By Christina Dicker

I’ve been a parent at Holmes Junior High for four years, and the PTA president for two years. We are so lucky to have such an incredible staff at Holmes who has continued to provide a wide range of services and programs for our school community while we’ve faced the continued annual decrease in funding.

Without Measure C, Holmes will see significant impacts on our program. Our class sizes will increase, which means teachers will have less time to spend with an individual student. These cuts will have a big effect on our elective programs, reducing class choices for our students.

Holmes possibly could see up to eight fewer teachers in the subject areas of computers, industrial tech, world languages, music, home economics and study skills. We will struggle to keep class size down in the core classes.

We need your support to continue striving to help our students get the best education possible. Please vote yes for Measure C.

— Christina Dicker is president of the Holmes Junior High School PTA

By Cathy Farman and Solveig Monson

Davis High School — our community’s one, large comprehensive high school that educates and supports 1,700-plus students (1,900-plus with split-site students included) each year — would be significantly impacted if Measure C does not pass.

While the impact to extra- and co-curricular programs like sports, music and drama is more widely known, below are a few not as well-known examples of impacts on the lives of all DHS students if the parcel tax does not pass:

* The current parcel tax pays for approximately 12 sections of English and math at DHS, primarily in algebra I, geometry and English 10, 11 and 12. Without these sections, all remaining sections simply would be increased to higher student/teacher ratios. This is a “cost” that would be paid by our students.

* Counselors are working with our students on a 340:1 student-to-counselor ratio, on scheduling matters, crisis management, college admissions and career planning support. Without the parcel tax, there will be an increase in this counselor-to-student ratio. College and career-planning support and the ability for counselors to provide personal letters of recommendation would be limited at best.

* Measure C funding will directly affect the continued availability of a sufficient number of core courses such as math, English, science and social sciences. In addition, availability of foreign languages and Advanced Placement courses would be greatly affected.

If you are graduating your last child from the Davis schools, then you have been fortunate.

To be sure, there have been tight years in the past 13, and they have gotten progressively tighter. But your student attended kindergarten through third grade when student-to-teacher ratios were around 20:1 and fourth through sixth grade when ratios were 30:1. Your student most likely had about 20 students in algebra 1 and English 10. Those ratios are no longer possible. But it is possible to keep them a bit smaller with Measure C.

Further, your student has had the opportunity to choose electives and course offerings that spark their interest and broaden their horizons.

We are a community that does whatever it can to support our public schools. You are still a part of that community, and your student benefited from the generations that came before, the generations who formed our schools and made the commitment to keep them excellent.

Whether your journey is coming to a close or has only just begun, we ask for your support. This great tradition should be preserved for all students now and in the future.

— Cathy Farman is president of the Davis High School PTA and Solveig Monson is a DHS parent.

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