Woodside School ready for upgrade

Woodside Elementary School has a solid reputation as one of the best schools in the Bay Area. With a committed staff and a lot of parental support, Woodside offers all the "extras" -- art, science, music, Spanish and physical education -- to virtually every student on its sprawling 14.6-acre kindergarten through eighth-grade campus. The school has twice been judged a California Distinguished School, and one of those times went on to win a prestigious Blue Ribbon in national competition. That's the good news.

The down side is that Woodside continues to operate in an aging physical plant, which includes a hodge-podge of structures whose average age is rapidly approaching 50 or more years. One classroom wing, built in the 1950s, barely contains 25 students whose books and supplies are crammed into a space designed without storage. The dimly lit gymnasium has hardwood flooring that has been sanded so many times the nails are ready to push through the top.

Superintendent Bruce Thompson joined the district in 1986, when Woodside was home for 225 students. In those days, there was a surplus of space, enough to share with the town's administrative staff and to house Town Hall. Today, the school is bursting at the seams with 480 students, which has forced the school to plant pods of portable classrooms all around the campus.

But portable classrooms are not the final solution. School officials and parents have a plan to put Woodside Elementary ahead of the growth curve, and serve the town as well. They have designed a package of improvements that includes 16 new classrooms and a brand new gym (now called a multi-purpose room), complete with a stage and community room that would be available to town residents after school hours.

To fund this project, two-thirds of Woodside's voters must approve a $10.2 million bond issue that will be paid back by increasing property taxes $55 for every $100,000 of assessed valuation over 25 years. Studies show that a majority of Woodside homeowners (65 percent) would pay an additional $128 per year in property tax, while owners of larger homes would pay more.

School officials have done their homework. This bond proposal has wide support among Woodside residents, who understand that the new buildings will be an asset the entire town can enjoy. Woodside needs to bring its physical plant to the same high level as its educational programs. The additional classrooms will enable Woodside to reduce class size in fourth through eighth grades, a bonus few Bay Area schools enjoy. Good schools are worth the money. Woodside parents already have shown their strong support for the school. Now it's time for the rest of the community to join them and approve Measure A on April 14.