Voters to consider $688 million in Bay Area school bonds

School districts across the Bay Area are asking voters to approve more than $688 million in school bonds and parcel tax measures in a last-ditch effort to avoid deep budget cuts to programs and teacher layoffs.

The 19 measures from Santa Clara County to Marin County would fund everything from school libraries and upgraded classrooms to core academic programs and teacher salaries at a time when school districts across the region are in financial crisis due to declining enrollment and rising costs.

Already, dozens of Bay Area school districts have announced layoffs, program cuts or school closures this year to repair gaping budget deficits ranging from $6 million to over $100 million. Across the state, California schools have issued at least 2,400 preliminary layoff notices since mid-March.

Now, schools are turning to voters with a final plea for local funds. Without it, districts say they would be required to make even more cuts, resulting in additional teacher and staff layoffs, larger class sizes and significant cuts to core academic programs.

Many school districts with measures on the ballot have pointed to California’s “inequitable” state funding formula — which they say fails to fully fund schools the amount needed to serve students enrolled — as the primary reason for needing taxpayer dollars to supplement limited state education funding. School leaders across the region and state have also clashed with Gov. Gavin Newsom over state funding, calling on lawmakers to overhaul the way California schools are funded and reject his controversial proposal to temporarily withhold $5.6 billion in school funding due to state budget shortfalls.

In perhaps the most unusual of the school bond measures facing voters, Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto is seeking approval of a $70 million school bond to build new classrooms in anticipation of an enrollment surge following the closure of the tuition-free private school The Primary School — founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan — later this year.

“The unexpected closure of The Primary School has created an immediate crisis: a 20% enrollment surge that our current buildings were not designed to hold,” said the district’s school board members in an argument supporting the measure.

If approved, school officials said, the bond will make the district eligible for state matching funds and preserve the current learning environment for students.

Lafayette School District in Contra Costa County is asking voters to approve a $585 per parcel tax for nine years, which the district says will provide $5.1 million in local funds each year. Like several other parcel tax measures on the ballots, the measure requires support from two-thirds of voters; if approved, the parcel tax rate would be increased 3% each year to account for inflation and provide an exemption for seniors ages 65 and older.

The district says Measure H will secure critical funding needed to maintain teacher and staff positions, as well as recruit and retain high-quality educators. The measure would replace a parcel tax passed by voters in 2020, which is set to expire in 2027. If approved, the new parcel tax would increase the previously approved measure by $257 per parcel. The Lafayette School District says without a replacement and increase, the district will need to make significant cuts to staff, academic programs and student services.

In an argument of support for the measure, a coalition made up of local leaders and homeowners said Lafayette’s neighborhood schools are at risk, despite ranking among the top schools in the state.

“It's not an expense problem; it's a revenue problem,” the coalition wrote. “The state's faulty funding formula underfunds Lafayette School District … The result: over the last 3 years, LAFSD schools have suffered millions in cuts and our teacher salaries have fallen behind neighboring districts.”

But the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, which opposes the measure, says the parcel tax will harm renters, small businesses and working families, who will absorb the tax indirectly through higher rents and costs. The group also criticized the district for prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion programs and “gender ideology,” which Denise Kalm, president of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association, said in a letter of opposition families “never voted for and cannot opt out of, and which could cost them their federal funding.”

“Lafayette's answer to every funding challenge is another parcel tax,” wrote Kalm. “LAFSD's rankings are strong. But strong schools do not require an auto-escalating, nine-year commitment on top of an already-high burden.”

Several other Bay Area school districts have placed similar measures on ballots, which they say is crucial due to limited state and federal funding.

Elsewhere, Piedmont Unified School District in Alameda County is asking voters to renew an expiring $3,174 per parcel tax, Measure H — which the district says provides approximately $12 million annually — school leaders say the district relies on to supplement “limited state funding.”

“For almost 40 years, Piedmont schools have depended on local parcel taxes to supplement limited state funding,” the district said in an argument in support of the measure. “This expiring voter-approved parcel tax provides over 20% of our school’s budget.”

Without it, the district says it will have to cut that money from its annual budget, meaning “teacher and staff layoffs and significant cuts to core and advanced academic programs.” There is no official opposition to the measure.

Redwood City Elementary School District in San Mateo County is asking voters to approve Measure C, a $25 per parcel tax the district said will generate $12.2 million annually for eight years and help attract and retain quality educators. The district said San Mateo County’s high cost of living, rising costs, “unreliable” state funding and education cuts at the federal level have caused uncertain and unstable local school funding and makes it difficult for the district to attract and retain experienced teachers.

Other districts, like Hayward Unified School District in Alameda County, have acknowledged that budget cuts are inevitable, but are asking voters to approve ballot measures to minimize cuts.

Hayward Unified is asking voters to approve a $98 per parcel tax, Measure G, that would generate $4 million annually for 12 years — money the district says “cannot be taken by the state or federal government” and will minimize the impact of budget cuts. Measure G has no official opposition.

“Hayward schools are facing millions in budget cuts due to reduced funding from the federal Department of Education and unstable state funding that only supports a very basic education,” the district’s board of education said in an argument in support of the ballot measure. “Hayward students have already experienced deep budget cuts and are facing millions more in cuts that will directly impact classroom programs, academics, and teachers. Voting Yes on G won’t prevent all the cuts, but it will prevent the most devastating cuts that threaten critical support for all students, including those with special needs.”

Several school bond measures are also on the June ballots, many of which are asking for local funds to support classroom renovations and facilities upgrades.

That’s because local school districts typically must raise their own funds for campus facility projects in order to be eligible for matching state-funded grants passed by voters in 2024 under Proposition 2, a $10 billion bond for such improvements. How much districts get is generally based on how much they can raise on their own through local, property tax-based bond measures.

Many Bay Area districts placed bond measures on the ballot for the 2024 election, but a handful of them are now asking voters to approve additional measures in the June election.

Castro Valley Unified School District is asking voters to approve a $212 million bond, Measure B, to repair and replace aging infrastructure and update old classrooms. The district said the repairs are critical to protect students’ safety and provide the best possible learning environment. If approved, the bond measure would allow Castro Valley Unified to qualify for $20 million in state matching funds that would otherwise go to other school districts, the Castro Valley Teachers Association said.

Franklin-McKinley School District, which closed three elementary schools last year due to declining enrollment and a $23 million budget deficit, is also asking voters to approve a $142 million bond to fund school facility improvements.

Opposition arguments to the dozens of school bonds and parcel tax measures varied, with some opponents arguing taxpayers in districts like Castro Valley Unified are still paying back previously approved bonds, while others argued the measures are unnecessary for wealthier districts, like Palo Alto Unified and Walnut Creek Unified, who have some of the highest per-pupil property tax revenue in the region.

The Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, headed by Mark Hinkle, who also serves as vice chair of the Santa Clara Libertarian Party, opposes several of the measures, alleging corruption and “election cheating.”

Hinkle, who says he’s authored over 100 ballot arguments against school bonds, argues school bonds accrue interest, effectively doubling the cost advertised to voters.

“How is it then, that all of these public officials, whom you pay, combined, millions of dollars a year, have never put a local measure on the ballot that follows the law?” Hinkle asked in a blanket opposition letter to several school ballot measures.

Registered California voters should soon see their ballots for the June 2 primary election arriving in the mailbox. The last day to register to vote for the primary is May 18.

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This story was originally published May 17, 2026 at 4:12 AM.