School District Will Accept Choice Placement Applications
Beginning Jan. 11, the Morgan Hill Unified School District will accept choice placement applications from parents who are interested in having their children enroll in a school other than their assigned home school. Parents can apply for assignment to a different school for the remainder of the 2006-07 school year or for the upcoming 2007-08 school year.
Application forms will be available at all school offices and at the district office, 15600 Concord Circle, beginning Jan. 8. The applications will be date-stamped as they are received at the district office. If placement is approved, parents are responsible for providing transportation for the child to the new school site. Once a placement has been approved, the new school becomes the child’s home school.
Any current choice placement applications that have not been approved will expire on Dec. 21. A new application must be submitted if the parent is still interested in moving their child to a different school. There may be a very limited number of enrollment spaces available at specific grade levels at certain schools. Nordstrom Elementary is closed to choice placement for the 2007-08 school year. For more information, contact the district office, (408) 201-6000.
Annual Procession and Celebration
St. Catherine Church, 17400 Peak Avenue, will hold its annual Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration and Procession on Dec. 10. Procession participants will meet on the corner of Monterey Road and Dunne Avenue at the Community Cultural Center. The procession will move through the downtown, west on Main Avenue then south on Peak Avenue, arriving at the church for mass, followed by a family celebration including music, food and dance groups.
VTA Approves Development of High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes
San Jose – Soon, drivers will pay their way into the fast lane. The High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane is normally off-limits to solo drivers during rush hours, but a new demonstration project approved by Valley Transportation Authority will allow single-occupancy vehicles to use the lane for a fee.
The High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes will be managed electronically, and will likely show up on Highway 101 and State Route 85, identified as suitable corridors by a VTA feasibility study. VTA approved a $2.25 million contract for preliminary engineering and development of HOT lanes countywide at a Nov. 2 board meeting. Caltrans and VTA will work together to convert HOV lanes to HOT lanes. Preliminary engineering is expected to take 20 months.
Carpoolers will still ride free, but solo drivers will pay a fee. The more congested the road, the higher the fee, depending on the time of day. Tolls will support construction of HOV facilities and improvement of transit services along HOT corridors.
