By Tim Persyn
With all votes tallied, the issue is settled: Uniforms are not on the horizon for Saratoga School students.
However, the issue may still arise at other schools in the Saratoga Union School District.
Supporters of uniforms lost the campaign due to a provision that could be described as a technicality:
Parents of Saratoga students needed to return 80 percent of ballots in a vote on uniforms that ended March 20; the community fell just short of this mark, with a 78 percent return rate.
The decision-making process involved a significant amount of debate, with open forums, discussion at a board meeting, and an agenda item at a PTA meeting. Debate culminated in the vote among parents on whether to bring uniforms to Saratoga
School this fall.
Significantly, a majority of parents voted for uniforms, although support did not reach the 60 percent level needed to pass the measure even if 80 percent of the ballots had been returned.
Overall, participants characterized the process as not divisive.
"We worked hard to insure this wasn't an issue we would sacrifice relationships for," said Principal Lily Ogden.
School board member Stephanie Petrossi said it was important to get the issue settled.
"We went through process, we got a clear vote, we know how people feel," Petrossi said.
However, Saratoga School parent Shonna Larson, who is a supporter of uniforms, said the issue is not dead among parents in the district.
"We got calls from interested parents at Argonaut, Redwood and Foothill schools wanting to know how to start the process of bringing uniforms to their school," Larson said. "I doubt we've heard the last of this. Our school isn't isolated."
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, April 10, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved