Saratoga News

LGUSD fanned the flames of discontent

By Jayne Sonnenschein

When my family and I moved to Los Gatos in 1991, we were looking for a town that would complement our values and enhance our quality of life. We wanted the feeling of belonging to our new town. When my child attended preschool in the town of Los Gatos, we had these things. Summer camp and other year-round parks and recreation activities allowed us the opportunity to grow into our new town. When I shopped at the local merchants and visited the library, post office, clubs, restaurants, galleries, movies, parks and synagogue, I enjoyed seeing my new acquaintances, and our family felt connected.

I also liked knowing I was supporting my town. When my child started public school at Marshall Lane, everything changed. Our previous friends and acquaintances all went to the Los Gatos schools. During the summer my child sees one group of children, and during the school year he sees another.

I did not ask for the area-wide study on school boundaries, nor did I know that territory transfers were possible. A group of parents in my neighborhood got together this past winter when we heard about the area-wide boundary study that was discussed in a meeting of the Santa Clara County Committee on School District Organization in February 1997.

We knew it was important to gather additional information. After discovering that our neighborhood school, Marshall Lane, could be moved into the Saratoga Union School District, we thought it was prudent and essential to participate in the process and consider the long-term solutions.

I have been called the "vocal minority." I am forced to be outspoken; there is no one to speak for me or represent the needs of my family. The newspapers and the school districts within my own community present inaccurate information which has caused anger and confusion for everyone. Early cartoons portrayed my child and his peers as aliens and illegal immigrants. The Los Gatos Union School District has clearly imparted the message that only their students are capable of achieving high test scores, and only their parents commit to a high level of involvement in the schools.

Within the Campbell Unified School District, where I spend many hours volunteering on both district and local committees, my address used to be unimportant. I am now identified "as one of those Los Gatans." Even worse, in my town of Los Gatos, I am now perceived as "The Fringe", and the recipient of everyone's irrational and erroneous assumptions!

I hold Los Gatos Union School District personally responsible for magnifying the problem of isolation for residents who live in the town of Los Gatos but are not currently in the LGUSD. The district's battle against change has created an even bigger problem with respect to community identity.

The children in my area are the casualty of their intentional and deliberate efforts. I consider it unethical for any school district administration to promote and encourage the distribution of information for the purpose of inciting a hysterical reaction.

The communications I have observed coming from Los Gatos Union School District Superintendent Bert Pearlman and the school board are offensive. They are crafted in a way that stretches the truth and exaggerates the facts. The misrepresentation of facts is not the kind of example that is healthy for children or communities.

What is the ethical and moral value being taught by encouraging, promoting and allowing the distribution of information which contains useful facts overshadowed by inflammatory statements, erroneous opinions and premature assumptions?

During the June 19 public hearing, LGUSD board member Bruce Berwald stated, "Los Gatos and the Los Gatos Union School District have a mutually beneficial and rather symbiotic relationship. The town is admired for its value of the schools, and the schools are strongly supported by the community."

I want the entire Los Gatos community to have access to the same nurturing relationship between their town and their schools.

Jayne Sonnenschein is a resident of Los Gatos.

[ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ]