Teache s
at
a
Califo ia
public
school
got
thei
‘life-cha gi g’
bo uses
this
week
afte
a
woma
do ated
$1
millio .
O
Thu sday,
August
13,
o e
hu d ed
teache s
i
the
Bay
A ea’s
Ross
Valley
School
Dist ict,
located
i
the
wealthy
No the
Califo ia
cou ty
of
Ma i ,
we e
asked
to
gathe
fo
a
quick
meeti g.
O ce
they
e te ed
the
co fe e ce
oom,
a
woma
stood
up
a d
di ected
the
p i cipals
i
atte da ce
to
ha d
out
e velopes
to
each
teache .
Havi g
o
clue
what
was
happe i g,
the
teache s
ope ed
the
e velopes
a d
we e
su p ised.
Each
e velope
co tai ed
a
cheque
fo
$9,161.70.
Now,
that’s
what
you
call
the
bo us
of
a
lifetime!
$1
millio
fo
the
teache s
Maja
K isti ,
a
local
eside t,
made
a
$1
millio
do atio
to
the
dist ict’s
teache s,
acco di g
to
KRON4.
The
mo ey
was
split
eve ly
amo g
eve y
educato
i
the
dist ict.
He
do atio
came
as
a
su p ise.
The e
was
o
p ess
elease,
o
i t oductio .
She
simply
walked
i to
that
oom
to
say:
I
see
you,
a d
what
you’ e
bei g
paid
is
w o g.
“We
as
citize s,
we
ca
w ite
di ect
checks,”
K isti
told
the
assembled
teache s,
i st ucti g
them
to
ope
thei
e velopes.
She
made
the
do atio
afte
bei g
upset
ove
the
‘i justice’
of
Ma i
Cou ty’s
public
school
fu di g.
Ma i
Cou ty
was
ea lie
a ked
the
10th
wealthiest
cou ty
i
the
U ited
States.
Sa
A selmo
a d
Fai fax,
the
commu ities
se ved
by
Ross
Valley,
sit
i
the
olli g
hills
o th
of
Sa
F a cisco,
whe e
p ope ty
values
have
climbed
steadily
fo
decades.
Yet
somewhe e
alo g
the
way,
the
dist ict’s
fu di g
had ’t
kept
pace.
K isti
decided
to
make
the
do atio
afte
she
lea ed
that
Ross
Valley
was
i
the
bottom
4%
fo
fu di g
i
Califo ia
a d
that
the
teache s
we e
paid
the
lowest
i
Ma i
Cou ty.“The
p ope ty
values
a e
eally
high
i
ou
dist ict,
but
the
p ope ty,
the
assessed
value,
is
eally
low
because
people
move
he e
a d
they
stay
he e,”
Tyle
G aff,
Ross
Valley’s
supe i te de t,
told
the
outlet.“So
P op
13
has
kept
ou
tax
base
quite
low
compa ed
to
othe
Ma i
dist icts,”
he
added.
The
Califo ia
tax
ule
caps
p ope ty
tax
at
1%
of
a
p ope ty’s
assessed
value.
A
‘life-cha gi g’
bo us
Fo
the
teache s,
the
bo us
was
mo e
tha
what
they
could
eve
ask
fo .
The
best
pa t
about
it?
It
came
out
of
the
blue.
A
t ue
su p ise.
The
teache s
exp essed
that
they
“could ’t
be
mo e
g ateful”
fo
the
do atio .“It’s
life-cha gi g,”
Syd ey
Dea ,
a
teache ,
said.“I
do ’t
thi k
I’ve
eve
expe ie ced
such
a
beautiful
gift
f om
someo e
I
do ’t
eve
k ow
o
have ’t
taught
thei
kid,”
Ambe
Bu ell-Wild
added.P io
to
the
meeti g,
the
teache s
also
sha ed
thei
pe so al
sto ies
a d
how
the
mo ey
could
aid
them.“I
have
th ee
kids,
a d
the e’s
lots
of
activities
that
they
wa t
to
do
that
we
ca ’t
always
affo d
to
pay
fo
because
of
my
sala y.
A d
it’s
with
this
ki d
of
mo ey
that
the e
a e
thi gs
I
ca
say
yes
to
that
they
wa t
to
do,
so
it’s
eally
exciti g
a d
huge
fo
ou
family,”
teache
A a
Sch ell
told
the
outlet.“This
feels
g eat
to
have
people
ight
he e
i
the
commu ity
wa ti g
to
suppo t
public
educatio
a d
public
educato s,”
E ic
B a dt
said.K isti
hopes
that
he
actio s
will
i spi e
othe
Ma i
eside ts
to
step
fo wa d.
“My
hope
was
that
folks
like
you
would
be
he e,
a d
wo d
would
get
out,
a d
Ma i
eside ts
who
value
public
educatio
would
step
fo wa d
o e
way
o
a othe ,
whethe
it’s
a
di ect
gift
o
a
political
act,
o
a
fou datio
pool,”
she
told
the
outlet.