Although a telephone poll showed 71 percent of voters would probably agree to levy a parcel tax of $50 a year to support local elementary and middle schools, the school board, at its Dec. 2 meeting, dropped its original plan to place the measure on the March 2004 ballot.

This is the second time this year the board abandoned its plan to put a parcel tax measure on the ballot. The first time was in February.

"If we are going to do it, I want us to be successful. I don't feel comfortable enough now," said school board member Josephine Lucey. "I prefer to have $100 per parcel instead of $50. Then the school district can get $3.2 million."

Although they've postponed the plan twice, board members are adamant about placing the measure on the November 2004 ballot if they garner the required two-thirds approval of registered voters.

"We spent more than we got last year to keep the cuts out of the classrooms and to keep our existing programs running," said board president Ben Liao. "Even without the deficit, the school district, which is the lowest funded in the county and among the very lowest funded in the state, still needs the money to retain teachers and staff."

Uncertainty about the economy and next fiscal year's budget is the major reason the board decided not to place the parcel tax on the March ballot.

"There are just too many uncertainties right now," said Superintendent William Bragg. "We don't know what the budget will be like until next January when the new governor releases his budget. In May, we will know the impact of the state budget on our budget. We will also have a better idea of the economy and the voters' level of confidence in the economy."

Another benefit to putting the measure on the November 2004 ballot is that local educational organizations will have more time to solicit donations to run the campaign for the parcel tax and educate voters about the district's need for more funding, said Charles Heath of Tramutola, a project company that worked with the school district to pass bond measures both in 1995 and 2001.

"The parcel tax campaign will cost between $130,000 and $160,000. The district is legally not allowed to spend any money on the campaign," Heath said. "Since the election is still far away, it might be difficult to get donations now. But Cupertino is a community that highly values education. Organizations can start a grass-roots campaign immediately."

Political pollster Gene Bregman said it is more difficult to persuade voters to approve a parcel tax than to ask them to renew it. Bregman's firm conducted both telephone interviews for the school district.

"People don't know how the money is going to be spent, so it is important to start educating voters right now," said Bregman, who has worked with more than 100 school districts in California. "But people are interested in supporting measures that will be used locally."

Bregman said voters polled in the Cupertino Union School District, like those in other school districts, will be more likely to support a parcel tax if none of the money goes to the administrators and 100 percent of the money will benefit local schools.

Voters polled also believe the parcel tax money should be spent on retaining teachers, reducing class size, and preserving music and art programs as well as protecting core academic programs.

"These priorities are pretty consistent from what I have seen in other school districts," Bregman said.

The school district will conduct another telephone poll in June or July of 2004 to put the measure on the November 2004 ballot.

People who are interested in learning more about the district's need for a parcel tax can contact Superintendent William Bragg at 408.252.3000 or bragg_bill@cupertino.k12.ca.us.