Scott Frakes' letter in the April 7 Cupertino Courier states that the solution to traffic problems at Monta Vista High School is for kids to bike to school.

I agree, but it is not that simple. My son rode his bike for all three of his years at Kennedy Middle School and started to at Monta Vista as well. Still, there are plenty of days for me to experience the joys of commuting, whether due to storms, projects to carry, an after school sport or an injury. My son broke his wrist after falling off his bike while trying to juggle both his backpack and his tennis bag.

Also, have you picked up a teenager's backpack lately? Trust me, it's not part of a healthy back program to carry that thing around by foot or bike.

So, while Frakes' suggestion is a good one, it's not always possible.

Adrian Kolb

Cupertino

DeCinzo needs different
view of bicycle riding

The Cupertino Courier's April 7 cartoon by DeCinzo prompted me to visit our local bike shops to find a Terminator 1000 to replace my aging Dominator 444.

Much to my distress, I found that the new model is not available and that, worse, it won't be. To my further dismay, I found courteous sales people who were only interested in providing me with a mountain bike that would allow me to ride peacefully through our local (legal) trails. Bummer. Way bummer.

Seriously, maybe DeCinzo had a bad experience with one of the few hazardous mountain bikers. Perhaps he could join us on a Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District's docent-led mountain bike ride to see what it's like 99 percent of the time. He would get a different view.

Strether Smith

Cupertino

School should follow code, tell parents of poor grade

In the Cupertino Courier's March 10 article about the AP U.S. History class at Lynbrook, the article's statement "It's not mandatory for the teacher to contact the parents if their children perform poorly" and the principal's statement: "We put the burden on the students to hand the report cards to their parents. We put the burden on the parents to ask their children for the report cards," don't make common sense.

One would expect a school to take some special action if a student is having trouble in school, rather than putting the burden on parents to check report cards.

Indeed, when I looked up the California Education Code, I found code 49067, which states: "(a) The governing board of each school district shall prescribe regulations requiring the evaluation of each pupil's achievement for each marking period and requiring a conference with, or a written report to the parent of each pupil whenever it becomes evident to the teacher that the pupil is in danger of failing a course. The refusal of the parent to attend the conference, or to respond to the written report, shall not preclude failing the pupil at the end of the grading period."

The point of the law is obvious: a report card that is sent to every student is not sufficient, given that the student is having problems and thus can't be relied upon. Instead, the law requires "a conference with, or a written report to, the parent of each pupil."

Either the school is not observing the rule or the school district has failed to institute the proper policy as required by the law.

Paul Poon

San Jose

FUHSD let parents and AP History students down

I am responding to the Cupertino Courier's March 10th article regarding the AP History class debacle at Lynnbrook.

As a parent in a comparable high school environment, this article was shocking. If the mission statement of FUHSD is to "develop resources and community relationships ...," then the FUHSD let these parents down and, more importantly, the students in this class.

A failure of processes dictate an immediate policy change by the school board for better communication of progress reports. The simple task of a phone call and/or an email to parents is the appropriate step to take, and frankly is good manners.

Newsletters and school calendars are for informational purposes only.

The lack of compassion for students by Mr. White in his statements display a true lack of integrity on his part and the district's if his voice speaks for this district. If an apology has not been issued to students in this class, then one needs to be made.

Students learn from adult actions not words. As parents we are our children's advocates. Hats off to the parents in the AP History class who stood up and fought for their children's educational process.

Compassion, integrity, honesty, responsibility, communication and self-discipline are values adopted in a community of character.

Paula Plunk

Pleasanton

There is no such thing as affordable housing

Recent letters in the Cupertino Courier concerning the General Plan reports suggest that the majority must be "dumb" because they just can't accept the position of the minority report. Further, the majority proponents are accused of "fear and intimidation" while opposing proponents predict doom and gloom for Cupertino should the will of the majority be followed. The accusations of the minority proponents are reflections of themselves.

Then the buzzword of "affordable housing" is presented as the case for the majority report.

At the former Verona apartments, now condos, the least expensive one-bedroom unit in the back facing the wall of the adjacent building is $400,000. One could rent a luxury apartment at $3000 a month for 133 years for that amount. A buyer who puts $50,000 down and borrows $350,000 has monthly payments of about $2500, including taxes and condo fees.

Over the first five years little of this goes into equity. The same buyer could rent an apartment at Glenbrook with gardens, exercise facilities, etc. for $1000 a month and put the other $1500 in savings. After five years, the individual has saved $90,000 and if invested even at a modest 5 percent, accumulated a $115,000 nest egg.

The issue then is whether the one bedroom anthill unit will appreciate by this amount over five years. With continuing development of high rise units, that is questionable.

When all is said and done there is really no such thing as "affordable housing" in Cupertino and perpetuation of this "myth" serves no useful purpose other than that of developers.

Bob Garten

Cupertino