FOSTER CITY — The San Mateo-Foster City School District board of trustees has voted to place a $148 million bond measure on the November ballot to ease overcrowding and provide a local school in San Mateo’s North Central neighborhood.
The money would build new facilities throughout the elementary and middle school district, which is going through a spike in student enrollment. The problem is acute in Foster City, where three elementary schools have become overcrowded.
The board’s unanimous decision Thursday night followed more than a year of public outreach and deliberation by a committee tasked with increasing the district’s capacity and ensuring that all students are given equal opportunities. The latter conversation focused on North Central, where most children are bused to schools in wealthier neighborhoods.
Myesha Brown, a North Central resident and single mother of a 4-year-old daughter, told the board Thursday that she would be uncomfortable putting her daughter on a bus as a kindergartner. Having a local school would be convenient for families, she added, and build relationships in the community.
“It’s really important for my daughter to have pride in her neighborhood and where she lives and have a school that exemplifies that,” Brown said.
If approved by 55 percent of voters, the measure will provide for additional classrooms and new athletic facilities at George Hall and Sunnybrae elementary schools and Abbott, Bayside STEM and Borel middle schools in San Mateo.
The money would also add classrooms in Foster City. The district wants to redevelop Charter Square Shopping Center into a new elementary school. If that plan were to fizzle, the district would build new classrooms at Foster City’s other elementary schools.
Foster City Councilmen Charlie Bronitsky and Herb Perez told the board Thursday that they support the measure, though Perez warned that the district doesn’t have much time to campaign for it. Perez said the board should have considered postponing the measure until the June election.
But the district, which has tried for years to address the overcrowding problem, was in no mood to wait. The board considered bond measures in 2011 and 2012 but pulled back. Voters rejected a $130 million measure in 2013 amid a fractious campaign that divided San Mateo and Foster City residents.
San Mateo resident Jenna Carson told board members she’s pleased with their latest initiative and was particularly happy that the city’s middle schools would be upgraded.
“It’s not perfect, but it’s been well-vetted,” Carson said of the plan. “I want to say: It’s time.”
Contact Aaron Kinney at 650-348-4357. Follow him at Twitter.com/kinneytimes.