Educators Mixed About Possibility of Single K-12 District

With an eye on saving money, cutting bureaucracy and boosting student achievement, Los Gatos school officials are discussing what it would take to turn the town's patchwork of small districts into a single kindergarten-through-12th-grade school district serving about 7,000 students.

Momentum for the idea follows community discussion sparked by a Santa Clara County Grand Jury Report released in June that says a single school district could save millions of dollars a year at a time when school district budgets continue to face cuts.

"The grand jury has made a suggestion that has heightened the awareness of the issue," said Board president Tina Orsi-Hartigan. "I think it's very much worth pursuing a Los Gatos K-12 for the kids here to have one continuous district with articulation from kindergarten through high school."

The Santa Clara County Grand Jury's study suggested unifying some of the county's 31 school districts, and recommended that smaller ones, like the ones in Los Gatos, should be one district.

The districts, like many throughout the county, are facing tough financial challenges with budget deficits and dwindling funds from Sacramento. In May, Lakeside Joint School District voters approved a parcel tax to help with their finances. (LGSUHSD) discussed its budget and parcel tax plans Dec. 7.

Unification could have saved the districts more than $6.3 million, a 7 percent savings in the 2009-10 budget, according to the report.

The report also said unification would improve communication between different grade levels, enhance program choices and promote learning opportunities by allowing middle school students to take a class or two at the high school level or allowing a struggling student to change schools.

In addition, it said the Los Gatos districts and other districts in the county would see a reduction in administrative costs if they unified. "In some cases, a 50 percent reduction in administrators can be realized," said the report.

But representatives from , Los Gatos Union School District (LGUSD), Saratoga Union School District and the high school district said many of the report's findings are incorrect, such as the likelihood of a decrease in administrative costs in case the districts agree to merge.

"The idea that it's going to save money is not as clear as people would want to think …" said Los Gatos Union School District Trustee Kathleen Bays. "If you get bigger, you can't just eliminate people, because there's more work. It's not that clear-cut and simple."

The Los Gatos-Saratoga joint high school district has an enrollment of 3,100 students. Los Gatos Union School District includes four public elementary schools and one middle school with an enrollment of more than 3,000 students.

Despite their critiques, the people in charge at the districts are open to talking about unification.

Newly elected LGSUHSD board member Douglas Ramezane, a retired school principal, said he doesn't think the grand jury's suggestion would work. But he is willing to analyze unification.

"During the election process, I heard a lot about the unification, because of the possibility to save money during this tough economic time ... if combining districts, you don't need quite as many people," he said. "For example, you only need one superintendent."

He cited the Twin Rivers Unified School District in Sacramento, saying its unification saved money, but it took time. Unification, in any sense, is "worth looking into," said Ramezane. "I'd like to see an open discussion on the matter."

Lakeside Joint School District Superintendent Bob Chrisman, also the principal of Lakeside Elementary School, said unification sometimes takes away schools, and that's a matter of concern for the Lakeside community. His district "tends to be the center of the community," he said.

Parents, such as Lakeside Elementary School volunteer Kelly Dybdahl, are still ambivalent. "It could be a good thing but (it) depends on how they plan on completing the plan," she said.

Dybdahl said she didn't have enough information to have a definitive opinion either way.

All districts were required to respond to the report. Most came out against it, said their representatives. 

LGUSD Superintendent Richard Whitmore said he doesn't see any particular "benefit" to the jury's suggestion. But he said there might be a different approach that could be beneficial. For example, he explained, schools that feed into Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools could be unified.

The idea of using a "feeder pattern," or simply making a K-12 Los Gatos school district has become a common theme, said Orsi-Hartigan.

Chrisman said his district is open to discussing unification. "School districts tend to be their own little kingdoms. We should open a dialogue with other districts," he said.

But regardless of all the talks and discussions, nothing can happen on this subject without voter consent. Residents of the five districts would have to first place the issue on the ballot and then vote on it.

The grand jury's report is just a starting point. It picked this issue, because one of the grand jury members was interested in looking at ways to contain costs in the school districts, said member Helene Popenhager.

"When we discussed it," she said, "it seemed like a reasonable thing to spend our time on, to see if the taxpayers could save money by consolidating the districts." 

To view the grand jury's report and findings, go to the district consolidation report.