EDITOR: The development of Coyote Valley by the city of San Jose
will have a significant impact on Morgan Hill School District. In
the next five to 10 years San Jose projects the population of
Coyote Valley to exceed 80,000 with a minimum of 25,000 households.
This development will require the Morgan Hill School District to
more then double in size.
EDITOR:
The development of Coyote Valley by the city of San Jose will have a significant impact on Morgan Hill School District. In the next five to 10 years San Jose projects the population of Coyote Valley to exceed 80,000 with a minimum of 25,000 households. This development will require the Morgan Hill School District to more then double in size.
As you are aware, in terms of school construction five years isn’t that far off. The planning process should begin in the near future to meet the educational demands Coyote Valley will create. It is my opinion that the Morgan Hill School District is not capable of meeting this challenge for a number of reasons.
The district will be split into two distinct communities, rural to the south in Morgan Hill and San Martin and urban high density in Coyote Valley to the north. The existing district has been entirely rural throughout its history. Coyote Valley will make the district predominately urban.
The student population in the existing district (South County) is flat and in many cases is declining. The city of Morgan Hill has a residential growth-control ordinance which will limit population growth through the year 2020.
The residents of Morgan Hill and San Martin will be expected to pay for schools to be built within the city of San Jose. This will not be well accepted and will create an impasse to the passage of any school bond issue.
MHSD will be ill-prepared for the challenge of this transition. The contracts for the superintendent and her three assistant superintendents have not been renewed. All members of the senior staff will be replaced by June 2005. The district will have a new superintendent in less then one year whose number one priority should be the reorganization of a failing district not building new schools for San Jose development of Coyote Valley. There will be four new trustees elected in November. The remaining three trustees by November will have only 24 months of experience.
The communities of Morgan Hill and San Martin have a very small window of opportunity to put a stop to this insanity. The longer we wait, the greater the impact the new Coyote Valley voters will have on the South County. The balance of voting power in Morgan Hill School District will shift to San Jose – like it or not.
The development of Coyote Valley will have a major financial impact on the South Valley community. I believe that this impact is so great that the decision to split the district should be placed on the November ballot for the citizens to decide the direction the school district should take.
Harlan Warthen,
Morgan Hill
