Schools
School Board Student Rep's Vote Did Not Count on Measure J
The SSFUSD Superintendent has announced that the Measure J Master Plan thought to be passed last week, did not. It will be presented to the board again Nov. 8.
The SSFUSD Superintendent announced publicly this morning that the Measure J Master Plan passed last week in fact did not pass because the school board student representative's vote does not count.
Superintendent Alejandro Hogan said that after last Thursday's meeting, he wasn't positive that the "aye" vote from the student, Alex Moreno, counted according to the board's bylaws.
"I was not sure about the validity of the vote, so I had to come back and check on board policy," he said.
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According to County Counsel, John Beiers, only elected members of the board can cast deciding votes, and the student's vote is only "preferential."
That means the Master Plan for Measure J Phases II and III received a 2-2 vote and did not pass.
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Hogan will present a revised version of the Master Plan to the board at a meeting on November 8. That plan will include upgrades to science classrooms, the absence of which were part of the reason 2 trustees did not vote for the motion last week.
At the meeting last week, Vice President Phil Weise and Trustee Maurice Goodman had voted to pass the plans under the condition that the science classrooms would be made higher priority than as they were presented at the meeting.
Now the trustees will vote on a Master Plan that may actually better reflect their priorities for Measure J improvements.
Hogan said that only when a student representative's vote would determine the final numerical outcome of a vote does it not count. But if a motion would already pass with a 4-2 or 5-1 vote, then the student vote does count.
"I don't think we've been in a situation like this before," Hogan said about last week's Measure J motion in which the student's vote would have broken the 2-2 tie.
Trustee Shirlee Hoch excused herself because of illness at Thursday's meeting before the Measure J vote occurred, leaving 4 elected members of the board present.
Measure J is a $162 million bond measure that was passed in Nov. 2010. It can only be used for facility improvements and not to hire teachers or for educational programs.
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