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Parking becomes a commodity
By JON HOORNSTRA
The City of Cupertino should commission an artist to design an official city flag, with the requirement that the flag incorporate at least one of the following symbols that characterize this place we call home: a bulldozer, a stop sign or a speed bump.
And perhaps a "No Parking" sign might be added, if you consider the tale of parking at some of the area's high-school campuses.
Two weeks ago, Fremont Union High School District officials cleared 93 parking stalls assigned to teachers at the east end of Monta Vista High School, a campus of more than 2,000 students. The teachers moved into some stalls reserved for students at the west end of the campus.
At just about the same time, the city imposed new parking restrictions on some of the residential side streets adjacent to Monta Vista. When the displaced students went looking for on-street parking, spiffy new signs said "permit parking only." Truly, a case of getting caught between the irresistible force and the immovable object put a squeeze on the young drivers.
Likewise, Cupertino High School, a campus with 1,300 students, moved an estimated 87 faculty parking slots. So far, Homestead High School, with 1,800 students, has not had a parking problem.
What's behind all this commotion? Some heavy-duty, major overhaul and construction is about to start at all the campuses in the Fremont district. It is the inevitable consequence of the voters' decision to approve Measure H, a bond referendum of $144 million, in April 1998.
Fourteen portable classrooms now occupy Monta Vista's teacher parking lot. As soon as electrical service is hooked up, students and teachers will move in.
Classes, tentatively, are expected to begin in the portables on the Cupertino and Homestead high school campuses on April 24, the first Monday after the week long spring recess. Homestead has 12 new portable classrooms and Cupertino High has 10.
Major work at the Monta Vista campus will not begin until the National Association of Student Councils ends its week long conference during the week of June 24. When they leave, the entire campus will be closed to the public. Homestead and Cupertino High campuses will close sooner, immediately after the last day of classes.
School officials have been planning each phase of the renovation program for the past 18 months. They project the work will take up to three years on most campuses, and, perhaps, two or three more years to complete work on gymnasiums.
One of the immediate consequences of closing the campuses is the impact on summer recreation programs, such as Little League baseball and programs operated by the city of Cupertino. But the consequences can't be avoided, officials said.
Contractors soon will begin to move major construction equipment, supplies and tools onto the campuses. During the summer, trenches will be dug in multiple locations for new piping and electrical/cable infrastructure. Every campus will become a hazardous site.
The city and other groups were notified last November that school grounds would not be available to them this summer.
Bill Savidge, the Fremont district official in charge of the project, said the new portable classrooms in the teachers' parking lot at Monta Vista will be removed when construction ends.
"They are not permanent," he said, "but they are air conditioned and bigger than what the students now have."
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Cupertino, California Since 1947
