Letter to the Editor: Vote No on R

Dear Editor,

Supporters of Measure R have focused voters’ attention on the district’s revenue problems, insisting that Measure R must pass to continue to provide $2 million annually ($20 million in ten years) by taxing all homeowners in Belmont and RWS.  What voters need to understand is this school district actually has a serious spending problem – a problem created by a school board that has spent taxpayers’ money irresponsibly and carelessly.  

One prime example of this fiscal irresponsibility is their hiring of the new superintendent in July 2013 – providing an executive compensation package that is extraordinary for its size and out of scale with neighboring districts.  If the district is truly ‘broke,’ why did the board sign a contract to provide the new superintendent a base salary of $192,000, with guaranteed increases to $198,000 in two short years?  The board also added a stipend of $2,600 for his advanced degrees, a generous tax-free car allowance of over $6,000 annually, along with a nice benefits and retirement package – bringing the total cost of employing Mr. Milliken to likely well over $210,000.  Neighboring districts of similar size (San Carlos, Burlingame) have superintendent salaries that are significantly less; in fact, BRSSD is paying significantly more than Redwood City and similar to San Mateo/Foster City – districts that are three times its size!  Add to this an administrative staff that has grown out of proportion with five central office department heads, and the addition of a well-compensated new position called “Director of 21st Century Learning.”  It’s truly shocking that a small district of only about 170 teachers employs this many  highly paid administrators. 

Supporters will argue that Measure R’s $2 million will not ‘pay for administrators’ salaries’ but voters should not fall for this marketing statement.  Just like families have one bank account for expenses, likewise the district will use Measure R’s $2 million to free up other funds to pay their out of scale administrator salaries.  With $8,300 budgeted for each student, and classroom sizes of roughly 25 students, this amounts to approximately$210,000 per classroom….surely teachers are not compensated that well – so where is all the taxpayer money going?

It’s premature to pass Measure R when the board and district have behaved wastefully with taxpayer money – collecting tax after tax every two or three years, in addition to the nearly 50% of property taxes that already go towards funding local public education. Voters need to send this school board back to the drawing table with sharpened pencils, and let them prove to hardworking taxpayers that indeed they can live within their means, behave responsibly, and manage public funds with trust and transparency.  Tell the school board and district this by Voting No on R.

Sincerely,

Vivian Crisman