Acalanes collects $301 a year from every parcel with no expiration, and its four high schools already rank in the nation's top 5 percent. Voters rejected a $130 parcel tax in May 2025. Eighteen months later, Measure W asks for $168 more per parcel for eight years.
Summary
01
The district spent $834,000 on a standalone special election in May 2025 for Measure T, a $130 parcel tax that failed with 63.63 percent support against a two-thirds requirement. Measure W returns 18 months later at $168, nearly 30 percent larger.
02
Cost per student rose from $10,305 in 2012–13 to $20,508 in 2024–25, a 99 percent increase, while Bay Area consumer prices rose about 45 percent. Property tax revenue continues to rise with assessed values, and the current state budget provided a one-time grant of nearly $5 million.
03
The Yes campaign reports that the four high schools rank among the top 5 percent nationally. The district reached that standing under the funding taxpayers already provide, before any Measure W revenue.
By the numbers
What you already pay
On a home assessed at $1 million, households in the Acalanes district pay between $1,015 and $2,092 annually in school parcel taxes and bonds, before the base property tax is counted. Measure W would add $168 per parcel to that.
Every property funds schools three ways: flat parcel taxes charged at the same rate on a small condominium and a large estate, voter-approved bonds charged as a percentage of assessed value, and a share of the base 1 percent property tax. Figures are for a home assessed at $1,000,000, using each district's 2026–27 parcel taxes and current bond rates.
| Community | K–8 school taxesparcel + bonds | Acalanes (high school)parcel + bond | Share of the base 1% taxthe part that funds schools | Total for schoolsper $1M assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lafayette | $1,505 | $587 | $4,800 | $6,892 |
| Moraga | $1,340 | $587 | $4,800 | $6,727 |
| Orinda | $1,330 | $587 | $4,800 | $6,717 |
| Walnut Creek | $428 | $587 | $4,800 | $5,815 |
| The $4,800 is each household's share of the general 1 percent property tax that goes to public schools, about 48 percent of the $10,000 charged on a $1,000,000 assessment, a countywide figure applied to every community here. Every community pays the same $587 toward Acalanes, consisting of the $301 parcel tax plus $286 from the 2008 bond. Measure W would raise that to $755. | ||||
Per $1,000,000 of assessed value. Lafayette: K–8 parcel taxes of $1,280 (Measures J&B at $695 plus the June 2026 Measure H at $585, which replaced an expiring $328 tax) plus $225 in elementary bonds; Acalanes $301 parcel plus $286 bond. Moraga: K–8 parcel taxes of $836 (Measures K and M at $541 plus the June 2026 Measure I at $295) plus $504 in elementary bonds. Orinda: K–8 parcel taxes of $804 across three Orinda Union measures plus $526 in elementary bonds. Walnut Creek: K–8 parcel tax of $82 plus $346 in elementary bonds. Figures come from 2025–26 Contra Costa County secured property tax bills, with Lafayette and Moraga updated for the June 2026 election results.
Counting parcel taxes, school bonds, and the school share of the base property tax, a household on a $1 million assessment pays between $5,815 and $6,892 a year for public education. Measure W would add $168 to that figure.
District spending
Acalanes spent $20,508 per student in 2024–25, more than the Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda K–8 districts that feed it. Adjusted for Bay Area inflation, cost per student stands about 74 percent above its 1998 level, which was the equivalent of $11,811 in 2024 dollars.
Public payroll records for 2024 show the superintendent receiving $446,144 in pay and benefits, three other central office administrators between $317,583 and $330,785, and four principals between $272,815 and $292,557. The wellness centers operating on the four campuses are estimated to cost between one and two million dollars in 2026–27, counting staff, contracts, and supplies.
The case against
The Acalanes Union High School District does not have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. State data show cost per student roughly doubling between 2012–13 and 2024–25, rising from $10,305 to $20,508, a 99 percent increase, while Bay Area consumer prices rose about 45 percent over the same years. Acalanes high schools rank in the nation's top 5 percent under the funding taxpayers provide today.
