If there is anything close to a sure thing in the northern and coastal portions of San Mateo County it’s this: Public school parcel taxes are a definite long shot. Getting one of these financial measures approved by the required two-thirds of those voting isn’t impossible. But it’s close. The task is so daunting you have to admire those who even attempt to get one OK’d by the skeptical electorate. The latest two public school districts to learn that hard lesson are in Pacifica and Millbrae. Elementary districts in those communities had proposals for relatively modest property tax hikes defeated in mail-in balloting this week. So what else is new? Currently, there is only one such tax on the books anywhere in the North County. Half Moon Bay has had school parcel taxes beaten back with amazing regularity over the years. Voters in these precincts are a feisty lot. They don’t cotton to requests to open their wallets, especially for the schools. That probably won’t change any time soon. It’s just a fact of life in the fog belt.