Lamorinda and Walnut Creek Voters Weigh Acalanes Union High School District Parcel Tax on November 3 Ballot

As mail-in ballots for the Tuesday, November 3, 2026 general election are returned across Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, and portions of Walnut Creek, education funding sits front and center for families in the Acalanes Union High School District (AUHSD). Placed before voters following public budget hearings at the district headquarters on Pleasant Hill Road in Lafayette, local high school parcel tax funding is drawing close scrutiny from parents, educators, and senior homeowners across the Lamorinda communities.

The Acalanes Union High School District educates more than 5,500 ninth-through-twelfth-grade students across Acalanes High School in Lafayette, Campolindo High School in Moraga, Miramonte High School in Orinda, Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, and the Acalanes Center for Independent Study. Because California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) allocates base per-pupil state aid heavily weighted toward demographic factors rather than high Bay Area regional living costs, AUHSD relies on voter-approved local parcel taxes and parent educational foundations to maintain seven-period instructional schedules and manageable class sizes.

District administrators and Governing Board trustees explained at October community information nights that local parcel tax revenue stays 100 percent within AUHSD classrooms to retain experienced science, mathematics, engineering, and world-language teachers, sustain Advanced Placement (AP) and honors electives, and fund on-campus wellness and college-readiness counselors. The ballot measure includes mandatory fiscal guardrails prohibiting revenue from being spent on central district administrator salaries, along with an annual review by an independent Citizens' Oversight Committee.

Homeowners aged 65 and older who occupy their parcel as a primary residence are eligible for a senior exemption that carries forward automatically once approved by the district business office. Voters in Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, and Walnut Creek can review full ballot text, impartial county counsel analyses, and senior exemption forms online at auhsd.org before polls close on November 3.