Election Day is November 3, and as Americans, Californians and residents of San Joaquin County, we have a lot of decisions ahead of us!

With so much media attention focused on the Presidential Election, it is easy to overlook a very important voter measure on the same ballot: Measure V. For residents of River Islands, V stands for the Value of having one school district for all of our students, from K – 12. V stands for Vocal, engaged parents. And V stands for a Visionary School District: the formation of Banta UNIFIED School District.

For many years, the Banta Elementary School District provided education for its youngest students, who then went on to high school in the neighboring Tracy Unified School District. With the growth of River Islands, and our parents’ desire to have their students attend a high school closer to home, we have worked together with Tracy and Banta to expand Banta into a unified school district, with the authority to charter a high school within our River Islands Academies.

The passage of Measure V means:

• River Islands students, grades 9 – 12 will be attending a HIGH SCHOOL built within River Islands itself.

• The new high school will be chartered and operated by River Islands Academies under Banta Unified School District.

• The advanced, technology-and-arts-rich charter school approach that has shaped the education for our younger students at River Islands will be carried on seamlessly into a high school curriculum because the High School will be a part of the River Islands Academies.

This measure represents years of planning and coalition building, the result being that both the Tracy Unified District and Banta Elementary School District are in agreement about the importance of expanding Banta’s reach into high school education, through our charter Academies program.

The new district would come into being on July 1, 2021; its board and River Islands would focus on the development of a high school campus that would open in our community in August, 2023.

As for the cost, passing Measure V creates Banta Unified School District at no additional cost to the property owners beyond what is assessed in the General Obligation Bonds already in place.

Whether you vote by mail or in person, please make your voice heard!

All the best–
Susan Dell’Osso
President, River Islands Development