Officials from the Saratoga Union, Los Gatos­Saratoga Union High School, Los Gatos Union, Loma Prieta Joint Union and Lakeside Joint school districts have been meeting to discuss potentially sharing in the funding of certain programs, services and staff members.

The superintendents of each district will meet on May 1 to revisit the issue, and representatives will bring the item before their respective school boards at their next scheduled meeting.

At the April 22 Saratoga Union School District Board of Trustees meeting, board President John Waite said the group had met several times, once with a trained facilitator, to brainstorm specific services that could be jointly funded.

"Everybody seems very interested in this," Waite said. According to Waite, some ideas that had been brought up included joint use of technology and maintenance.

Superintendent Mary Gardner added that since technology is targeted for budget reductions, a tech team could be formed that could share its expertise and service with surrounding municipalities.

While Gardner said the process has nothing to do with unifying districts, sharing services could eventually include business operations and human resource practices, as well as "possibly getting teacher support."

Madeline Morrow, co-president of the Saratoga Education Foundation, was enthusiastic about the concept and suggested that teachers who are responsible for arts classes be considered. Arts classes are the first to go in a time of budget crises such as this, Morrow said. "Offering things in the arts in a shared way would really improve programs."

One issue that would come up, however, would be union representation, Gardner said. The staff at each of the districts are represented by differing labor organizations, ranging from local teacher associations to regional employees' unions.

The superintendents and board presidents need to "define the process and move forward" by identifying which services are already shared, albeit informally, Waite said.

According to Cindy Ranii, superintendent of the Los Gatos­Saratoga Union High School District, the same special education transportation and a special education services are already used by multiple school districts.

A program specialist is also hired by the high school and both Saratoga and Los Gatos union school districts, Ranii said—"That's a perfect example of what we're talking about. We all had needs, but they're too small for one full-time position."

"It's a natural extension of some things that we're already doing," added Mary Ann Park, superintendent of the Los Gatos Union School District. Park said her district currently shares substitute teacher services with Saratoga and supplying school lunches with Lakeside.

"The focus is efficient use of the educational dollar," Ranii said, "particularly to provide support and administrative services. The bottom line is about providing quality education and services to students and families."

Ranii said the superintendents are putting together a study of current shared services as well as analyzing costs for various programs and staff.

"I think everything's out on the table for us to look at," Park said. Park said the districts are in the "exploratory stages of a formalized process."

"What it's not looking at, it's not looking at changing the boundaries or changing the governance" of each school district, Ranii said. "Given the fiscal constraints, maybe it's a time of opportunity also."

"It's early yet, but very promising," Waite said.

The next Saratoga Union School District board meeting is on May 13, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the district offices. The high school board meets on May 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Saratoga High School library.