It could take more than a year – maybe even three – to move
current Morgan Hill School District boundaries or to create a new,
Coyote Valley district to serve the residents of the proposed
Coyote Valley development, according to county and state school
officials.
It could take more than a year – maybe even three – to move current Morgan Hill School District boundaries or to create a new, Coyote Valley district to serve the residents of the proposed Coyote Valley development, according to county and state school officials.
“This is not a speedy process; there are no short-term answers,” said Suzanne Carrig, senior research analyst for the Center for Educational Planning of the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
The formation of a new school district for the Coyote Valley area is an option that has been raised as MHSD faces the prospect of its taxpayers funding the construction of additional schools in the city of San Jose.
The Coyote Valley Specific Plan (CVSP) calls for 80,000 residents in the development, located in the undeveloped area between south San Jose and the northern border of Morgan Hill. There will be 25,000 residential units and 50,000 jobs. An estimated 8-10 elementary schools, two middle schools and at least one high school would be needed to serve the population.
The district has two schools at the northern end of the district in south San Jose, Los Paseos Elementary and Martin Murphy Middle. Encinal Elementary, also located in south San Jose on Monterey Road at Bailey Avenue, was closed last year and re-opened by the Charter School of Morgan Hill.
The creation of a new Coyote Valley district could include the south San Jose schools; another option is that a district in south San Jose, such as Oak Grove or Evergreen could absorb the existing schools, as well as the proposed Coyote Valley schools.
Carrig said the last two options would be considered territory transfers, which would be less extensive than the creation of a new district, although the large area involved would require a longer process.
“We are required by the state education code to hold at least two public hearings,” she said. “In this case, we would probably want to hold more, perhaps two in Morgan Hill and a couple in the area or in south San Jose.”
The process begins, Carrig said when a citizen or a board contacts her and petitions for a change in boundaries. The petition should contain an outline of the proposal. Signatures are gathered, and the county office checks the validity of the signatures. Then the public hearings are scheduled.
All the data that is gathered is taken back to a county committee on school district organization, made up of members from each of the county’s supervisory districts, to analyze and make recommendations.
“The committee will base its decisions on whether the proposal meets nine criteria set by the state and found in state education code 35753,” said Larry Shirey, field representative, California Department of Education.
The nine criteria are: number of students (although this can be waived by the State Board, according to Shirey, in the formation of a new district); substantial community identity; division of property; no substantial change to racial or ethnic makeup of community; costs to the state; educational programs of the existing and proposed districts; property values; school housing costs; and fiscal management or status.
Carrig said the criteria concerning community identity and the ethnic and racial makeup of the community weigh heavily in the committee’s decision-making process.
“Racial and ethnic balance, the fact that neither is altered significantly by the proposal, and strong community identity, are perhaps the most important piece the committee will look at,” she said.
School Board Trustee Del Foster said this echoes his biggest concern with the Coyote Valley development remaining within MHSD.
“Our district is currently a more ranch style, suburban style, while the Coyote Valley plan proposes high density housing,” he said. “I believe this could be a huge culture clash, speaking as a school district … This is a very real concern to me.”
On the other hand, Foster said, the loss of the revenue from that portion of the district could greatly affect district finances.
“A lot of money flows out of that valley, out of those transmission plants,” he said. “And that money flows directly to us.”
Trustee Shelle Thomas has advocated the district considering other options, such as requesting the formation of a new district, especially since the task force involved in developing the Coyote Valley plan has one representative from Morgan Hill, Russ Danielson, who is a San Jose resident but owns a business in Morgan Hill. The problem is, Danielson no longer sits on the School Board; he was appointed to fill a term but was not elected to the seat in November 2002.
“Initially, you might see some benefits because you see an influx of money (if the area remains in the district and is developed as planned),” she said. “But the disadvantages outweigh the initial advantages. It is time we start concentrating on fixing what we need to in our existing district, reaching for excellence, instead of planning new schools, more than doubling the size of our district.
“If we want to model ourselves after districts that excel academically, districts like Palo Alto, they are small districts, and they are able to narrow their focus. Bigger does not mean better … I believe it is smart planning to begin looking at other options for Coyote Valley. Smart planning benefits both us and Coyote Valley. This way, everyone is in control of their own destiny.”
But the problem of district and even city representation is a potential problem, she said, since San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales has repeatedly refused to give spots on the task force to the city or district, saying Morgan Hill is adequately represented.
The idea of a lawsuit, she said, could be considered but may not accomplish anything.
“Except maybe this way they would take notice of their neighbors to the south,” she said.
Foster said calling for Danielson to step down from the task force so an elected official could take his place might not serve the purpose.
“That presumes we have the right of appointment,” he said. “I’ve been dealing with the City of San Jose for seven years now, and I have learned it is a big bureaucracy … I think the best thing we can do is keep all the lines of communication open.”
