------8 singled out for their contributions ,e~oia hon~rs -lts ...... J-,/ -,-/t L 5 Q .', · 7 7 ,1 t 'd, I ( / t /, {.;, i / / "'- / C ; ,· REDWOOD CITY - Twelve limit ed or no English skills. She • Dick Weave , a ·social stuc rrent teach ers and other school is activ e in commu nit y organiza- tea cher and c0-chair of the so, 1ployees and six retirees have tion s and she is also know for her studies department at Mer ·en singled out for outstanding willin gness to supervi se danc es , Superintendent Merle Atherton. "He's tb 11e par -ti ntributions in the Sequoia Un- field trips and other school acti v- larly commended for ·the fu 1 High School District . itie s." D. Fruehling honored raising effort that .involves s Superintendent Merle D. • Rod Hart, a custodian and ing programs at Stanford footl uehling hailed the selected in- boil e r maintenance man at Se- ga mes , an effort -that rai 1 viduals at the 89th annual staff quoia . "Rod takes great pride in the selected S8, 000 for the Me'nlo-Ather · ~eting at the opening of school his work and goes the extra mile stu dent bo'dy last year. He ~ ;t week. in serving Sequoia ." individuals during the plays an impo_rtant.part in s-u1 Those singled out, with quoted • Louise Ponds, a math and vising the social studies writ mment s from Fruehling, in- computer science te ac her at Red - program and he will be one of 1de: wood High. "She develop ed a 89th annual staff men tor teachers." • Bob Kirchgatter, a math computer liter acy program which • Warren Mott, a -math .teac acher at Sequoia High . "He is available to all Redwo od stu - meeting as school and department chairman •rks long hours giving stud ents dent s. She took res ponsibilit y for Carlmont High in Belrµont. ~ ecial help after school. He also workin g with stud ents in publi sh- is particularly known for the rends hundr eds of extra-curric- ing a Redwood High newsletter." began last week . cellent work he has done in ir activities each year. He does • Virginia Yonder Haar , an at- computer _program, inc;luding tstanding work with the school tendanc e se cretary at Red wood ad'ka._n'ced placement co:mpu .dget. He is a positive per son High. the di strict's continuation class" that is one of the very f th a marvelou s sense of hu- school. "She maintains exem- s pends many hour s beyond her in the state. This past summe1 >r." plary attendance records on stu- assig nment in providing assist d e'veloped a stqdent histqri • Steffie Trujillo, an instruc- dents and has dev elo ped stron g ance to stud ents who are having file system for ..Carlmont ,,H ,nal aide at Sequoia. "She is int erp ersonal relationship s with difficulties. Last year she mad e a that will be .implemented t ry knowledgeable in the ar ea parent s and student s with result- grea t contributi on in fillin g in as fal l. Warren devotes much ti bilingual e ducation and d e- ing improv ement in attendanc e ." English Dep artm ent chairper son an d energy to helping the · C tes much time and energy to • Shan non Bradl ey, an Engfoh follow in g the dea th of Dorothy mont staff in the use of com1 ,isting Hispanic students with teac her at Menlo-Atherton . "She Dresden. '' ers."
~eimont renews preschool's lease ~tiUJZ?£tc-1it/ fc:(~?;1 36 (th e J arvi s Initiative) could tive which would alloca te 34 per- 'ict trustees agreed Monda y to slice some $500 million in fund s cent _of the l?ttery proce~ds t~ ~new Curiosity Corner pre- th e fir st yea r for Californi a pubhc_e?ucat10_n: The boar too :hool's lease of se veral class- scho ols if th e proposition is ap - no official position ,?ut Paetzke ioms at Fox School. proved by voters on the Novem- n?t~d that he ~as a persona 1 'The Belmont district has for ber ball ot. The board majori ty d1shke for lotteries and gambling iveral years, lea sed empty c'iass- approved a resolutio n opposing 0 .f any sort." Trfust ee hCho!)fGt >oms to a variety or organiza- Prop. 36 . Trust ees Charles ~1e_rrez_ sai d he ears t at I _t e ons. Paetzke and Jos ep hine DeLuca m1t1at1ve passes, the sta~e might ·curiosity Corner 's lease wa s absta ined. tnm more funds for pubhc educa- ,ctended for only a 10-mont h pe - • Th_e board also discus _sed no n than the lott er y would prod- :od by trustees , in case more Propositon 37, the lottery mJtia- uce. lassrooms are needed for di s- ·ict students at Fox School in 1e 1985-86 school year. In other business : • Trustees approved a bid ack et for the sale , leas e or lease ith an opti on to buy the lower ortion of t he Cipriani Sch oo l tte . Cipriani is one of three :hools in the district that have een closed because of declinin g nrollment . • The board authorized district taff to spend up to $1,000 for !anting a hedge alongside a arking lot at McDougal School. • District Superintendent Dr. .on Gilpatrick said Proposition -,,i "I,
Ou1stallding -emproyees-~
• Dick Weaver; a social studies • Cora Jack son,, who operates dean of boys and vice principal at teacher and co-chair of the social the duplicatin g se rvic es at Carl Sequoia. He was responsible for studies department at Menlo mont. "S he ge ts the job done estab li shing the "Key Club" at lent Merle Atherton. "He's to be particu even if it means working beyond Sequoia , which is a student group larly commended for the fund her work day. She also has been connected with Kiwanis. g honored raising effort that involves sell very helpful to th e school in • Rosalee Davies, a physical ing programs at Stanford football working with the parents of stu ed ucation teacher for 40 years games, an effort -that raised dent s in East Palo Alto." before her retirement in 1969. S8,000 for the Menlo-Atherton • Dick Lolich, plant coordina She taught at Sequoia, Menlo student body last year. He also tor at Woodside. "He's particu A therton, Carlmont and Wood luring the plays an important: p~rf in super larly known for the hours of extra side. vising the social studies writing time he put s in to make sure that • Don Brown, an English · program and he will be one of the the school plant is in good shape teacher at Sequoia and San Car l staff mentor teachers ." and that difficult problem s are los for 30 years until his retire • Warren Mott , a math teacher solved ." ment in 1970. ;c/iool and department chairman a t • Charlie Mendoza, director of • Scotty Elson, with the district' Carlmont High in Belwont. "He stude nt personnel services at the for 30 yea rs before his retire is particularly known for the ex district office. "He does out ment in 1973, first as an English eek . ce Uen t work he has done in the standing work in administering teacher at Sequoia and later as computer program , including the the many students of that depart an administrator of curriculum · advanced placement computer ment. He's to be especially com and an assistant superintendent class that is one of the very first mended for the time, energy and for educational servi ces. Jrs bevond her in the state . This past summer organization that he put in this • Obie Elson, a secretary ai ·o,·iding assist developed a student hi sto.ri summer to develop a reorganized Carlmont and then the district · who are having file system for Carlmont H guidance program that is to be office for 10 years, the wife oJ ;ear she mad e a that will be implemented this implemented this fall." Scotty Elson. ·· 1 in filling in as fall. Warren devo,res much time Retired employees honored by • Petra Cooper, an Englislf ent chairperson · and energy to helping the c.n-t Fruehling included: teacher in the district frorri ath of Dorothy mont staff in the use of comp - • Ed Kauffman, with the dis 1936-1956. She also is a graduate ers." - trict from 1952 to 1968, former of the Sequoia Class of 1909. .·-:- t ' ) 'fi!ifM,1;/Afh' 'Jf ·•'f~.t:.~1.,i\1i"A'?,.i. • ;-~ J.;-1 '~_,.,-· ·; ·,,.,., ,~-iv1-en-rn •.t'•3'Fi!<:!I; · · , ·:(!,J)(t'.••a.•!('r. ,1,;:MJ .r1'.lr·· ·'•·7·a·· . ·1-· " .,.... . ,, .N,, r~~f{ '! (:: b' ,.-.1~ 7 · )t.~ ,. ~·-~ : j t t ii. :~, .N'..,tl·~' . -i!' ,·· /\ · 'l:l:g~ t()j I . " touts Baha'i faith '. !'1 \~ By ALAN QUALE started from the same roots ," Gil Times Staff Writer patrick says. .,., BELMONT - The superintend The Baha "is believe there is a~ ent of thi s city's public schools is need for an universal languag~ ·• a crusader for equal rights. He compuslary education for all chi!~ supports plans for an universal dren , a uniform system o.f. language and he believes there weights and measures for worla should be compulsary education commerce and an international for every child on earth. tribunal , the superintender\ Dr. Ron Gilpatrick, 49, isn't adds. " just a student of universality. He "The Baha 'is think of thein ~ is a believer of the Baha'i faith, a selves as world citizens. The religion that espouses a oneness earth is but one country and ma4: of humanity in order to build a kind its citizens." better world civilization. Gilpatrick says that Baha 'i He wasn't born a Baha'i and, in "believe in individual salvatioti '~ fact, seems an unlikely candi but they also believe that salva date. "My heritage is Jewish but tion is not the only purpose of I was brought up in a Congrega religion." The shaping of a bette. tional Church," he says with a civilization for future genera laugh. tions is one of the thrusts of the• In 1970 he met his wife, Mar Baha'i faith. sha, who is a Baha'i. Gilpatrick Baha'is are forbidden to drink was soon a convert. any alcoholic beverages or to use He's one of the 100,000 Baha'i any hallucinogenic drugs (exceRf;: followers in the United States, a Dr. Ron Gilpatr ick those prescribed by a doctor to . tiny religious sect in this country treat an illness). • which