Saratoga News

SUSD opts to postpone vote on eucalyptus trees

Members cite need for more parental input before Oct. 13 vote

By Michelle Alaimo

Only God can make a tree, but the Saratoga Union School District can't seem to decide the fate of eucalyptus trees at Saratoga School. The board postponed a decision at its Sept. 22 meeting, citing what they called a lack of parental input as to whether to have the trees removed.

"I'm not ready to make a decision to keep the trees," board member Stephanie Petrossi said. "A decision to keep the trees would not provide for a level playing field."

And board members Cynthia Chang and Cindy Ruby said they didn't feel comfortable taking action until they heard from more of the school's parents.

But member Jill Hunter said she had received a number of calls in support of keeping the trees and that she was ready to make a decision.

SUSD Superintendent Mary Gardner recommended that the board keep the two trees in the playground.

Board president Peggy Koen agreed. "It might be in our interest to leave the trees and see how we live with a reduced play space," she said.

School officials scheduled an informational meeting for parents on Oct. 1 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Oak Street school's cafeteria. Saratoga School Principal MaryBarbara Zorio said HMC architect Lee Salin and consulting arborist and horticulturist Deborah Ellis will make presentations at the meeting. Day care will be provided.

Zorio said everything possible is being done--from letters sent home to phone calls--to ensure parents know about the meeting. She said she hopes to have about 200 parents attend, "but if they don't come, then that sends a message, too."

And, school officials said, the informational meeting will be parents' last chance to voice their concerns on the issue of the trees' fate at Saratoga School: the board has decided to make a final decision about whether to remove the trees at its Oct. 13 meeting, planned for 7:30 p.m. in the Redwood Middle School library.

The controversy over the trees arose in June after preliminary plans for Saratoga School's renovation, prepared by HMC Architects, called for the removal of two large eucalyptus trees near the playground and eight eucalyptus trees along the south side of the school near the parking lot. The report cited safety reasons, such as falling branches and tree debris, for its recommendation. Since the first plans came out, two more options have been added which allow for the two trees near the playground to stay.

But they also make the school's play field smaller.

The second new option--added Sept. 22--was created as a direct result of a report by Ellis and recommends leaving the trees but moving construction out from beneath the trees' driplines--about 12 to 15 feet away from the base of the trees. Ellis's report defines the dripline as "the area under the total branch spread of the tree, all around the tree."

Ellis told board members that option would be the less disruptive to the trees.

Audience members were also concerned about the fate of the eight eucalyptus trees located between a modular building on campus and a classroom building. "The plan was to take them out," architect Salin said.

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