Dear Editor, I was incredulous that Julie Zintsmaster, the
executive assistant to the Morgan Hill School District
’s superintendent, would have the audacity to complain that
Sobrato High School is receiving bad press.
Dear Editor,
I was incredulous that Julie Zintsmaster, the executive assistant to the Morgan Hill School District’s superintendent, would have the audacity to complain that Sobrato High School is receiving bad press.
On the contrary, one cannot pick up a local newspaper these days without reading an article that extols the virtues of Sobrato. While it’s great that there is a new school in the district, we shouldn’t forget the 1,700 plus students at Live Oak who may not be as thrilled with their environment. Obviously, there’s nothing to be thrilled about a run-down school in dire need of repair.
They can’t joyfully say, as Sobrato student Kaylen Merten did in a Times article, “We don’t have to worry about a desk that is broken, all we have to do is ask for a new one.” Live Oak asked for new ones when some of their classrooms were remodeled, but they got stuck with the 30-year-old desks instead. They also can’t rejoice, as Bulldog Justin Hain did, “The school looks nice with the trees and everything,” because Live Oak doesn’t have healthy trees, hundreds of new rose bushes, nor lush green lawns. It has dying trees and stumps, one living and one dead rose bush, and huge patches of dirt instead of turf.
I’m sure the community and the parents of the less than 700 Sobrato students were in awe when they attended Sobrato’s Open House and Saturday’s grand opening, just as I’m sure the parents of the 1,700 plus Live Oak students were dismayed by what they saw during the Open House on Thursday evening. It’s wonderful to have a new school, but not when it has been built at the expense of the original high school.
Zintsmaster writes about Sobrato being “a healthy rivalry for Live Oak High School” – well, maybe it would be if the two schools had even playing fields, but considering money is literally being poured into Sobrato, leaving little for Live Oak, there is no competition – only gross inequity.
I remember when Principal Rich Knapp stated at one board meeting that “Sobrato won’t have anything Live Oak doesn’t have.” Funny, but I haven’t seen a state-of-the-art high-tech computer lab at Live Oak recently – in fact, one is lucky to see a working computer over there. Neither have I seen a beautiful staff room, all brand new furniture, a functioning surveillance system, hot running water in the bathrooms … the list could go on and on.
Sobrato student Abhilasha Devaraj was quoted in Tuesday’s Times, “I can’t express how happy we feel to come to a school where teachers are happy to be where they are.” I’m sure any teacher would be happy if they had brand new classrooms to teach in and were each given a laptop computer. Instead, the teachers at Live Oak have a sign in their staff room asking for contributions toward a new refrigerator. Where is the equity there?
Live Oak teachers are incredibly hardworking and caring despite their working conditions. I have always known how important it is for people to be able to take pride in their environment, especially in a school setting (if it’s obvious to the students that the district doesn’t care enough about them to make their school a pleasant, safe or even healthy place to be, it’s amazing any students care enough to excel in their studies and bring up their test scores), but I had not fully realized the impact one’s environment can have until our Home and School Club president Heidi Golden completely remodeled and refurnished (including a new refrigerator) our staff room at Britton Junior High. Now it is full of happy teachers who enjoy eating and meeting in there instead of passing through or avoiding it altogether – the atmosphere is inviting and much more conducive to working together.
It doesn’t make sense that one week The Times has a front-page story about “Sobrato’s Big Plans” that include “a full complement of sports and facilities” (how does this financially strapped district suddenly have enough money to maintain numerous playing fields and another large pool?), and two weeks later another headline laments, “LO High sports funding sources still uncertain.” How could three LO varsity and junior varsity sports, along with all freshman sports, have their coaches’ stipends cut last year (therefore, threatening their continuing existence) when there is a Sobrato coach currently receiving a full stipend (the same as Glen Webb, Live Oak’s varsity football coach) for coaching two (or is it up to five now?) cross-country runners?
Furthermore, why are Live Oak athletes being charged to play their sports ($125 for JV football players, $250 for varsity football players, etc.) while Sobrato athletes are not? In fact, as Sobrato’s football coach Patterson told the Mercury News, about the boxes arriving filled with new equipment, “I tell the guys it’s like Christmas everyday.” I find it strange that my son’s volleyball team didn’t even have balls to play with last spring until Fry’s donated the money to buy some. Why should Live Oak be so dependent on fundraising and parent contributions while Sobrato has a free ride?
Finally, after nearly $80 million (such a deal according to Zintsmaster), we have a school with all the bells and whistles while the Live Oak campus is left to fester. As Zintsmaster claims, “Those who have worked for and supported our new high school have left a legacy for generations to come.”
My question to her is, “What have they left at Live Oak to celebrate as it reaches its 100-year-anniversary this year?”
Brooke Bailey, Morgan Hill