seldom gets into the lime A potential Baha'i bride anli ligh t. groom must receive permission "There are three or four mil 1844 when a Persian called "the from "all the living parents bt;:; lion Baha'i in the world," notes Bab" proclaimed that he was a fore they can get married," Gil-_ Gilpatrick. The total includes messenger of God. The Bab said pa trick says. Divorce i , more than 300,000 Baha'i in Iran his major purpose was to prepare permitted, although frowne . , where the religious faith began the way for a greater messenger upon by the Baha'i faith. · in 1844, and where the govern than he, but he was declared an Baha'i congregations meet 1!1° ment of Ayatollah Khomeini is heritic and was executed in 1850. times each year, plus there are currently waging a brutal perse Then, in 1863, a follower of the nine Holy Days observed by,', cution of members of the Baha'i Bab named Baha'u'llah declared members. faith. that he was visited by the Holy The number of believers in th ' Persecution of the Baha'i is al Spirit of God and was told that Baha'i faith is growing rapidly _. most as old as the Baha'i religion, he was the messenger foretold by throughout the world, especiallr whose members ar e often la the Bab. in South America and Africa, a<;:: belled as heretics, especially in Baha'u'llah, who was already cording to Gilpatrick. Moslem countries, Gilpatrick imprisoned in Persia for his be- There are only 2,500 Baha'is i . adds. liefs, was banished to Constantin- the Bay Area, however, and the But the undaunted Baha'is ople. The Ottoman Empire later growth of the Baha'i religion il\ keep the faith. In fact they are transferred Baha'u'llah to a the United States is much slower rapidly expanding it worldwide. penal colony near Haifa where than in other parts of the world. · They always try to maintain a Baha'u'llah stayed until his death "This country is essentially ;if progressive religious thrust, ac in 1892. Christian-Judean country," says · cepting many of the doctrines of The center of the Baha'i reli- Gilpatrick, who adds that man other religions and striving for a gious faith remains in Haifa and Americans may be turned off to oneness of ma n in God's univ today the Israeli city is home to the Baha'i faith simply because erse, explains Gilpatrick. the Baha'i Universal House of "the name sounds m stical." Of course there are differences Justice. _____:.:.:..:..~==-=~=:.::.....:::.::..,,...:c=.::.=:c..- - - =- between the Baha'is and the A good Baha'i follows the Ten Christians, Buddhists, Moslems Commandments, Gilpatrick says, and Jews, but Gilpatrick says and Baha 'is also "accept Jesus "the Baha'is don't have a monop Christ as a messenger, just as we oly on heaven." also accept, as messengers, Bud "We belie ve there is an after dha and Mohammed ." life, but we don't define it. We The Baha'is seek to eliminate don't define hell as fire and brim all forms of prejudice, including stone, but as a distance from God racial, ethnic and sexual prejud and heaven." ice. They believe "in a oneness of The Baha'i faith was started in religion and that all religions J~~, 15,re distributed unfairly By Merle D. Fruehling dined from about 13,000 to ceivmg _an mfenor number of Superintendent,Sequoia 7,000, we have had to lay off dollars m _terms of the amount Union High School District many teachers and other staff. of education that can be pur- This past summer the state. The state law requires t~t the chased f?r them. egislature and governor ap- layoffs be based on seniority The legislature :mdgove~or proved funding legislation th~t and, thus, the last hired were h~ve not taken mto consider gave a six percent increase ~n the first to be laid off. The atio1;1~ome of the reaso1;1st~at the general funds to pubhc Sequoia district has laid off declmm~ enr~llme~t districts schools in California. This is teachers back to a hire date of have serious fmanc1al trouble. the second year in a row that 1968. This means that almost Last year local Assembly he schools have received a six all of our teachers have been man Robert Naylor, sponsored ercent increase. in the district for at least 16 a bill that would have provided The legislature and, parti- years. The average age of our some equity. It contained a cularly, the governor have teaching staff is over 51. formula that would give dis taken much credit for pro- All this means is that the tricts that had a substantial viding a major boost to pub- district has a very senior staff, number of teachers at the top lie education in California. and they are all at the top of of the salary schedule a boost However, it is important to the teacher's salary schedule. in funding to partially com point out that in spite of this The average salary of teachers pensate for those greater costs. overall 12 percent increase, in the Sequoia