Saratoga NewsLettersCreek issue still lacks answers Your Oct. 8 article on Saratoga Creek and the Williamson report highlights a most curious chapter in the creek controversy. There are two questions that demand answers when the Williamson report is finally revisited (in March, some eight months ago, the city staff promised to come back to the City Council with answers to questions raised at that time). The first question is why city officials are now claiming Williamson's hiring had nothing to do with the creek litigation, when it is incontrovertible that she was hired because of the litigation and to assist with the litigation. Former Mayor Paul Jacobs is on record expressing his concern that if there are serious problems in Williamson's report on the creek, it might compromise the report's usefulness in the litigation, the purpose for which she was hired. Also, Williamson's first work product for the city was a sworn declaration she provided as an expert witness in the federal litigation. It was eleven months after that declaration when she completed and presented her report, which city officials unveiled as an independent scientific and objective study of the health of Saratoga Creek. The second question also follows from incontrovertible evidence. Major conclusions of the report are grossly inaccurate. Crucial data in the report are simply false. The question then is, why has the City paid over $10,000 for a study that is so seriously flawed, and what will the city do about that? Meanwhile, nothing has been done to mitigate the continuous flow of pollution from the storm drain under Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, and in May, record high levels of bacteriological pollution were measured in the creek. The sole beneficiary of the creek marathon has been the city attorney's law firm, which as of some months ago has been paid over $150,000 for their part in it.
Jeffrey A. Schwartz
W. D. Whetstone A sense of community comes in many forms You raised an interesting point when wondering if our Silicon Valley lifestyles interfered with our sense of community. The demands upon our time certainly pose challenges to spending time with families, participating in school activities and socializing with our neighbors. I would like to share with you two examples of a sense of community. While this one involves only one area of our city, I suspect that there are other neighborhoods providing the same supportive attitude. Just this past weekend, former longtime neighbors (who moved to Morgan Hill only three or four months ago) experienced the tragedy of having their 24-year-old son killed in a motorcycle accident. The victim's older brother contacted some of his brother's friends and only two or three of his and his parents' former neighbors. Each of those neighbors called neighbors and those neighbors called neighbors, etc., all without being asked to do so. When we arrived at the memorial services, the huge sanctuary of the church was full! Of course, many of the son's friends and co-workers attended; however, there were between 20 and 30 (now former neighbors) different families present to support the grieving family. Some of the funeral attendees had moved from our neighborhood and had not been close to the family for some time. However, Saratoga Woods has always been a close-knit community, and it was natural for us to come together to support the family simply because we were all neighbors. After observing the large number of neighbors attending the funeral services, one of my friends (and neighbor) said, "Seeing all of these neighbors here reinforces why our neighborhood is so special; I'll never leave it." The second example of community spirit involved hundreds of Saratogans who volunteered their time, effort and expertise for a common cause. That cause was last year's Measure G campaign. Involved in the campaign to protect our city from unwanted commercial and high-density development were senior citizens, college students, "yuppies," conservatives, liberals, Republicans, Democrats, business executives, homemakers, long-time residents, new residents, renters, landowners, entrepreneurs, affluent, nonaffluent, and equal numbers of men and women. In other words, when there are concerns and issues of mutual interest, Saratogans rally together for the benefit of the entire community. Daily community spirit is often difficult to observe, but Celebrate Saratoga!, our neighborhoods, our children's sporting events and school activities all form the basis of our sense of community. Neighborhood schools have always fostered friendships, closeness and common interests. The current situation of numerous districts for such a small town tends to disrupt and/or interfere with a sense of community. There are countless streets in which next-door neighbors' children are in different school districts; existing district boundaries no longer make sense. They were established when this valley was primarily agricultural and few houses existed. In order to populate the schools, large tracts of land had to be included in a given district. That situation no longer exists and hasn't for quite some time. These now irrational boundaries do nothing to promote a sense of community and, in fact, now divide communities. It is my firm belief that our sense of community will be greatly enhanced when (and if) Saratoga is able to unify into a single school district. I have no crystal ball, but I am confident that a unified district will result in considerably heightened levels of common interest and, thus, in a sense of community.
