Despite support from County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema and a committee-commissioned report finding that secession met six of nine state requirements (a report that was biased against the cause from the outset), the Contra Costa County Board of Education (see note following article below) would ultimately favor the political stronghold of Richmond over the sovereignty of Hercules (more on that tomorrow)…

Vote Expected in Hercules, Calif., Schools Pullout
September 13, 2005

County education officials are expected on Wednesday to vote on a petition that would wrest Hercules schools from the 32,000-student West Contra Costa school district.

If approved, the schools could merge with the smaller, neighboring John Swett district.

Hercules proponents argue residents will have more say in how their four campuses are run. Some in Crockett, Rodeo and the other areas feeding into John Swett say the change will boost the small district’s headcount, which has shrunk over the last few decades to about 1,850 students.

Opponents counter that the secession would rob the larger district of some of its highest-performing schools, nearly 3,400 of its students, and as a consequence, about 10 percent of its state-allotted dollars.

The Contra Costa County Board of Education will convene as a county committee on school district organization to vote on the transfer of territory, as it is known in the state Education Code. If the committee rejects the petition, the decision may be appealed to the state Board of Education. If the committee approves, the petition could go to voters.

Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla said he supports a consolidation. County Supervisor Gayle Uilkema wrote a letter to county education leaders in favor of an election.

“The decision of whether or not such a transfer should occur needs to be made by the voters of Hercules and the John Swett School District,” Uilkema wrote.

A committee-commissioned report from August says the transfer fails to meet three of nine state requirements.

According to the report, the secession would financially cripple both districts — particularly John Swett, which would buckle under the debt it would absorb from West Contra Costa.

The larger district has racked up nearly $1 billion in liability stemming from lifetime employee health-care benefits and is still paying off state bailout loans that totaled $28.5 million. The district has $16.6 million left to pay off, according to district spokesman Paul Ehara.

Swett would gain $52 million in liability from the benefits debt alone, the report says, which would mean about $3.2 million a year in annual payments to a district whose annual budget is about $15 million. Additional funding from extra students would total about $254,000 a year, according to the report.

The study also says the merger would change the nature of the Crockett and Rodeo communities from rural to urban.

Lastly, West Contra Costa would also lose some of its best-performing schools, according to the study, minimizing the choices for parents seeking to transfer their children under federal law.

In a rebuttal, petitioner Sue Pricco called that conclusion “misleading,” pointing to 26 remaining campuses that have met federal guidelines where students could transfer.

The superintendent of John Swett also criticized the county study, especially the characterization of John Swett as rural.

“Hercules has much more in common with Crockett and Rodeo than with the City of Richmond,” writes Michael Roth, Swett superintendent.

But Roth’s main disagreement lies in the idea that the merger would ruin both districts’ finances. Roth claims that the toll or benefits cannot be known until the merger goes through and tax rates are set by the county.

“It is the presentation of this information as hard fact when the information is speculative that is of concern,” Roth writes.

IF YOU GO: The County Committee on School District Organization will meet at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Contra Costa County Office of Education, 77 Santa Barbara Road in Pleasant Hill.

The group is set to vote whether Hercules schools may break off from West Contra Costa school district and join the John Swett school district.

Note: The Contra Costa County Board of Education is made up of five trustee areas. The City of Hercules is combined with “Clyde, Crockett, Martinez, Pacheco, Port Costa, Rodeo, and parts of Bay Point, Concord, Kensington, Lafayette, Orinda, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, and Richmond.”

This article is posted from redOrbit, but the original ran in the Contra Costa Times.