Letter: Los Gatos Union School District Working on Budget Shortfall

Superintendent Diana Abbati wanted to share this letter with Los Gatos Patch's online family of readers.

Dear Los Gatos Union School District parents, staff and community members, The combination of these three factors means that we are forced to cut our budget. We do not have another choice. These cuts will take place over the next two school years— 2012-13 and 2013-14—if the district is to remain healthy and strong. The district's Board of Education packet to be posted by Friday, Feb. 24 on the district website at http://www.lgusd.k12.ca.us/ will contain detailed information about ways we can reduce expenses. At 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 28, trustees will decide how to proceed during a meeting at Daves Avenue Elementary School multi-purpose room, 17770 Daves Ave., in Monte Sereno. This is not an easy situation, and there are no easy fixes. …

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Live Theater at Los Gatos Schools!

Kids get to experience the fun of live performance in two spirited spring musicals thanks to parent volunteers.

In 2006, when the new Daves Avenue and Blossom Hill elementary schools were under construction, the campuses decided to produce one musical play. The first production was Aladdin and it was a huge success, according to parents. Blossom Hill fifth-grade teacher Brian Houg was the director of the joint effort. Since then, Houg has directed sensational musicals for the two schools every spring including Aladdin, Flapper, Wonderland, Wipe Out, Wrangler Ranch and the latest production, Gone With the Breeze. “Brian devotes a tremendous amount of energy to the endeavor and you can see it in the results,” said volunteer parent producer Penny Doy, who's joined by co-producers Carol Marshall, Lisa Marselli and Kelly Blough.  This year 135 children …

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Bonnie Westman

9:42 am on Sunday, February 5, 2012

Thank you for your comments! The play Gone With the Breeze is a hit! We went last night and the kids had a grand time singing and dancing to 13 musical numbers, smiling the whole time. There was no star as every single young actor on the stage had time to shine. The audience laughed and cheered and finished the evening with a standing ovation. The cast, Mr. Houg, the director and the producers …   more ›

Moms Talk Q&A

What Should We Do About Lexington Elementary School?

Los Gatos Union School District officials are looking at ways of addressing student growth since campuses are near capacity.

In the past several weeks, parents all over the Los Gatos Union School District have been talking about the Lexington Elementary School construction project and the ramifications of decisions about this project on all schools in the district. Everyone I’ve talked to agrees that the Lexington community deserves a new, safe school—I heard one parent describe “Lex” as “the stepchild of the district, always being pushed to the back burner.” From what I can gather, she’s right: the other three elementary schools, Blossom Hill, Daves and Van Meter, and Raymond J. Fisher Middle School were all upgraded using funds from the 2001 Measure B bond. By the time the Measure B plan was wrapping up, $5.5 million had been set aside to remodel Lexington …

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Dyan Chan

2:10 pm on Friday, October 21, 2011

Did you think Tuesday night's meeting was fun? I was so tired Wednesday I could hardly stand it. I don't think anyone should be mad at you. I actually don't think there is as much division as it seems. Most people believe Lexington needs to be rebuilt AND that we need to address capacity issues in the district. We just need to figure out how to solve both problems, not solve one at the expense of…   more ›