Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Monte Sereno ponders its role in school boundaries

By Jeff Kearns

With the issue of school redistricting starting to worry some Monte Sereno residents, the Monte Sereno City Council began discussion at its Nov. 4 meeting to determine what--if any--position it should take on the subject. No action was taken, but the item will reappear on the agenda in January, giving councilmembers time to learn more about the issue and how the various scenarios would affect Monte Sereno residents.

Monte Sereno sends children to Los Gatos, Saratoga and Campbell schools, so Monte Sereno residents will be impacted by the study currently under way by the county Committee on School District Organization.

In Los Gatos, where town officials have distanced themselves from the school boundaries issue, Los Gatos Union School District has carried on an emotional battle in favor of Scenario No. 1, which essentially leaves boundaries as they are.

In Saratoga, on the other hand, the City Council has taken a strong position that favors "one city, one school district." The council's actions followed a request by the Saratoga Union School District to have the county committee consider how school unification might impact several of the scenarios under consideration.

Many Saratoga school officials, however, expressed displeasure that the city had jumped on the "one city, one district" notion before the issue had been studied.

Although it's unusual for a city council to take a position on school issues, Monte Sereno councilmembers clearly were wrestling with their appropriate role in the emotional school-boundary issue.

Councilmember Joel Gambord, saying, "I'm trying to salvage something from a council that didn't want to do anything at all," made two motions, one of which was tabled and one of which failed to make it to a vote for lack of a second. One was to ask the county committee for a grandfather clause to allow currently enrolled students to continue in their same district through the 12th grade. He also wanted to ask the county committee to make no changes in the districts as they relate to Monte Sereno.

Later, in a telephone interview, Pat Gillings, appointed by the council to keep them apprised of educational issues, said, "Scenarios 1 and 3 would have no effect on Monte Sereno, but Scenarios 2 and 4 as currently written would move all of Monte Sereno into Los Gatos." Monte Sereno Councilmember Dorothea Bamford, mindful of the criticism the Saratoga council received for its position, said it might be premature for the council to take a stand.

Monte Sereno resident Bruce Lerman told the council he recently moved from Saratoga assuming his children would be able to continue attending Saratoga schools. He also expressed concern about the impact redistricting could have on housing prices.

"When you want to sell the house, the appreciation on the real estate may be affected," Lerman said. "There can be a $100,000 difference in property values when the time comes to sell the house. We wouldn't have bought the place if we had known this would happen."

Gillings said that many of the 29 Monte Sereno families who currently have children in grades K-8 in Saratoga schools had told her they would be unhappy about being moved out of the Saratoga district.

Councilmember Suzanne Jackson noted that the council was very concerned about the issue, and said she believed the council should endorse a resolution opposing changes to the districts which would negatively impact Monte Sereno children.

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