Letters to the Editor Submissions This Week
Measure S has resonated with local residents, both pro and con, as is apparent by this week’s Letters to the Editor. We are publishing all 24 letters that we received by Wednesday morning’s section deadline. What you’ll read are passionate, but civil, pleas from our Tribune readers and their feelings about the measure. Mitch Lehman, who has served as The Tribune’s editor for 21 years, said no single issue has generated more reader response during his tenure.
We encourage our readers to voice your opinions throughout the year. This is a page for your feedback as to what is happening in the community. Please keep your letters to 250 words or less, and include your name, home address and telephone number for verification. Anonymous letters will not be published.
Email submissions to mitchlehman@sanmarinotribune.com.
— Charlie Plowman, Tribune Publisher
Residents are receiving lots of vote “YES on S” ads and flyers. The latest flyer says, “Our Families and Our Homes Are Our Greatest Investment.” That includes a family’s health, happiness and passion in which students can then grow up to follow their career aspirations. As I think about why each of my three daughters asked to leave SMUSD, I am reminded of their desire for smaller class sizes, more time in enrichment classes during the school day (i.e. hands-on science experiments, music, art (more then 4-6 times per year), foreign language, coding, etc.) as well as teachers who were passionate about and understood the subjects they were teaching. None of the reasons had to do with better facilities or nicer buildings. How will the $200 million dollar bond encourage students to find their passion, prepare them for what lies ahead in college and life, help them feel heard and seen and, above all, inspire their learning? The short answer is it won’t, but the bond will be a significant distraction to our small district staff requiring them to focus on facilities and buildings rather than our children’s education, well-being, social-emotional growth and staff training, which directly affects “Our Children….Our Greatest Investment.” I encourage San Marino residents to vote in the best interest of the students by voting NO on Measure S.
– Julie Chan Lin
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I graduated from SMHS, and I returned in 1999 to raise my two children, also SMHS graduates. We knew that we were paying a premium to live in a safe, nurturing community with excellent public schools, but we have been happy to pay parcel taxes and facility bonds to make that investment in our student’s education and to leave a legacy for continued excellence in public education.
As a contractor with 30 years of experience, I was honored to be on the SMUSD’s Facility Advisory Committee. We were asked to analyze and prioritize facility needs based on health/safety and classroom environment. The scope of work for the resulting 120-plus projects well exceeds the $ 200 million bond, anything less than $200 million would not rectify the situation.
From a cursory look, our campuses appear in very good condition, but this is not the case. In order to maintain the highest possible standards of education for our students, which we expect, SMUSD will need to provide the students with facilities that are up to date, safe and innovative
The state of California has not and will not be giving our school district the money necessary to fulfill San Marino’s expectations. Without our community’s financial support, SMUSD will have to use its general funds for repairs, safety and security upgrades, and classroom modernization, which will take money away from instruction and result in larger class size.
Please DO NOT RISK San Marino students’ educational future. Vote Yes on S and continue the legacy.
– Paul Callahan
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Opposing Measure S does not mean we don’t support our schools. It is just the opposite. We need to be responsible with all financial decisions. We do not think Measure S is responsible.
-Mary Frances Dee Buckley
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It’s been suggested if you don’t support the $200 million bond, you somehow don’t support our schools and our kids. We’ve been in the district for five years and, like so many of our friends and neighbors, chose San Marino because of the schools. We have been active volunteers at Carver Elementary School as well as financially supportive with donations to its fundraisers and the San Marino Schools Foundation. Additionally, since my husband was elected to the school board we have also supported Valentine Elementary School, Huntington Middle School and San Marino High School whenever possible.
But despite all this, I do not support this massive bond. It’s not well thought out and is basically just a list of ideas from past administrators that were thrown together into one report. Yes, there are needed repairs, but all of that work and then some could have been accomplished with a much smaller bond.
In addition to the district not really having any sort of plan, I’m also concerned about the massive $2.5-$3 million financial hole the district is in with no apparent way out. This is not a one-time shortfall and is projected to grow in the years to come. I don’t think any of us would take out a loan on our homes when we might be foreclosed on, but that’s essentially what we are doing as a community if we approve this bond. Whether SMUSD is in existence or not, the residents will be financially on the hook for this money until 2058. Wouldn’t it be smarter to truly have all our ducks in a row before committing to such a massive bill (over $400 million with interest)?
-Jennifer Barberie
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It is important to set the record straight: The San Marino Teachers Association is for Measure S.
Certain truths must be shared. Our schools depend on outside sources to meet the daily needs of our students, staff and community. If Measure S does not pass, the district will need to cut deeply into a general fund that has already been whittled down to a bare minimum.
If Measure S does not pass, our district will have to make some important choices. Will they cut staff or tend to the maintenance of facilities? Will they meet the safety needs of students or tend to curriculum and instruction?
