One of the large eucalyptus at Saratoga School cut down

By Leigh Ann Maze

One of two hotly debated 100-year-old eucalyptus trees at Saratoga School came down on May 3, with little fanfare. The removal ended a two-year debate over whether the trees should be left standing for their intrinsic value, or cut down to make a larger play field and for safety reasons.

The Saratoga Union School District board said it would make a decision on which of the two large trees to cut down by May 1 and they didn't waste any time.

The district's arborist, Deborah Ellis, gave her report on the health of the trees to board members on April 28. Board members informed the construction manager of their decision on April 29.

One of the large trees in the middle of the campus was felled to make a larger play field, and two smaller eucalyptus trees in a stand of four near the classrooms were also cut. Those two trees were diseased.

The remaining large eucalyptus tree will be kept, said SUSD superintendent Mary Gardner.

The handful of residents who had worked to keep the two large eucalyptus trees standing for the past two years did not know of the decision in time to be there. Jill Hunter, who resigned from the school board over the issue in 1998, Gay Crawford and Larry Ford were all out of town. Betty Peck was in town, but was not informed of the decision.

"I'm very distraught," Hunter said.

Gardner said she left several messages for Hunter's husband, Dennis, to let him know that the decision had been made, since he was the chief negotiator for the group that wanted to keep the trees.

The two parties did not communicate because the Hunters were out of town, and the SUSD went ahead with the cutting.

Deliberation over the fate of the trees began in the summer of 1998, when the architect's preliminary plans for the expansion of Saratoga School called for the removal of both large eucalyptus trees for safety reasons.

What followed was nine months of deliberation over the fate of the trees, including parent meetings, petitions, City Council involvement and, ultimately, Hunter's resignation from the board after ten years.

On April 27, 1999, the district and the tree supporters reached a compromise. The district would keep the two large trees until May 2000, at which time Ellis would recommend the removal of the less healthy of the two. Ellis would also determine the health of four eucalyptus trees near the classrooms.

"In my opinion the construction company and the district office really tried hard and did a reasonably good job at protecting the trees," Ford said.

The group of residents plans to continue to monitor the three remaining eucalyptus and the dozen or so oaks and other trees on the school grounds until construction is finished, Ford said.

"There is a real sadness about taking this tree out," Gardner said. "[The tree supporters] would have liked to have had some kind of acknowledgment of the tree, but because we are in a construction site and we need to move ahead in order to meet our timelines we weren't able to do that."

Instead, Gardner said, the SUSD plans to have a celebration of the protection of the remaining large tree with the children when school reconvenes in the fall.

"Our intention is to celebrate the tree that was kept," Gardner said.

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