By Jeff Hudson
Enterprise staff writer
The Davis Enterprise

It's no particular secret that the Davis public schools offer students more alternatives than most public school systems in the region. Families often cite the schools as the reason they move here.

And Davis residents have historically supported ballot measures and other campaigns that support the programs in the Davis public schools.

Last November, for example, Davis voters approved Measure Q, a four-year renewal of a long-standing parcel tax that supports class size reduction in elementary schools, and funds a seventh period in the teaching day at the junior high and high school level, making it possible for students to take an additional elective.

This spring, when the Davis school district faced looming layoffs of teachers due to the state budget crisis (and a shortage of financial reserves within the school district), local residents raised $1.77 million through donations to the Davis Schools Foundation, which was enough to sustain the existing academic program for the current school year.

Now, Davis voters are being asked to support Measure W, a three-year parcel tax designed to carry the Davis school district's existing program through three more years - with the clear hope that California's hard-pressed economy will have turned the corner toward recovery, and the state budget crisis will have been sorted out by the time Measure W expires.

Measure W will cost owners of single-family homes $10 per month, or $120 per year. Owners of apartments and other multi-unit dwellings would be charged $50 per year.

What kind of program do Davis taxpayers get in return for the money they put into their school district?

Clyde Quick, who teaches band at Holmes Junior High, summed up what the extra financial support does for music programs.

'At Holmes, I see a music room that's in use constantly, seven periods a day,' Quick told The Enterprise last week.

'I also see that 54 percent of the student population at our junior highs is involved in music' - either band, orchestra or vocal music, Quick added. 'That just never happens in most places.'

Measure W will fund elementary and secondary music programs. Davis is unusual, though not unique, in that students can begin studying string instruments or band instruments in elementary school. Each of the three junior high schools in Davis has an orchestra, a band and a vocal ensemble.

And at the high school level, where relatively few high schools in the region offer an orchestra, Davis High actually has two orchestras - one an auditioned, full-sized orchestra with upwards of 80 instruments, the other a string orchestra that's open to any student who wants to play - in addition to a symphonic band, jazz band and pep band, and several choirs.

Measure W also funds foreign language programs. Students at Davis High can enroll in Spanish (which has the biggest enrollment), French, German, Japanese or Mandarin (Chinese). Most high schools in the area offer three languages; some offer only two.

Measure W also funds librarians at the elementary, junior high and high school levels. And those librarians don't just check out books. They have also taken on the I-Safe Program, which teaches Internet safety to students in grades 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10.

'We're helping guide them through the tsunami of information that is the Internet,' said Wendy Chason, librarian at Patwin Elementary and Holmes Junior High, speaking at Thursday's school board meeting.

Chason added that when the district's librarians needed a few days at the beginning of the school year to process thousands of new textbooks, resulting in a delayed opening of elementary school libraries, the librarians nearly had an insurrection on their hands. Chason said the kids kept knocking on the door, asking when the library would be open.

Another area funded by Measure W is class size reduction in ninth- and 10th-grade English classes, and ninth-grade math classes. Spencer Elliott, an English teacher at Davis High, told the school board Thursday that 'having a maximum of 20 students (in those English classes) allows me to give feedback on individual essays, and time to analyze and individual student's work.'

If Measure W were to fail, 'we would lose this program, and there will be a noticeable and immediate difference in our students' ability to learn,' Elliott said, because class size would bump up to 30, 31 or 32.

Cathy Haskell, a math teacher at Emerson Junior High, said the class size reduction makes a big difference.

'Every day I am amazed at the personal contact I make with students. I can't believe how much I get done when there are only 20 students in my class,' she told the board Thursday.

Funds from Measure W also will support drama, debate and journalism classes, and help fund athletics and physical education programs.

Measure W also funds elementary science programs, which pave the way for the expanded list of science courses offered at Davis High School. DHS offers more Advanced Placement science courses than many other schools, and a broader array of science courses overall - and those classes are highly enrolled.

It's fairly common to find Davis High students enrolled in courses in music, foreign language and science, and sometimes you'll find students participating in two music courses in a single semester, or two foreign language courses, or two science courses.

'A parcel tax like Measure W creates opportunities for students,' said Kevin French, assistant superintendent for secondary education and human resources. 'It gives us an opportunity to create more variety.'