News Briefs

Election Day is Tuesday Nov.6

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 6. Call the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters at 408.299.8639 for information about polling locations and candidates.

Sunnyvale council reaffirms code

At the city council meeting on Oct. 23, Council members reaffirmed the code of ethics unanimously with no changes. The only issue discussed was campaign contributions, which was brought up by Michael Flores, who is running for Seat 2 in the council and is competing against incumbent Julia Miller and candidate Judy Esteban. Flores suggested no candidate running for city council should be allowed to receive any contribution from outside Sunnyvale.

City Attorney Valerie Armento said that although Sunnyvale does not have any set contribution limit at this time, the Fair Political Practices Commission governs all contributions and stringent financial reporting is required from all candidates.

New phone system cuts wait-time to public safety

The public safety department has implemented a new phone system that enables non-emergency callers to self-direct their call to the appropriate division. Effective Oct. 21, callers can expedite the routing of their call rather than waiting on hold for a staff person to transfer the call. The Public Safety non-

emergency phone number, 408.730.7100, has historically received a large number of phone calls. The result has been long waits on hold until a staff person can screen and transfer the call. Now the system can be bypassed to reach a staff person for translation purposes or assistance in routing the call.

Two FUHSD schools rewarded

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin released 2000-'01 Academic Performance Index growth reports for California's public schools, and Fremont and Homestead high schools did very well. Both schools met their 2000-'01 API growth-target rates and qualify for financial rewards.

To meet their API growth targets, schools not only had to meet their 5 percent school-wide growth targets, but also had to demonstrate comparable improvement for ethnic and socio-economically disadvantaged subgroups within the school with large enough numbers to be significant.

The 1999 API established the baseline for each school's academic performance and an annual growth target. The API is a numeric index that ranges from a low of 200 to a high of 1,000. Each school's target is set at 5 percent of the difference between the school's API and the statewide performance target of 800.

Fremont High School's 2001 API growth was 677 against a baseline of 650. Fremont's actual growth was 27 against a target of 8. Homestead High School's 2001 API growth was 820 against a baseline of 792. Homestead's actual growth was 28 against a target of 1.

Although 57 percent of California schools with an API met their growth targets, only about 48 percent will be eligible for awards this year. Both Fremont and Homestead high schools fall within the 48 percent and will receive financial rewards for their efforts.

Kindergarten Information

South Peninsula Hebrew Day School will hold an information night on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Presentations about the curriculum and educational philosophy will be made by Headmaster Rabbi Avi Schochet, Director Barbara Goldstein and the kindergarten teachers.

The South Peninsula Hebrew day School is at 1030 Astoria Dr., Sunnyvale, CA 94087. Contact Barbara Spielman at 408.738.3060.

Public Safety

Endorsement: Vote for Fowler, Miller, Howe

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High school cross country

High school football

2001 San Jose Sports Hall of Fame inductees