Saratoga News

Community puts pressure on City Council to take unification stand

Don Wolfe says it's time for one city, one school district

Others prefer no position

By Michelle Alaimo

When the joint meeting of the City Council, the Saratoga Union and the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School districts was placed on the council agenda months ago, councilmembers had no reason to believe it would be anything but a routine exchange of information and ideas.

What they learned is that there is nothing routine about the community's reaction to redistricting or the attendant groundswell for unification in Saratoga.

The first clue that this was not to be a simple information exchange was the packed house at the Adult Day Care Center, where the meeting took place Sept. 23. What many in the audience wanted was nothing less than for the council to get behind the unification move.

Reaction from the council was mixed.

Councilmember Paul Jacobs stirred up the crowd when he said the council doesn't have enough expertise on the issue and shouldn't become involved. Jacobs' comment led to an avalanche of responses from the audience. Many said the council should be involved because it represents all the residents in Saratoga. Others expressed concern that by not becoming involved, the City Council would indicate it is not concerned about a strong sense of community.

But Mayor Gillian Moran stressed that this is not the case. She said the council has always supported a strong sense of community and supports all residents of Saratoga.

Vice Mayor Donald Wolfe took a different stance, to the delight of many in the standing-room-only crowd.

"I think it's time for the city to come out and say 'one city, one district,' " Wolfe said.

Jacobs disagreed. "It's a complex issue. Us simply passing a resolution does not add anything to the solution," he said.

Councilmembers didn't reach a decision on the matter, but Saratoga Union School District Superintendent Mary Gardner suggested that the council and school districts have another joint meeting when more redistricting information comes out later this year.

Many residents suggested that in the meantime the council poll Saratogans to find out which of the four scenarios presented in August by the Santa Clara County Committee on School District Reorganization residents prefer.

The scenarios include leaving boundaries as they are, except in instances of extreme geographic isolation; making school district boundaries conform to city boundaries; going with the first scenario and reorganizing Campbell Union High School District into three unified school districts; or reorganizing the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District into two school districts.

The reorganization committee's consultant, Michael Winters, is scheduled to make his final report to the committee in December. The committee would then make its recommendation to the state Board of Education in February 1998. If the state board approves the recommendation, an election would be held in June or November 1999. Voting eligibility is determined by the state board. If the scenario is approved by voters, the earliest any changes would take effect is July 1, 2000.

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