Renewed Push To Expand Larkspur-Corte Madera Schools

"The more the merrier," according to Larkspur-Corte Madera School District Superintendent Valerie Pitts.

Pitts is expecting to see a 3 1/2 percent increase in enrollment in the district continue through the next few years, spurring back to life plans to build a new school. A $26 million bond, Measure A, will go before voters on the November ballot that would fund classroom expansion and seismic refit at Neil Cummins Elementary and Hall Middle schools and help support the construction of a new campus at the former San Clemente School site at 330 Golden Hind Passage in Corte Madera.

"In 2008, realizing we were on a trend of increasing enrollment, something that's unusual in an area of this size, we revised our Master Plan," Pitts said. "We resecured a parcel tax in 2009 and bond money for a modernization plan to add classrooms. … In February of this year … we realized it's time to reopen a third site in the district."

The increase in enrollment is being driven by a number of factors, but mostly a changing demographic within Larkspur, according to Measure A campaign manager Alice Marks.

"If you look at the demographics, Larkspur is an older community," Marks told the Larkspur City Council on Wednesday. "Every time an older person moves out, a new family moves in. They'e coming from everywhere. The desirability of Larkspur is great. This is a trend that won't stop any time soon."

Measure E received the full backing of the Larkspur City Council at Wednesday's meeting, even to the extent that the City of Larkspur is delaying its own tax proposal so that it won't compete with the schools bond.

"What can we do to support you?" asked Larkspur City Councilman Len Rifkind.

The district has already received support from PTA groups and SPARK.

Parents will see some of the results of the expansion plan at Neil Cummins Elementary School this semester. Portable classrooms were brought in during the summer to accommodate class sizes.