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San Mateo Police Chief Ed Barberini and Foster City Police Chief Cory Call speak at Fiesta Gardens International School in San Mateo.
The San Mateo-Foster City School District hosted two “Know Your Rights” community meetings on Monday, equipping families with facts and knowledge as fears regarding immigration enforcement grow.
Superintendent Diego Ochoa was joined by county leaders Monday morning and evening to share strategies and provide support for families in the district, reiterating the community’s commitment to protect immigrant residents and not cooperate with ICE.
San Mateo-Foster City School District families learned about a dedicated bilingual family support phone line — (650) 312-7331 — and email besafe@smfcsd.net for “two-way communication and support,” according to a press release.
The sessions also informed attendees of their rights if they have to navigate an encounter with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
San Mateo County Supervisor Noelia Corzo, County Attorney John Nibbelin, Foster City Police Chief Cory Call, San Mateo Police Chief Ed Barberini and Veronica Martinez, director of local nonprofit organization Faith in Action Bay Area, were all in attendance at one or both of the community meetings.
The meetings were held at Fiesta Gardens International School. If interested families were unable to attend the community meetings, visit smfcsd.net for more information.
The school district is not the only in the county to reiterate their commitment to not cooperate with ICE. The San Mateo County Office of Education has similar resources and information available for all students and families in the county on their website. Visit https://shorturl.at/Y0eeO to access.
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Dirk van Ulden said:
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(10) comments
Schools should focus on bringing up test scores, and helping kids catch up from the detrimental impacts of Covid on learning so we do not have a lost generation.
The school boards and the San Mateo County school superintendent depend on Sacramento funding for attendance. According to an article in the SF Chronicle in California, almost 50% of the students are English learners. Mostly kids of illegals, so the schools would go broke if these kids were sent home along with their parent(s). Just follow the money, school boards only care about numbers, not education for the ones legally here.
Dirk, that is mostly incorrect.
Most of our school districts are property-tax-self-sufficient now. Another name for that is "community funded", "basic aid", "Excess Tax District".
In that setup the district is better off with fewer students as the per-student funding goes up.
That's why most county school districts suck on purpose - so they can keep more money for their "special real-estate projects" like better district offices and higher admin pay.
Have you noticed how all the "Bad School Districts" are investing millions in "teacher housing" now - instead of just adapting teacher's pay?
The amount of money they receive from Sacramento or Federal sources is mostly about SPED or food.
The reason most districts are now "basic aid" means they get to keep property tax that used to go back to city and county politicians. These guys apparently don't like financing Education, they want that money.
That is why the County is suing Sacramento for $38M, they want that money that these Excess Tax districts are now allowed to keep - they should just "Defund the School Districts" instead.
(https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/lawmakers-seeking-long-term-funding-solution-for-san-mateo-county/article_b1779fc4-3843-471a-ba36-5f85d4775358.html)
easygerd - educate me please. I was under the impression that local schools are financed by the State using a purposely complex Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The DJ Editor, Jon, is an expert in this area. My understanding is that under Prop 13, all property taxes are collected by Sacramento and a portion is redistributed using the LCFF. I hope that I am wrong but I don't believe there is much direct funding from our local taxation. If there were, why would these school boards and districts keep on requesting more funding?
None of our schools are poor - they outlived Prop 13 some 20 years ago.
Remember in all of this, that San Mateo County is one of the richest counties in America because we have the highest property taxes in all of the country.
Because we are one of the richest counties with some of the richest school districts in the world, ALL our districts are either ExcessERAF or ExcessTAX - none is relying on LCFF anymore.
Districts get money from the local property taxes, the Education Augmentation Revenue Fund (ERAF) or if those aren't enough then the State through the LCFF formula.
There are basically three types of school districts now:
- LCFF districts - districts with per-student funding below the LCFF formula still get money from the state (LCFF < property tax + ERAF)
- ExcessERAF: districts whose Property Tax + ERAF exceeds the LCFF formula (Property Tax + ERAF > LCFF) - these districts are giving ExcessERAF back to the county
- ExcessTax: districts whose Property Tax is enough so they don't even need ERAF (Property Tax > LCFF) - these district are called "Basic Aid" or "Community Funded"
"Basic Aid" stands for 'super-rich' and not needing funding anymore. Ravenswood gets $40,000 per-student-funding now. RCSD gets $25,000 and more.
The more of San Mateo's districts are graduating from ExcessERAF into ExcessTax the less money goes back to the county - that's what that lawsuit is all about. The county thinks our schools are overfunded now and they want that money for the cities.
The expert on this matter seems to be Dan Walters:
https://calmatters.org/commentary/2020/06/bay-area-budget-conflict-schools-taxes-gavin-newsom
and your question
"If there were, why would these school boards and districts keep on requesting more funding?"
Answer: Real Estate Dealings
I would say the answer is two-fold:
- Corruption: the industries most "rewarding" for local politicians to be a part of are big infrastructure car projects (highway-widenings, lexus lanes, highway-intersections, bridges, grade separations) and of course real-estate development. A lot of money always seems to get lost in these projects. This is what the YIMBY movement is working on and school board politicians like to participate.
- Education: San Mateo school districts are some of the richest school districts in the world and yet their outcome is going down steadily. The reason is that they don't invest in teachers and classroom education, but in district offices, "workforce houses", "consultants - as in friends and family of the superintendent, etc.
Having an excuse like "lack of funding" sounds so much better than "taking from kids and teachers so the superintendent can make $700,000 per year".
https://padailypost.com/2024/11/09/superintendent-spent-school-funds-on-trips-to-disneyland-resort-and-meals-at-flemings/
https://www.mv-voice.com/education/2024/11/08/mountain-view-whisman-approves-superintendent-resignation-agreement-hires-two-interim-leaders
Which community are your referring to? "the community’s commitment to protect immigrant residents and not cooperate with ICE." Are you kidding me? Again, you seem to have difficulty differentiating between legal and illegal immigrants. Illegals need no protection except a one way ticket home. This whole effort is an affront to those of us who stood in line and awaiting our turn to legally immigrate. The only welcoming committee that I remember was the local Draft Board. These illegals are getting free law enforcement and legal support? Are we nuts?
Well written, Mr. van Ulden. I wonder whether these meetings were attended by ICE representatives to vet whether the advice that was being given out was factual. Perhaps in future meetings, ICE representatives will be directly or indirectly invited.
The Superintendent is an idiot who is more concerned with the rights of illegals than with teaching the kids how to read/write and learn math. Although SM County is better off than most counties, SMFCSD receives state money, and is beholding to the state for student population. A lot of the student population in San Mateo are English learners (illegal or otherwise) and Foster City gets sucked in with the general mismanagement of district.
Where was Corpus? A Latina and Sheriff of San Mateo County. Oh right, the community wanted credible and respected law enforcement officials at this meeting.
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