Photograph by Carrie Jensen
Bill Brown (left) and Ray Persico (right) are two of a number of parents who attended the Saratoga Union School District board meeting at which the subject was the future of a eucalyptus tree that has been in place for more than 100 years. Both asked to have the tree removed for safety reasons.
School board votes to fell 100-year-old tree
Safety of children became a concern
By Rebecca Ray
A month after the wind toppled a 91-year-old eucalyptus tree at Saratoga Elementary School during a rainstorm, district board members unanimously decided to chop down one remaining older and larger eucalyptus tree on campus. Saratoga Union School District trustees made the decision after listening to residents argue passionately for and against cutting down the tree at the Dec. 11 board meeting.
"There can be no compromise for the safety of children," said board secretary Stephanie Petrossi. "Children and parents have the right to come to school and feel safe."
Board member Cindy Ruby said that before the 91-year-old tree fell Nov. 12, the board had intended to keep and maintain both Tasmanian Blue Gum eucalyptus trees. But after the younger tree fell, she said that her feelings changed.
Photograph by Carrie Jensen
Supported removal: Anne Barounos
Jill Hunter, one of five residents at the meeting who spoke in favor of keeping the remaining tree, said she felt overwhelmed and saddened by the board's decision.
Hunter, who served on the board for 10 years, resigned in 1998 to protest the board's decision to cut down all 10 eucalyptus trees at the school for safety reasons. After hearing protests from community groups, board members decided to keep the two large eucalyptus trees near the playground--one of which is the remaining eucalyptus tree--until May 2000, when an arborist would decide to remove the more unhealthy one of the two. The district removed seven of the other trees, because they were either unhealthy or stood in the way of a proposed building expansion.
Hunter said that the remaining tree, which is more than 100 years old, "has never harmed one hair on one child."
But the fact that the tree has never injured anyone did nothing to alleviate the concern of the 22 parents and staff members who spoke at the meeting. Although arborist Bill Berridge said that the remaining tree appeared to be in good health when he inspected it in November, parents pointed out that arborists had also deemed the fallen tree healthy enough to keep.
Photograph by Carrie Jensen
Eucalyptus advocate: Willys Peck
Saratoga resident Willys Peck, a member of the city heritage preservation commission who attended the school from 1929 to 1937, argued that the fallen tree had existed under more hazardous conditions. In a report to City Manager Dave Anderson, city contract arborist Barrie Coate said that when he examined both trees Nov. 14, the fallen tree "was not comparable to the remaining big, old specimen in any way, except being the same species." Coate recommended pruning the remaining tree and drilling holes in the ground to drain standing water.
However, John McClenahan, the third arborist, who examined both trees after Nov. 12, recommended removing the remaining tree. McClenahan said that the root structure was similar to that of the fallen tree and that the size and age of the remaining tree increased its "potential for failure." McClenahan listed the height of the fallen tree at 90 feet, with an estimated diameter of 4 feet, and the height of the remaining tree at 95 feet, with an estimated diameter of slightly more than 7 feet. McClenahan also cited the potential for the tree to drop its limbs during storms and drastic temperature changes in the summer as a reason to remove it.
Board President Bonnie Yamaoka said that the safest time to remove the tree would be during the two-week winter break--which lasts from Dec. 24 to Jan. 4--when children aren't in school.
Petrossi proposed that a ceremony be held before the tree was cut down, out of respect for the community members who wanted to preserve it. The trustees passed the motion unanimously.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