Our community will also have to make some important decisions next week. Will they pass a measure that will provide badly needed economic stability for our students and teachers? Will they say yes to a measure which includes fiscal oversight and community involvement, or vote no and be bombarded with supplications for help? Will they sustain and support or vote for piecemeal patch-ups as temporary solutions to an ever-increasing deficit?
Families in San Marino have always placed children and their education as their No. 1 priority. Our teachers have done the same for decades.
This community’s support of our schools has always been steadfast. Now is not the time to falter. There is a reason why SMTA, every PTA in San Marino, San Marino Schools Foundation, CSEA and PTAffiliates all support Measure S — it is right for our students. It is right for our teachers. It is right for our schools and it is right for the future of our community.
Please support our San Marino teachers and students and vote yes on Measure S on or by March 3.
-Leticia Aranda
President, San Marino
Teachers Association
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Five members of my family attended San Marino schools K-12 over the past few decades.
Each received an excellent education and flourished in athletics and the performing arts. Their success was due to the quality of teachers, coaches, programs and community spirit rather than facilities.
More education is moving “off campus” through partnerships with other institutions and remote learning technologies. Safe and maintained facilities are necessary for a healthy hub. More bricks and mortar are not needed, particularly in a time of diminished enrollment and less time on campus.
It is prudent for the district to focus on reducing its current operating losses. A modest bond issue, in the future, is appropriate for safety and maintenance. It is imprudent to borrow now for new edifices.
-Pat McNally
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As we are coming close to paying off our debt from our last construction bond issue, we are now being asked to extend this tax for an additional 33 years. San Marino residents must be aware that next year we will also be asked to extend a separate parcel tax that keeps our district afloat by paying teachers’ salaries.
The school board must also be aware that it may be difficult to gain the support for the upcoming parcel tax extension if Measure S allows spending over $140 million on projects that their advisory committee identified as “insignificant” safety and security issues.
Vote NO on S, and support a smaller bond measure in November.
-Stephanie Giardina
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A strong school system translates to strong property values. As a longtime Realtor in San Marino, I know this firsthand. Buyers with children are motivated to pay a premium for access to excellent schools. Buyers without children are also attracted by the reputation of the schools; they know that their home values have a higher likelihood of appreciating in areas where schools are well funded. This means all of us — whether or not we have children attending San Marino schools — have a stake in their continued success and competitiveness.
The community’s willingness to support measures like Measure S will assure continued funding for strong facilities, but it will do more than that. The support will send a clear message that San Marino residents support their schools and are willing to invest in them. It’s a message that will resonate with buyers considering whether to choose San Marino over other great communities.
-Ann Gluck
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My name is Erna Knolmar and my husband is Brian Stoltz. We are San Marino residents with two kids. Our older son is currently a junior at San Marino High School, and we strongly feel that the school board needs to invest in good teachers, better and fair assessments, guidance counselors, new courses and curriculum updates. A new building at this point for us is not a priority. For those reasons, both my husband and I are opposing Measure S.
-Erna Knolmar and Brian Stoltz
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As a resident of our San Marino community, I strongly believe that Measure S is the best thing we can do for our local schools and students.
My family chose to live in San Marino specifically because we wanted our children to receive the best public education available. Now, however, all our San Marino schools need safety updates, basic repairs and a vision for 21st century teaching environments. Nearly all the school districts around us have passed local measures to help repair and upgrade their facilities while we wait and continue to fall behind.
With NO increase in local taxes, Measure S will allow us to stay competitive and fix our schools. Measure S will make critical safety and campus security upgrades, upgrade aging classrooms, and repair or replace deteriorating roofs, old electrical systems and our inefficient heating and air-conditioning units.
I know we can make a difference in our community by passing Measure S. All of the funding generated by Measure S would go into our local schools — not one penny can be taken by the state and funds cannot be used for administrators’ salaries, pensions or benefits.
Measure S is essential to maintain the quality of San Marino schools. Many of my friends agree — now is the time to support our local schools.
Join me and vote “Yes” on S to preserve great San Marino schools for generations to come.
-Sylvia Koh
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The San Marino Council of PTAs voted unanimously in December 2019 to support Measure S. As volunteers, PTA believes in providing a quality education for our kids’ futures, and part of that means ensuring they have a safe and healthy environment in which to thrive. This means addressing deteriorating and outdated facilities, fixing aging utilities to prevent expensive Band-Aid fixes, and providing adequate facilities for the courses and programs our students require and deserve.
With the passage of Measure S, we can preserve the quality of our stellar education in San Marino. Passage of Measure S allows the focus of the general budget to remain on teaching and learning. San Marino has a long history of supporting our kids and supporting their education. We hope the community will once again put their support behind our kids. All of us in the community want a bright and successful future for our kids. San Marino is a special place. Working together, we can achieve great things.