The district already collects a $301 parcel tax on every parcel with no expiration, on top of the parcel taxes homeowners pay to each K–8 feeder district and the bonds above. In May 2025 it spent $834,000 on a standalone special election for Measure T, a $130 parcel tax that voters rejected. Eighteen months later the board returned with Measure W, a $168 parcel tax lasting eight years and nearly 30 percent larger than the tax the community turned down. More than $68,000 has gone to Measure W polling and consultants before a single vote has been cast.
California's current budget provided the district a one-time grant of nearly $5 million, and its property tax revenue keeps climbing as home values rise. A parcel tax also ignores ability to pay. It charges the owner of a small condominium the same flat amount as the owner of a large estate, and it falls on the more than nine in ten households with no child enrolled in these schools. Combined with the region's other new and proposed taxes, Measure W makes an expensive area less affordable and rewards rising costs rather than requiring the district to account for them.
In 2025–26 the Acalanes board approved about $2.1 million in special education contracts with residential facilities in Utah, including $436,360 for a single placement at Crimson Heights, a program Utah regulators had decertified. The citizens' oversight and independent audits the Yes campaign cites did not prevent those contracts.
Point by point
This is not an expense problem, it is a revenue problem. AUHSD ranks near the bottom of California districts for state and federal funding and receives about $16,082 per pupil.
Acalanes is a community-funded district financed mainly by local property taxes that rise with home values, which is why it receives little state aid. Counting all sources, district spending reached $20,508 per student in 2024–25, more than the $20,126 state average the Yes campaign itself cites. The $16,082 figure includes base state, federal, and standard property tax revenues, but it completely excludes the local parcel taxes and community donations that supply millions in additional district revenue.
Our four high schools rank among the top 5 percent nationwide. Without Measure W, drastic cuts will continue and students will suffer.
The district achieved that ranking under the funding taxpayers provide today, which is the strongest available evidence that the current budget supports an excellent education. The Yes campaign has not identified what in that record the existing $301 parcel tax and rising property tax revenue can no longer sustain.
AUHSD's last new funding measure was 16 years ago, and the district has cut $4.2 million in the last two years alone.
The district put a new parcel tax on the ballot 18 months ago and lost. It collects $301 per parcel every year with no expiration, received a one-time state grant of nearly $5 million in the current budget, and continues to collect property tax revenue that rises with assessed values. The board decides where to cut.
Mandatory taxpayer protections: no funds for administrators' salaries, Citizens' Oversight and independent audits, and all funds stay local.
Money is fungible, so a parcel tax earmarked for teachers frees existing dollars for everything else, including the central administration the no-administrator-salaries clause is meant to address. Oversight of this kind did not prevent the $2.1 million in Utah special education contracts, one of them a placement at a facility that state had decertified.
Senior citizens are eligible for an exemption, so the tax is fair.
A parcel tax ignores ability to pay for everyone else. It charges the owner of a small condominium the same amount as the owner of a large estate, on top of school taxes that already total between $5,815 and $6,892 a year on a $1 million assessment.
District programs
The district spends our money on programs that reflect the board's social and political priorities rather than the academic mission most families expect. These, drawn from its course catalogs, board presentations, and student services pages, are among the most questionable.
Each of these programs is funded from the district's existing budget.
Who opposes it
The full arguments for and against Measure W appear in the official Contra Costa County voter information guide. The Yes campaign's case is at yesforourhighschools.com.
Households on a $1 million assessment already pay between $5,815 and $6,892 a year for public education, and Acalanes high schools already rank in the nation's top 5 percent. Measure W would add $168 per parcel for eight years. Talk to your neighbors, share this page, and vote No when your ballot arrives.
Vote NO on Measure WDocumentation
Public records supporting the figures above.