Saratoga News

Consultant on school district organization to give his report

Most scenarios run into Education Code problems

County committee to decide

By Michelle Alaimo

The consultant for the Santa Clara County Committee on School District Organization said in a final report on Westside school district boundaries that community identity problems will be shifted instead of resolved under reorganization. The report, currently available on the Internet, will be formally presented to the county committee by consultant Mike Winters on Jan. 7 at 6 p.m. at Lynbrook High School in San Jose.

The nearly 80-page report gives a detailed account of each of the four scenarios and why they do or do not meet criteria--of which community identity is one--under California's Education Code, Section 35753. As Winters' Nov. 10 preliminary data showed, Scenario 2, which would redraw school district boundaries to match city boundaries, and Scenario 4, which would unify Los Gatos and Saratoga into K-12 districts that would match city limits, are still not feasible. The report also looked at Scenario 1, which would leave things as they are except in cases of extreme geographic isolation and initiate a study of the territory in Santa Cruz County adjacent to the Lakeside Joint and the Loma Prieta Joint Union school districts, and Scenario 3, which would reorganize the Campbell Union High School District into three unified school districts."Scenarios 2 and 4 would put students into a situation where there would be fewer dollars per pupil," Winters said. He added that the reason students want to transfer into the Saratoga and Los Gatos school districts is the perceived higher level of education, and by adding more students and blending revenue amounts, the amount per pupil would be diluted. "It would create a situation just like the one [other school districts] are in," Winters said.

The report didn't state that there were any problems with Scenario 1. Winters said in an interview, "The individual persons who want their territory transfers will continue to petition for territory transfers."

As for Scenario 3, Winters did not list as many negative impacts as he did for scenarios 2 and 4, but he did say that Campbell teachers have a high salary base and that to unify could cause problems. "The areawide study data could be used to show that all of the schools are affected and could be used by the Campbell High School District to show that petitions should not be allowed," Winters told the Saratoga News.

In the areawide study, Winters had to use nine state criteria on school boundary organization and list any negative impacts that would result from changes.

One of those criteria--concerning whether the proposed school district would be "organized on the basis of substantial community identity"--was cited throughout the year by residents wanting to get out of their school district and into another one they perceived as better able to create community identity.

But Winters also had to consider the following before reaching a conclusion: isolation, geography, distance between social centers, distance between school centers, topography, weather, community, school and social ties, and other circumstances peculiar to the area.

Winters' report states that "the proposed reorganizations of portions of the territories of the 13 Westside Santa Clara County school districts will shift community identity problems rather than resolve them." The report goes on to state that by changing boundaries, others who were once in the center of their school districts may also want to change and that changing boundaries will cause disruption in existing communities of identity, in particular around existing schools including Alta Vista and Marshall Lane. "Territory transfers (which include the school) out of those districts will disrupt those schools' existing communities of identity," the report states. However, the report's summary of scenarios 2 and 4 regarding community identity indicates that the state's criterion would be met.

The study found negative impacts associated with Criterion 3, which covers equitable division of property. Both the Los Gatos Union School District and the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District would not receive enough funds and facilities to accommodate the number of students being transferred in, according to the report. The Campbell Union High School District might also experience a significant depletion, more than 5 percent, of the capital accounts to achieve equity, the report states.

Criterion 6, which states there should be no significant disruption of the educational program, is another criterion that Winters found would not be met under scenarios 2 and 4. His report states: "The impacts to educational program as a result of scenarios 2 and 4 are estimated to be moderate to severe, depending on the levels of funding available as a result of the territory transfers and/or unifications."

His findings state that although there would be minimal disruption under Scenario 1, "substantial disruptions in educational programs could occur to the Cupertino Union, Fremont Union High, LGUSD, SUSD and/or LG-SJUHSD as the result of the reorganizations proposed in scenarios 2 and 4."

The report found that Criterion 7, which stipulates that there be no significant increase in school housing costs, was also not met. According to the study, substantial impacts could occur to the LGUSD, the SUSD and the LG-SJUHSD under scenarios 2 and 4. The LGUSD would need to raise $8 million for a new elementary school, and the LG-SJUHSD would need to raise some $25 million for a partial new high school under the scenarios. At the Nov. 10 public forum, Winters' only public recommendation was to drop Scenario 4 altogether for the LGUSD.

While many residents have argued in the past that the primary motivation for territory transfers into the SUSD and the LGUSD is to increase property values, Winters' report did not find this to be the case.

"Since this study originated from the Santa Clara County Committee on School District Organization, property values, as the primary motivation, are not an issue," the report states.

The report did, however, find that reorganization under scenarios 2 and 4 would have a negative fiscal impact on seven different school districts.

"The impacts from territory transfers proposed in scenarios 2 and 4 may be substantial and could have a lasting negative impact on the affected school districts to continue appropriate staffing levels, salaries and benefits and/or educational programs," the report states.

The report also states that there could be a negative fiscal impact from Scenario 3 depending on the "eligibility of the proposed new school districts to qualify for increases in revenue limit for salary and benefits of the Campbell Union High School District."

Winters, whose contract for the Westside study ends Jan. 7, said he will present the information--basically straight from the report--at that night's meeting.

The county committee could reach a decision on what to recommend to the state Board of Education as early as Jan. 7 or at the Jan. 26 meeting, said Larry Shirey, senior research analyst for for the county Office of Education. If a decision is not made in January, the committee would then discuss the possible district organization at other meetings. The county committee has the option to leave things as they are and make no recommendation or to ask for further study. If a recommendation is made by the county committee, the state board would decide by early 1999 whether to approve it. If approved, an election would be held in 1999 in which the state board decides who is eligible to vote. If the scenario is approved by voters, the earliest any changes would take effect is July 1, 2000.

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]