-Michiko Lee
President, San Marino Council of PTAs
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I oppose Measure S because I think San Marino Unified School District needs to invest in teachers and more thoughtful curriculum and instruction, not buildings.
-Kerri Ross Terrill
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I am writing this letter in opposition to Measure S. I hope that this community considers the possibility that supporting our schools, our teachers, our superintendent and kids isn’t the same as supporting a bond that is two times larger than it needs to be.
Earnestly, I believe that supporting this bond is actually at odds with what is best for our kids. While I support every single priority 1 item on the FAC’s list of projects, every security upgrade, replacement of the portable classrooms and the various HVAC upgrades and deferred maintenance items, it is clear that, by the FAC’s own estimates, we can have all of that, plus $20 million to spare if we pass a smaller bond.
Excellence in education requires investment in smaller classes, more teacher training, an expanded curriculum, more college counseling, more arts and more foreign languages. I will gladly support any tax increase to fund those things, and I hope this community “shoots the moon” in its aspirations and funding approach to such investments. To do this, and be realistic about the political dynamics in our community, we need to have a more measured approach to our infrastructure spending to make room for an increase to our parcel tax.
As much as our board likes big-ticket legacy projects that don’t directly contribute to the quality of our kids’ education, we must resist their impulses. This school board has a history of neglecting legitimate parent concerns about the curriculum and has managed our schools into a deficit position. They have presided over a period of unprecedented and accelerated student departure to private schools. They have not served our schools well in recent years. Let’s save ourselves, and our kids, from their misplaced priorities.
Vote No on S.
-Peter Sinclair
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Previous superintendents of the San Marino Unified School District have expressed their frustration in dealing with budgets that include teacher layoffs. Our community has managed to maintain funding for teachers by supporting the Schools Foundation and approving parcel tax measures. However, we still do not have enough to meet the expenses of our staffing needs, and our community appears to have reached a limit. The foundation struggles to gain participation, as only 50% of students’ parents contribute. The Measure R parcel tax was renewed by a slim 68-vote margin in 2019.
The larger parcel tax, Measure E, will be on the ballot for renewal in 2021. I personally am willing to support the foundation, the parcel taxes and the bond tax. But is that the feeling of 67% of our community?
I worry that the renewal of Measure E will be in jeopardy if we allocate a large amount of our tax dollars now to a very ambitious building campaign that includes some very expensive and questionable projects. A better approach would be to prioritize our true safety and structural needs with a smaller bond measure, and use our limited tax dollars to fund the classroom teachers by extending or expanding the parcel tax. After that, if there is still an appetite for an $11 million administration building, then we can get that done.
-Kevin Snaer
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We love San Marino schools and believe that we can best support our district by opposing Measure S. We can greatly improve the education provided by investing in teachers, improving the current curriculum and allowing senior students to take classes of their choice at PCC, instead of regulating what they can and cannot take, to name a few. The children of many San Marino families have begun formal education in San Marino public schools but transferred to private schools. Sadly, the reason is the quality of education. This is where we need to invest. No on S.
-Nancy Ang
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Passing Measure S does not address the needs of our community. We want funding to improve academic performance by attracting excellent teachers and revamping curriculum to meet the students’ need. It’s not the new facilities that make the school great; it’s the TLC of teachers and principals.
–David Duong
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I oppose Measure S as San Marino needs to invest in our teachers and enhance the curriculum. We can address the facility needs with a smaller bond.
-Michele Esbenshade
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I wanted to express my opposition to Measure S.
I think Measure S is misguided and excessive. We need to prioritize fixing the deficiencies in the classroom, rather than passing a massive bond to build fancy facilities, when a smaller infrastructure bond for building maintenance will suffice. Families send their kids to attend San Marino schools because they want their children to have a good education. Measure S does nothing to improve the current educational state.
-Margaret Loh
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Many friends have left San Marino Unified School District for private schools. They have left because of the quality of education, not for newer buildings. No on S.
-Tori Mordecai
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Measure S is essentially a $200 million blank check handed to San Marino Unified School District to be used solely for construction. There is no guaranteed plan or schedule on how, or where, the money will be spent; there is no set blueprint of where the money will end up. The only thing we do know is that the SMUSD will be handed a $200 million loan, which will burden the community for decades to come.
What’s more, no analysis has been done on whether bigger facilities, more buildings, further construction — which is what the bond can solely be used for — will make our schools better. There is no study or analysis showing that our children will benefit from any such further construction. To the contrary, families whose children have left SMUSD, including mine, transition into schools with better programs, not bigger buildings. Children are looking for broader curriculum and enrichment programs. They are looking for languages, immersion programs, coding, spelling bees, and speech and debate, art, music, and drama on a weekly basis. Children are looking for broad-range clubs and activities to help them find their passion, and access to rigorous classes to cultivate those passions. They are looking for guidance and support, so they can fail safely, persevere and eventually succeed.
