Oracle chief needs to help Portola Valley schools

As school resumes across the Bay Area, Anne Campbell has more than the usual number of challenges to juggle this year.

The superintendent of the Portola Valley School District went into this academic year facing a $1 million budget shortfall in the planned $11 million budget for the 2008-09 academic year.

"That's a pretty substantial hit," Campbell said.

A big chunk of that shortfall can be blamed on the housing meltdown. The fall in property taxes zapped about $700,000 from the district, which consists of just two schools. There's nothing anyone could have done about that.

But what of the other $300,000? For that, the district can thank Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief executive. And unlike the property tax problem, this is something that can be fixed. As the nation's highest-paid CEO, Ellison should dip into his bottomless bank account and donate at least twice that amount to his local school district.

It's not just that Ellison is fantastically rich. For someone such as Ellison who has benefited more than most people from all that society has to offer, we should expect more in return.

Let's review how things came to this point.

Ellison spent years building a Japanese-style estate on 23 acres in Woodside. And for several years, Ellison has been appealing the county's assessment of his property.

In a nutshell, Ellison argued that because of the estate's distinct architectural style, it's worth far less because it would be far less appealing to any potential buyer. The San Mateo County Assessment Appeals Board agreed.

The board lowered the property's assessed value from $173 million in 2007 to $69.7 million in 2008. That is expected to cut Ellison's estimated tax bill from $1.86 million in 2007 to $751,041. And as icing on the cake, the board also ruled that the county owed Ellison a $3 million refund for taxes paid since 2004.

That brings us back to Portola Valley. The district consists of just two schools, K-3 and 4-8. Over the past few months, Campbell said, the district has been struggling to figure out how to deal with the double whammy of the housing crunch and Ellison reassessment.

The solution it is using is a temporary one. The district cut about $500,000 in expenses, primarily by whacking the equivalent of four jobs and nipping and tucking several other parts of the budget. The district then chipped in $333,333 from a reserve fund. And the Portola Valley Schools Foundation, which is funded by parents and the community, raised $165,515.

That problem is that the last two items are one-time funding solutions. The district will already start the 2009-10 year about $500,000 in the hole.

Now, Ellison isn't responsible for all of these funding problems. And yes, the assessment board agreed with his case. He's made his point. Now he should do the right thing and write a check for $600,000 to cover his portion of the shortfall for this year and next while the district finds a long-term solution.

I don't think I'm being unusually harsh in arguing that the last person in Silicon Valley who needs or deserves such a windfall is Ellison. But as if to emphasize my point, just last week in a securities filing Oracle disclosed that the company paid its founder $84.6 million in the fiscal year ending in May. That doesn't count the $544 million Ellison pocketed from selling Oracle stock over the past year.

Ellison's 38 percent raise has triggered outrage among some Oracle shareholders, as well it should. One group has submitted a proposal that would give shareholders more say over executive pay packages at Oracle. It will be voted on at the company's annual meeting Oct. 10. I don't expect it will pass. And even if it does, I assume Ellison and the company would ignore it.

But as long as Ellison continues to treat Oracle as his personal piggybank, the least he can do is send $600,000 of his pocket change to help the Portola Valley schools.

Author: Chris O'Brien @ www.mercurynews.com