Wednesday Soapbox Cartoonist's take Count value of all who rely on children's center

The recent report about the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children's Center (“Fairfax kids' center, school district spar over appraisal,” Feb. 12) prompts me to ask: Which children count in the Ross Valley School District?

Last November, in a document saved on the district website, RVSD board President Shelley Hamilton wrote that the sale price of the property housing the children's center could be reduced based on the “public benefit” of “children who attend district schools.” That statement has me concerned that district leaders calculate the value based on the number and pattern of attendance in district classrooms of children who also attend or attended the center. If that is true, the value of quality care and education for infants, toddlers and preschoolers will not count.

Additionally, some families, upon a child graduating preschool at the center, choose private school or the charter school. Shouldn't those children count as important in our community? And children who continue into the center's school-age care programs would only count if they attend an RVSD school.

The board should have a true sense of the educational needs in its district, regardless of whether it is directly providing them. RVSD is now a basic-aid district. Funding is a percentage of property tax revenue, not a per-child head count. Trustees must work on behalf of all of the voters who elected them and who pay parcel taxes and property taxes.

RVSD leadership says it supports the Fairfax-San Anselmo Children's Center and wants to get fair value for taxpayers. Disregarding children in our community to call something “fair value” is shameful.