EDITOR: The Morgan Hill School District Board of Trustees is now
faced with another difficult decision brought on by the lack of
effective longterm planning. The development of Coyote Valley by
the City of San Jose has in part brought the school district to the
verge of bankruptcy.
EDITOR:
The Morgan Hill School District Board of Trustees is now faced with another difficult decision brought on by the lack of effective longterm planning. The development of Coyote Valley by the City of San Jose has in part brought the school district to the verge of bankruptcy.
The decision to build Sobrato High School to meet the demand of the potential students generated by the development of Coyote Valley was made with the best of intentions, but times have changed sine the passage of the school bond issue in June 2000.
The development of Coyote Valley by San Jose will double the number of existing school sites in the district within a relatively short period of time. As a fiscally responsible school district, we can no longer move forward on any future school construction under the pretense of a “voter mandate.”
Barrett Elementary School remains uncertified and is plagued with construction problems. We lack the funds to complete the remodeling of Live Oak High school and other elementary schools. The district is under extreme financial pressure and can no longer provide many essential services. To make the situation worse, the City of San Jose wants to know what MHUSD is going to do about building more schools.
At this point, the majority of property owners in this district live south of San Jose’s city limits. It is unreasonable to place the financial burden of providing schools for San Jose development on non-San Jose residents.
It is the responsibility of the trustees of the Morgan Hill Unified School District to just say no. If San Jose wants to develop Coyote Valley let San Jose create another school district to provide services to the area. Enough is enough. Just say No.
Harlan Warthen,
Morgan Hill
