Saratoga News

Letters

Matching boundaries is bad move for city

The Santa Clara County Office of Education has hired an independent consultant to collect data and analyze the impacts of four scenarios for reorganizing the West Valley school districts. Scenarios 2 and 4 involve reorganizing the school districts to match city boundaries. After studying the consultant's preliminary findings and attending the public forum on Nov. 10, I have concluded that "one city, one school district" is a very bad idea that will have a substantial negative impact on all West Valley schools. Among the negative impacts would be: overcrowding, reduced state funding and higher property taxes.

Of course, the consultant's study does not take into account the overall disruption of transferring schools and teachers between districts and students between schools.

Even with all these negatives, it could be worth redistricting if there were strong reasons for it. However, the proponents of "one city, one school district" only offer one reason: an enhanced sense of "community." The community that is defined as the people within a given city's boundaries is only one example of a community. Other equally strong and vibrant communities revolve around a school, a church, a sports team, a group at work and even an online chat room.

Every person belongs to multiple communities, and the communities are different from person to person. One view of community is not a strong enough reason to lower the quality of education in Saratoga schools and to incur the substantial additional financial burden.

I am disappointed and somewhat angry that all this time, energy and money is being spent on redistricting when there are a large number of more important issues to tackle. I firmly believe that if these resources were instead put into educating and mentoring our children, the return on investment would be much greater.

Steve Everett
Saratoga

Commission mishandled Montessori school topic

The Saratoga Planning Commission has approved opening a private school at the Immanuel Lutheran Church site on Saratoga Avenue for January 1998 ( a revenue-generating opportunity for the church). The school site will add 400 cars per day to the already congested Saratoga Avenue. At an Oct. 22 meeting, 100 Saratoga residents delivered a petition to the commission asking that the school operation not be opened. The residents stated their primary concerns as increased traffic flow on Saratoga Avenue and safety concerns as more commuters speed through the surrounding neighborhoods. The existing morning backup on Herriman Avenue and impact on traffic in front of Saratoga High School were also mentioned.

It was pointed out that only 6 percent of the students who will attend the school live in Saratoga.

At that Planning Commission meeting the first topic under review was the approval of a private home. The commission debated for 30 minutes about whether the home should be moved five feet to blend with the local aesthetics. The private-home plans were not approved pending further review and study. In contrast on the school issue, after the first 10 Saratoga residents spoke on the subject, the commission asked that no more residents verbally address the commission if they were going to talk about traffic or safety concerns. The school's January opening was approved that evening.

The contrast in importance of these two issues and how they were handled by the commission is of concern to me. There was no delay in the decision to approve the school that evening. Furthermore, there was no interest by the Planning Commission in studying the traffic or safety concerns presented by the 100 residents regarding the school and the associated neighborhood environmental impact of the 400 cars per day. Ironically, the private home was not approved pending further study of the five-foot move! Our city's planning-control mechanisms appear to be inconsistent and do not reflect the desires of Saratoga's residents. The character of our city and neighborhoods is being commercialized too fast for me.

Jim Griffin
Squirrel Hollow Lane

One district would just repeat history

The question as to whether there should be "one city, one school district" is creating considerable conjecture. I believe that a review of some Saratoga school history might help provide an answer.

I became a member of the school staff of the Saratoga Union School District in 1946, after I'd finished four long years in the Air Force. I thought I was finished with war, but soon realized I was engaged in a war for schoolrooms, tax measures and bond issues due to phenomenal school-growth problems in Santa Clara County.

In 1946, Saratoga had one school with an enrollment of 276 students. In 1971, when I retired, Saratoga had an enrollment of 3,600 students and five schools. We were committed to not having double sessions, as we considered this unfair to the Saratoga kids. It was not an easy task. We had a classroom in one hallway, two classes in the auditorium and one class at the Saratoga Federated Church. We had to call for tax measures and bond issues. This was not an easy task, but we never lost an issue because of the help of many concerned parents.

Our school-building program was confined in the early stages to the construction of classrooms only.We were fortunate to be able to buy property on Fruitvale Avenue at a very reasonable price. We purchased 21 acres for $1,500 an acre. We fell heir to a small cottage on the property, so we moved it and established a teachers' room and a nurse's office and later used it for administration purposes. This building is still used for these purposes.

The Saratoga Union School District made few mistakes, but one was selling the Congress Springs school. It certainly could be used today. I had nothing to do with this decision and would have been opposed to the thought. I was retired and serving the American Community Schools in Athens, Greece, at the time.

To have the Saratoga school boundaries conform to those of the city would be a grievous error. It is said that "history repeats itself." I can assure you that if there is "one city, one school district," history will repeat itself. The Saratoga schools would again be inundated with kids. It should be borne in mind that the Saratoga school boundaries were established long, long before Saratoga was incorporated. Many people were opposed to the measure. They wanted Saratoga kept as a village.

At various times after the city was incorporated, new subdivisions appeared in the new Saratoga city boundaries. Various parents asked if the Saratoga Union School District would enter into an interdistrict attendance agreement to allow their children to attend Saratoga schools. The answer was a loud "no!" We had enough kids as it was.

I feel that the slogan needed today is not "one city, one school district," but rather "Saratoga schools for Saratoga Union School District kids!"

Dan Ungaro
Saratoga

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