Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Saratogans asked Wilson to veto Vasconcellos bill

By Michelle Alaimo

Gov. Pete Wilson last week vetoed Senate Bill 1258, a move which could have far-reaching implications in the current battle over school district boundaries. The bill would have forced school districts acquiring new schools through redistricting to pay fair market value for the property to the district losing property.

Two weeks ago, both the Saratoga Union School District and the Saratoga City Council sent letters to Wilson asking him to veto the bill so that Californians could maintain local control over school district boundaries.

Wilson, who first received the bill Sept. 19, gave several reasons for his Oct. 12 veto.

"This bill was introduced to address a specific problem between two school districts in one county of California. However, the bill has statewide application and could cause serious problems in other parts of the state and may hamper reasonable and desirable reorganizations of territory in the future," Wilson said in a statement to the California Senate. "Furthermore, this bill requires county committees on school district organizations, in the event that the districts cannot reach a mutual agreement, to make complex and costly evaluations of cost to determine fair compensation. I am concerned that these county committees do not possess the necessary expertise to make this evaluation."

The governor gave other reasons for his veto, including a concern that residents of a reorganized district would retain liability on bond debt and be required to pay for any lost property--and essentially end up paying for the same property twice. The bill would also add more procedures for school districts, county committees on school district organization and the state Board of Education to follow when there is a petition to transfer territory from one district to another.

The bill was first introduced by state Sen. John Vasconcellos in late February. Rand Martin, chief of staff for Vasconcellos, said the governor's veto was disappointing. Martin said they will explore their options to see if they would like to reintroduce the bill during the next legislative session.

Since Wilson rejected SB 1258, the existing law will remain the same. It mandates that real school property, such as buildings, be incorporated in the new district to which it is transferred, without monetary compensation, if there is district reorganization. Superintendent Cynthia Ranii said the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District never took a formal position on SB 1258, but "the current education code serves us well."

SB 1258 has been of particular interest to local school districts because of the current redistricting battle, in which the Santa Clara County Committee on School District Reorganization hired a consultant to study possible redistricting scenarios. Currently, four scenarios presented to the county committee in August are being studied by the consultant. One of the scenarios involves modifying the boundaries of the school districts to conform to city boundaries. Another involves forming separate K-12 districts in both Saratoga and Los Gatos. If SB 1258 had been approved, Los Gatos and Saratoga would have had to pay fair market value for schools they acquired during reorganization.

Facts gathered by the consultant on how redistricting would affect school districts are scheduled to be released in early November.

The reorganization committee's consultant is scheduled to make his final report to the committee in December. The committee will then make its recommendation to the state Board of Education in February 1998. If the state Board of Education approves the recommendation, an election will be held in June or November 1999. The state Board of Education determines who is eligible to vote in the election. If the scenario is approved by voters, the earliest any changes would take effect is July 1, 2000.

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