An advisory initiative (Measure G) was placed on the ballot by the Hercules City Council and failed by 420 votes (out of 3,210 votes cast; see note following article below) on March 6, 2001…

Ballot Initiative to Decide Future of Hercules Schools
Merger, independence are among possibilities
Pia Sarkar, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, March 2, 2001

Voters in Hercules will decide next week whether they want their schools to break away from the West Contra Costa Unified District, merge with an adjoining district or stay the way they are.

If the advisory measure is approved, backers would ask for a study assessing the feasibility of an independent school district for Hercules or a merger with the John Swett Unified District, two possibilities that have been informally discussed for more than a year.

“The whole purpose of the measure is to see if we can go ahead and see what is best for our community,” said Hercules City Councilman Ed Balico, who added that he would support either secession or a merger, depending on which option was more economically viable.

The City Council placed the measure on the ballot in response to parents frustrated by what they perceived as a lack of attention from the West Contra Costa district to their community’s needs, particularly the long-awaited construction of a new middle and high school complex.

The John Swett Unified District stands to benefit from a merger because Hercules would bump up the district’s dwindling enrollment, which would result in more money from the state.

Michael Roth, superintendent of John Swett, said district officials were waiting to see what happens.

“We’re not taking a position on this just yet, but we do have to be interested,” Roth said.

West Contra Costa school board member Glen Price said Hercules students should stay where they are, in a district that stretches from Hercules south to Kensington.

Price called the ballot initiative confusing and pointed out that the question being posed to voters on Tuesday made no mention of a feasibility study and only asked whether Hercules should secede or merge.

“I think the measure needs to be defeated because I don’t think it clearly lays out the consequences of a yes vote or a no vote,” Price said.

Balico agreed that the measure didn’t call for a study, but said it was too late to rephrase it.

Regardless, he predicted that voters would pass the measure by 70 percent. A simple majority is needed for the measure to pass.

Study or no study, Price said he did not believe Hercules would secede from the West Contra Costa district or merge with John Swett, mainly because there were too many hurdles for Hercules to overcome.

In order for Hercules to secede, it must first show that the move would have no negative impact on the West Contra Costa County Unified District.

The move would hurt the district, Price said, because it would lower the student enrollment in West Contra Costa and consequently reduce the amount of money the district received from the state.

Also, the district has already invested more than $3 million to build a new middle and high school in Hercules, money that would be lost if Hercules splits from West Contra Costa, Price said.

Balico said it was Hercules that pushed to get the school built in the first place, an example of how the community has had to fend for itself.

“The biggest issue for the community is education, and we don’t have a say in a growing district,” Balico said. “At the district level, you have to look at everyone’s needs, and we feel we haven’t gotten that.”

Note: Since the 2001 special election, the neighborhoods of Promenade, Baywood and Bayside were developed. In the 2008 election, 10,580 residents cast a ballot (a 230 percent increase), although that equaled an astounding 85 percent voter turnout rate (which is unlikely to recur for a special, off-year or midterm election, if ever).