Marcia Fariss Parents want inclusion not exclusion on issues A strong sense of community is a wonderful tie that binds people together and opens rather than closes doors. The benefits of having a community working together far outweigh the negative impact of divisiveness within a community. Many Saratogans, both old and young, realize that a "win-win" situation is the goal with regard to the school boundary issue. Schools are a very important networking system within a community, especially because they provide a forum for quick and efficient dissemination of information. The Saratogans who are working toward inclusion of their neighborhoods in the Saratoga school district are valuable contributing members of the Saratoga community. Many are volunteer commissioners, City Councilmembers, coaches, "Citizens of the Year" and "Volunteers of the Year" for the city of Saratoga. These are people who work actively to improve the community for the good of all Saratogans. Collaborative efforts and joint ventures between our city, local businesses and schools would be greatly enhanced if the school district boundaries were expanded to include all Saratogans. I use the word expanded because, of course, the Monte Sereno, Los Gatos and county residents already in the Saratoga school district should remain so. We have repeatedly stated this position at all public forums. We support the concept of inclusion, not exclusion. The Palo Alto Unified (K-12) School District enjoys many benefits of a collaborative relationship with the city of Palo Alto, the Recreation Department, the library system and many community groups and businesses. We will never be as big as Palo Alto, so no one needs to worry about a huge school district. We can, however, enjoy the benefits of this model on a scale that suits our own unique community. We can enhance the programs and facilities available to Saratoga's schoolchildren by working together, rather than miss out on wonderful opportunities because we are a fragmented community. Many members of the Saratoga community are telling us that the current school district boundaries, which break up neighborhoods, are not working for them and are not in the best interest of the children or our community as a whole. Saratoga's middle and elementary schools are crowded and are projected to become even more crowded, even if the boundaries do not change. Saratoga High School is not crowded, however. In fact, almost twice as many students were enrolled in the late 1970s. Redwood Middle School could enjoy some breathing space if there were more elementary schools providing space for a sixth-grade option. There are schools within the Saratoga city limits which are held by school districts that have excess schools. It's time to look at some of these school sites and the associated opportunities. We certainly don't need fragmentation and divisiveness in our lovely community. We need to listen to each other and work together toward a solution.
Jenny Crotty School boundaries ruin a sense of community After reading "How strong is Saratoga's sense of community?" in the Oct. 8 issue of the Saratoga News, I felt compelled to respond with some of my feelings about the questions posed. I am a 38-year-old Saratoga resident who has lived in Saratoga since I was 2 years old. I was raised in the foothills, bought my first home in the village and am now fortunate to be able to raise my family in a house only a few hundred yards from the church in which I was baptized and married. I attended Foothill Elementary School, Redwood Junior High School, Saratoga High School and West Valley College. My mother was an active Saratoga merchant for many years and is still a proud Saratoga resident. My sister is a past Miss Saratoga. I was fortunate to be a member of the Saratoga Falcon CCS championship football team in 1976, and I have many friends involved in past and present Saratoga government. I lived away from Saratoga for only three years while attending college in Southern California with four of my closest friends from Saratoga High. Each of those friends has returned to live in Saratoga or surrounding neighborhoods and feels the same bond as do I to this unique and wonderful city. Throughout my career, I have taken pride in the respect and admiration given to me by my peers based simply upon my Saratoga roots and lifelong attachment to friends and community. I am truly blessed to be able to raise my family in the same protected and nurturing environment in which I was raised. My wife has embraced Saratoga as her home and the home of our family forever. I feel an overwhelming sense of belonging to this city. It is difficult for me to truly communicate to others my attachment to this city and my memories, but these are some of the reasons why it is so disappointing to me that Saratoga is fractured by arbitrary school district boundaries. My home is less than a mile from Redwood Junior High, but my children cannot attend with their neighbors and the children of my lifelong friends. My children are told they must attend Marshall Lane School in the city of Saratoga. The city of Saratoga, but the Campbell School District. I can make no sense of this. I simply want my children to belong as I always felt I have. I am a Saratogan, beyond question. I live in Saratoga, no doubt. It saddens me that my children may never feel the sense of belonging that I have felt. I say there is no question. I agree with Councilman Don Wolfe: "one city, one school district."
Jeff Dennis School missed out on teaching opportunity Last June, I attended my granddaughter's high school graduation. The day was beautiful, and the setting was perfect. Yet there was a sadness that surrounded this graduation. A number of students were not being allowed to graduate because of a senior prank. My granddaughter told me that the principal had not notified the parents of this rule. The school board in the area had told him he must, but he had not followed through. At the time, I thought, "How unfair." Despite my granddaughter's extreme disappointment that classmates she had attended school with for the last 13 years could not join her, she went through the graduation ceremony. I was very happy with her decision. In August, when I returned to attend my grandnephew's wedding, I found people still discussing how unhappy they were with the principal's handling of the prank. All the parents that I talked with felt their children should do community service as a punishment, but the principal set up days without flexibility that made compliance impossible. People make bad decisions, but what a perfect opportunity for this high school to create a positive learning experience before these students left for their various colleges.
Bill Matthews Correction The article about the City Council's support of school district unification in the Oct. 15 issue of the Saratoga News mistakenly identified Charlotte Sparacino as the Argonaut School PTA president. The president of the Argonaut PTA is actually Cindy Bitner.
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This article appeared in the Saratoga News, October 22, 1997. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||