The last time a new school was opened in the Morgan Hill School
District, there were growing pains in the form of adjustments to
boundary lines, and now, two years later, the district is once
again looking at the lines in anticipation of the opening of the
new Sobrato High School.
The last time a new school was opened in the Morgan Hill School District, there were growing pains in the form of adjustments to boundary lines, and now, two years later, the district is once again looking at the lines in anticipation of the opening of the new Sobrato High School.

The goal of the boundary committee, which is made up of district officials, school principals, community members and parents, is to have a decision to bring to the School Board in November.

Sobrato is scheduled to open in August 2004, which is 13 months away. Recent delays in awarding bids for construction have made the target date an optimistic one.

The task of setting boundaries for the two high schools and aligning them with middle schools and elementaries is not an easy one.

“We’re dealing with a room full of experts,” Assistant Superintendent Bonnie Branco said during the June 13 city/school district liaison committee meeting. “During many of the meetings, we have a packed room of parents concerned about their one school.”

City Councilman Larry Carr, a former School Board trustee, is a member of the boundary committee. He told those attending the city/school meeting that the committee would most likely present the board with several plans.

“You will probably see several different alternatives,” he said. “You would be well-served if you viewed it (the committee) as a check-in point. Then you will have to make the final decision.”

City Manager Ed Tewes suggested that the committee come up with some decision-making rules.

“You need to decide whose voice has more weight,” he said. “If there is a core group, possibly they would be the ones to make the recommendation.”

The boundary committee is using computer software specifically designed for boundary creating to draw up likely scenarios. Besides maintaining class size reduction, the committee will consider ethnic balance and socio-economic levels.

Currently, the two largest elementary schools are El Toro and Nordstrom. The district will have two less elementary schools next year, with the decisions this year to temporarily close Machado Elementary and the consolidation of Los Paseos and Encinal.The committee is also considering linking elementary schools and a middle school with each high school.

The boundary committee will meet again after school starts in the fall, Tuesdays at 7 in the District Office, 15600 Concord Circle. Details: 201-6023.

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