Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Superintendent: Bert Pearlman

District guardedly optimistic

By John Pancharian

Supporters of Measure A are showing guarded confidence as the April 14 election approaches. The measure extends and raises the parcel tax which residents in the Los Gatos Union School District have assessed themselves since 1990.

"I'm very confident that we'll pass the parcel tax, but we're taking nothing for granted," Dr. Bert Pearlman, LGUSD superintendent, said.

Because Measure A not only extends the tax through 2002 but also raises the amount from $180 to $250, state law created under Proposition 13 requires that voters pass the measure by a two-thirds majority. With two new classrooms recently added at Lexington School and 17 teachers' salaries paid directly by parcel tax funds, the stakes are high for this school district, known as one of the best in the area.

"We stand to lose more than 30 certificated employees if we lose this parcel tax," Pearlman said. "Class size is a real big thing for us. We have smaller classes in grades four through eight than most of what's out there, but were we to lose this tax, class size would balloon enormously."

Karen Noe-Sanders is working hard to keep such dire predictions from coming to pass. She is the Measure A campaign manager, associated with Community Advancement Through Schools (CATS), a local group helping to push Measure A forward. "It looks great," she said. "We're probably in the thick of it now, with about 300 volunteers. It's amazing--there seems to be a great swelling of support."

Though there is no organized opposition to Measure A, Sanders' optimism dims somewhat when she talks about possible competition from other schools appealing to the taxpayers' pocketbook. There was a bond issue passed in Saratoga last November; Lakeside Joint School District will have a $1.45 million bond on the April 14 ballot; the Los Gatos- Saratoga Joint Union High School District plans a $78 million bond for the June election, and there may even be a $9.2 billion statewide bond, also in June. Given all of this, voters may look at Measure A and sigh, "What, again?"

"We're concerned about it, yes," Noe-Sanders admits. "That's why we're putting so much into the campaign." Pearlman also has some concerns about voter burnout, though he noted that the Los Gatos and Lakeside measures will not directly interfere with one another because each will appear on the ballot only in the attendance area of the district it affects. He added, "I'm hoping people will understand that the Los Gatos elementary measure is entirely different than a new bond. This parcel tax is a continuation of what we've had for eight years."

Eight years ago, Los Gatans voted to create a $180 parcel tax to improve their schools, then voted in 1994 to extend the tax through 1998. With this money, LGUSD restored services lost after Proposition 13 cut education funding. With something approaching an adequate budget, the district's reputation rose enough to boost property values for those living in its attendance area by an average of 10 to 15 percent. However, as the years have passed, the parcel tax has not kept pace with inflation, lowering the per-student value of the tax. Pearlman explained that "the money we had this year was equal in purchasing power to what we had in 1989 [before the tax was passed]." He said, "Without the parcel tax our schools will become very different," and added that property values in the area would be likely to decline with school services.

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