Opinion 2/5/10

Lamorinda Must Support Parcel Tax To Offset Deficits

Public Displays of Affection Overwhelm MHS

The parcel tax must be passed in order to maintain the quality of education at Miramonte

Miramonte students should reconsider the consequences of excessive PDAs on campusby Brooke Woodward

Any Miramonte student who has been an unintentional “third wheel” during school hours should be thankful that February 14 falls on a Sunday this year. Nonetheless, as Valentine’s Day approaches, the already excessive public displays of affection or “PDAs” on campus will likely increase.

PDAs can be classified in two ways: the minor and the major. The minor, including hugging, hand-holding, arms-around-shoulders, and briefly kissing, are usually acceptable in a school context. However, major PDAs which we often refer to as “making-out,” “hooking-up,” or sometimes extreme “cuddling” should be reserved for being off campus or at least a private spot.

A number of guilty Miramonte couples should certainly be informed that their raging hormones and subsequent biological changes are not an excuse to flaunt their intimacy. Although there is no rule against students making-out or being overly touchy-feely, couples should simply have the decency to understand that some things are just not school-appropriate.

Above all, unwarranted major PDAs make most people feel exceptionally awkward. While peacefully disposing textbooks into your locker, the last thing you want in your peripheral vision is a couple sharing a loving moment three feet away. In this situation, you feel

extremely uncomfortable and wonder why this couple feels desperately obligated to hook-up directly next to you in a locker hall.

The better question is why do some teenage couples find it absolutely necessary to engage in major PDAs in public settings? Most people wouldn’t want to publicize their intimacy to their fellow Matadors or worse, their teachers. In fact, the majority of couples don’t make the student community feel like third-wheels.

There is no reason for couples to be so blatantly affectionate at school, especially in such obvious places. If

couples have a desperate urge to share a passionate moment during school hours, they should find a private nook instead of making fellow students feel substantially awkward in the cafeteria or outside of their third period classroom.

Many people would argue that if you are offended by PDAs you should just avert your eyes. In spite of this, it is sometimes impossible to shift your gaze away from a couple’s selected location. For example, in past years when casually walking from the science wing towards the senior lawn, the sight of a couple picnicking and making-out on the grass outside the teacher’s lounge was absolutely unavoidable. The general rule of thumb should be that anywhere crowded or obvious is off-limits, namely the cafeteria, hallways, outside classrooms, and near lockers.

A relationship is between two people, so there is no reason to include passersby. Some Miramonte couples need to restrain their affections so that their peers don’t have to worry about averting their gaze or finding a different route to class to avoid unintentionally encroaching on a moment of intimacy. Couples who engage in major PDAs at school should reconsider the uncomfortable consequences of their actions. With Valentine’s Day on a weekend, we can only hope that the Miramonte community will be spared of many awkward moments.

An innocent bystander becomes the unfortunate witness of a passionate moment in the 250s hall.Graphic: S. Zulch

by Sophia Bollag

In order to sustain the quality of education at Mira-monte, it is imperative that the community vote for the $112 supplementary AUHSD parcel tax to bring in much needed money to the district. The current annual $189 per parcel tax generates $6.7 million per year and exempts se-nior citizens.

At a meeting on Feb. 2, the School Board decided to put the option for the additional supplementary parcel tax on a special mail-in ballot this April. It is very important that residents vote for this tax.

The district is facing $4.8 million in cuts for the 2010-2011 school year. Parents’ clubs and the education founda-tions of the cities in the district have pledged $800,000 to offset these cuts.

With the current parcel tax increased by $112 per par-cel, it would supplement revenues enough to make up the leftover $4 million deficit. If this $4 million is not made up, the district’s proposal to cut over 50 teaching posi-tions will take effect, which translates to the elimination or reduction of some AP classes, English electives, seventh period classes, science classes, visual and performing arts classes, and will dramatically increase class sizes for core curriculum classes. Several librarians and counselors will also be cut.

On top of the cuts already made last year, the school cannot handle even larger class sizes and still maintain its high API scores.

The parcel tax would “save a large portion of the edu-cational programs that the students and community have come to expect. It would be a short term parcel tax and not added to the existing one,” said Business Services Associ-ate Superintendant for the district, Chris Learned.

“I feel like it’s absolutely imperative to increase our parcel tax because the $4.8 million in budget cuts would be devastating to the high school,” said Sarah Butler, a Miramonte parent who is helping lead the parcel tax cam-paign.

There are those, however, who openly oppose the idea of an increased parcel tax.

In a comment left on an article about the idea of an increased tax on the Lamorinda Sun website last year, a poster, who signed only as “Sickened,” wrote, “I am so sick and tired of the Lamorinda school districts turning to the homeowners, again, again, and again for more money. We don’t have anymore to give…. You’ll always come back to us because of the State’s situation. Try something else besides trying to increase the multiple parcel taxes that we pay…. Balance your budget like we have to.”

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. The bottom line is, not paying now will not save any

money in the long term. Homeowners in the district will wish they had been generous when the ghost of parcel tax-es not passed comes back to haunt them. If programs are cut and the district’s test scores drop, so will the market value of housing in Lamorinda.

There are even more dire consequences. Degradation

of high school education reduces college acceptance rates, which in turn brings down the socioeconomic status of the community.

The schools’ funding comes from three places: state funding, parent donations, and the current parcel tax.

From the state, Miramonte currently receives $6,000 per student per year. Revenue from the state makes up 68% of the school’s funding.

According to the Education Foundation of Orinda Web-site, “Per student state funding at Miramonte is about 20% less than comparably ranked schools in California and up to 40% less than comparable schools in other states such as Connecticut or Illinois.”

The Miramonte Parent’s club has contributed $89 per student this year. The Education Foundation of Orinda has contributed $255 per student. According to Learned, these contributions make up roughly 3.5% of the funding.

The current parcel tax is responsible for roughly 13.4% of revenues.

The option of increasing the parcel tax was proposed last year, but was dropped before the election in June. There was a measure on the ballot last June that concerned the parcel tax, Measure G, which did pass, but that mea-sure did not increase the parcel tax, it simply renewed the $189 per parcel rate.

Measure G “was a renewal at the same amount and that $189 has been the same amount since 2005,” said Butler.

Now, faced with decreasing donations and state budget cuts, an increased parcel tax is the only option left.

This month on mhsmirador.comWatch a video of Ricky Samoranos’ Japanese dancing

and cast your vote in the budget cuts survey!