district, about Unfortunately, this bill was California still ranks near the $30,000, is almost the same as finally killed in August in what ottom in the percent of the the top salary, $31,000. amounted to petty partisan tate's personal income that is A look at a comparable squabbling among the Repu- spent on public schools. school district in Fresno blican and Democratic leader- Most members of the pub- county would show that their ship mthe Assembly. ·c are not aware th~t the ap- average teacher salary is about Staff, students, parents, and roved increase in funds has $21,000 . This means that it oth er members of the commu ot been distributed equally costs the Sequoia district nity made a valiant effort to o school districts throughout $9,000 more per teacher to get the lawmakers to see the the state. For example, the educate its students. The Se- merit of passing the legisla- ecent increase of six percent quoia .district requires $3 - $4 tion. Although they were not contained a funding formula million more in revenue in succ essful this past year, the hat gave an 18 .5 percent in- order to put the same number legislation will be before the ease to the East Side Union of teachers in front of students legislature again this year . ~igh School District in east as a comparable district in All of you who are con- San Jose and only a 1.4 per- Fresno county. . cerned about the education of cent increase to the Sequoia The other thing that state young people in this area are Union High School District. legislators and the governor urged to support the legis~a- There are two reasons for are not taking into consider- tion and to persuade our legis his m'.1jor_di~fer~nce: _(1_)t~e ation in trying to attain equity lators that there must be some Sequoia district 1s dechmng m in per pupil expend itures in equity for th_e students . that tr:irollme_nt. whe~eas . the E'.1st our schools is that some parts suffer the serious education'.11 side district is mcreasmg of the state have a much high- losses that have taken place m 1lightly, and funds are ap- er cost of living than other declining enrollment school roved based on the number parts. districts. · f students that ~e e~oll~d We must pay higher salaries d (2) the East Side distri~t to our personnel if we are to 11sed to be a low wealth dis- attract talented people to this ict and the Sequoia district high cost area. sed to be a high wealth dis- State legislators and the go- The state legislature believes vernor believe they are pro- hat by giving different viding equity if all school dis amounts of money to districts tricts receive the same amount they are bringing equity in t~e of money per student. This is treatment of all students m not true. The real result is California. This is not the case. that students residing in for- Because the enrollment in mer high wealth, declining en he Sequoia district has de- rollment districts are now re- 2-The Carlmont Enquirer-Bulletin Wednesday, September 26, 1984 Park People's referendum Trustees withold endorse1nent Th e Belmon t Elementary "The \:>0ard is . ,extremely sure calls for a one-time tax School District Board of con cern ed about the issue " of $160 to purchase the; Trust ees deciined to formally ,Superin te nd ent Ron Gilp~ entire Barrett School · site and endor se th e citize n initiativ e tri c said, "b ut we can't back two other school fields . to pur chase vacate d school the issue this cou ld jeopardiz e fields at their regular meetin g our negot iatio ns with th e Board Presiden t Catherine Sept . 17 , du e to perceived city ." Mason said she was "person confli ct s of inte rest. Coun cil ally in favor of retaining lands memb ers did ex press support The Belmont "Park Peo as park s in any way possible," of th e effort, how ever. ple's" November ballot mea- but was reluctant for the board to tak e a position . Board memb er A. Gutierrez co ncurr ed , sayin g if the board - to ok a position , "we'd become part of th e politics swirling around this issue." Belmont officials "Th e board' s reluctance to offi cially endors e the ballot' measur e should not · be cons truct ed as th eir being luke seek new zoning warm to th e issue," Gilpatrick said , "th e board is extremely enthusia stic abou t· J;he measure as a con cept, bu_t it's just not for old schools wise to take a po sition ." Board memb ers expressed By Pliyllis Brown lease the site under the restric fears that shou ld the ballot Times Tribune staff . ~'- · /,... tions," Bruce said . - ~71/t' :5 41--/X measure gain majority support P{{~lmont 'hooft istricfly The planned development zoning at th e polls in November, si seek creation of a new zoning des originally sought for the 10-acr-e multaneous sta tewide voter ignation for the closed Cipriani site would allow primarily private supp ort of the J arvis 4 initia