Once a need is identified, our community has generously come together time and time again to meet those needs for our schools and our children. But, signing over a blank $200 million check without a set plan, before a need is identified, would be a first. That’s why I encourage all of us to vote NO on Measure S.
-Kalia Petmecky
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We oppose Measure S because we believe that we can address safety and facility needs with a lesser bond, while also allowing for the flexibility to invest in our teachers, reduced class sizes, curriculum enhancements and programs to modernize our educational offerings.
-Sarah and Jason Rome
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Most residents know we are now considering a major new bond issuance. However, as we have learned, just because you have money doesn’t mean it’s spent wisely and effectively. There is no doubt that our school system needs more money to pay and support our wonderful teachers and faculty. We definitely need money to repair, replace or add to the existing facilities. The amount of and structure of Measure S is certainly not the way to achieve this!
Measure S would allow spending in almost any way imaginable. Please read the details in the Official Sample Ballot for the election. It professes strict fiscal accountability. But what real knowledge do the organizations noted possess in hiring architects, engineers and contractors? Look to the building of the Barth Athletics Complex and the restrooms in Lacy Park. Why did the Barth Complex cost approximately $17 million for a relatively simple two-story structure with some classroom accessories? Why is a simple concrete block bathroom not finished ages ago?
Please think about this election with your minds and not your emotions. We do need to raise money, but $200 million for pools and performance centers? Vote NO on S, and then let’s do a measure that makes sense.
-Randy J. Sowell
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I was very disappointed to learn that the school board has decided to put a $200 million bond measure on the ballot for the upcoming election. Granted, our schools do have needs, and our community has always supported the schools as much as possible. I have supported many of the current members of the school board and helped them to get elected by hosting coffees and donating to their campaigns. I appreciate their service. However, it seems to many of us, that it is fiscally unsound to ask the city to support this enormous bond when we are unable to pay all of the debts we have now.
-Doris Christensen
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It’s not about facilities, it’s about curriculum. That is why I oppose Measure S. SMUSD data on student retention shows that 30% of the 2,900 K-12 students exited the district in the last five years. Curiously, the district has taken only a cursory evaluation of this alarming phenomenon. Why are San Marino parents choosing to move their children out of California’s No. 1 district? I know the reason, because I left.
Years ago, my parents moved here so that their four daughters could have a first-rate education. Three of us sisters have purchased our own homes here and are raising our families. However, after profound disappointments and with deep reflection, all of us elected to educate our children in nearby private schools.
Our decision to exit never included facilities. We were interested in the curriculum. Period. For us, curriculum includes a robust offering of classes, project-based learning that inspires student engagement, and educators passionate about teaching. We found all of that in a private school whose facilities are smaller than in San Marino schools.
It’s time for the SMUSD officials to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work of educating. This would mean re-evaluating and building a robust K-12 educational program, managing the district’s money prudently (no more expensive law firms and do-nothing consultants), and developing an effective evaluation criteria to divest the schools from under-performing employees. Only after this work, should we turn to developing a facility plan that aligns with a curriculum master plan.
-Su Viswanathan
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San Marino is a unicorn. Why, you ask?
First, there is Grad Night. A 65-year-old donation-dependent tradition providing a safe party for SMHS graduates. For over a year, 500 volunteers work to create a magical experience for one last hug from the community.
Second, San Marino schools are rare in that local revenues are part of the budget because the monies have been so consistently given. With a “refuse to lose” attitude, thousands of volunteer hours and dollars supplement the efforts of teachers and staff enabling students to receive a high-quality experience like no other public school.
Lastly, the community offers constant activities within the two-mile radius of San Marino at Lacy Park, City Club, Rotary, Chinese Club, East Meets West, Partnership for Awareness, NCL, Garden Club and S.M. athletics, to name just a few. It is not uncommon for me to run into the same person three times in one day as we flit from one activity to the next. Like the Oracle of Kevin Bacon, I am rarely more than one degree of separation from anyone in this close-knit community.
I recently told my kindergarten daughter that unicorns are just fiction and fantasy, but I’ve been rethinking my belief in the magical and unique. Maybe you’ll call me naive to believe in unicorns. But in this day and age when we are bombarded with anti-everything, I don’t mind admitting that I believe in the metaphorical unicorn known as San Marino.
-Jane Chon
The San Marino Tribune welcomes Letters to the Editor each week, limited to 250 words.
Please include your home address and telephone number (which will not be published).
Please write “Letter to the Editor” in the subject line.
Email to: mitchlehman@sanmarinotribune.com.