Elementary School site In order to or parochial school uses. · · · tive wo uld invalidate Belmont make it more attractive to poten There are few educational or re vote r wishes. tial tenants, a district representa creational uses that fall into that Part of th e Jarvis 4 initia tive told the Planning Commission category, leaving the district with a tive states th e absolute maxi Tuesday. small pool from which to draw ten mum property tax be capped The surprise decision came as an ts. For example, a commercial at one percent . Additional as the commission sat ready to dis adult school might not lease the sessments must be approved cuss a district application for a zon site, Bruce said. by two-third vot er approval. ing change for the land at 2525 Bruce said the school district In a relat ed matter, lil.lpa Buena Vista Ave. Instead, the appli had hoped to have new zoning on tri ck said demographic studies cation was withdrawn. the site established to seek tenants largely eliminat ed the need to Owen Bruce, the rental facilita who could move in by September. retain th e Barre tt site for ad tor who administers the district's That hope has dwindled, and with ditional stud ents . Vacant three closed school sites, said the it, the chance to receive income class spa ce and the option to planned development zoning that from the property. install portabl e · classrooms was requested would be too restrics "If we had had tenants for the would handle any unfore _seen tive. entire site for a year, we could influx of students.into district He said the school district will have raised about $144,000," Bruce schools, Gilpatri ck said. . meet with city officials next week said . to discuss creation of a "closed In other action, the commission school" zoning that would allow a approved a use permit to allow the wider range of tenants to lease the Charles Armstrong School for chil site. dren with learning disabilities to "Tll:ey don't have_a zoning to do operate in another closed Belmont what we want to do. There simply school, McDougal, at 1405 Solanc> aren't enough people available to Drive. No n.assing grade yet for hO fl(, 7?hi75 /O~,f By DUANE SANDUL Times Staff Writer REDWOOD CITY - Trus ~es in the Sequoia Union [igh School District appar ntly are going to have to do :ieir own homework on the uestion of homework policy . A report to be presented to 1e board today at 8 p.m. "is ot complete and is not what 1e superintendent asked for," dministrative assistant Linda ·ule said in response to pres s 1quiries. She said that Supt . Merle ruehling onc'e returned a 4-member committee 's report >r refining but that the new ersion still fails to address 1e charge of the board . The homework study com Littee was established to ex- mine the quality and uantity of homework in the istrict's schools to determine improvements can be made !ld to find out whether there a need to standardize home ork practices so that teach rs are giving homework in 1e quantity and quality that 1aximizes student learning. According to Fruehling, the >ecific tasks assigned to the >mmittee included : • To develop a survey in rument and conduct a survey ' the amount and kind of out ;_class assignments that are )en in the Sequoia District, -,u -r--Befl11ontlawsuitsmay ~ be nearing .1.J;lbyllis.. Brown for certain actions without having The first suit was filed by Trust $' 4 to face a judge . ee Charles Paetzke while a private :~r_bu77,~/2 _,lff The parties to the suits have citizen in July, 1981 against Gilbert .i ~ ~ Belmont Schoorofatdct been before the courts for several T. Armando Investments, then the UJl&eesby Sept 10 may have de unsuccessful attempts at out of district's real estate management , v\\ qped a public statement that court settlements. firm. c,ijjkrresult in the out-of-court set The trustees would not disclose Paetzke sued to have the compa t~m~nt of four related lawsuits. the wording of the document Nor ny return money he felt the district /:~h.e statement, in the works would school Superintendent Ron had improperly paid to Armando sinceJune, would allow the parties Gilpatrick, who has prepared sev after tile district refused to do so. to the suits to take responsibility eral drafts of the statement The suit precipitated a manage- - -~· :_ ,.., ,&~ ~--- --·------.-!' #.'4 , _ ',:"~~ out-of-court settlements ~·••t·~~ ~~. 'o."'Jfa. . •·~V&CP,i,... ment company suit against the the -;chool district from the no-win agreement, though he h~$.'~fflW school board and school board financial situation it is in," Trustee guaranteed it, and is work-ipg"-t(>- suits against the company and Chon Gutierrez said Wednesday. ward that '· ,,.,.,_,, Paetzek for costing the district Gutierrez was referring to the "It obviously is a very emo~ money to litigate the suits. expense the district has incurred in issue. I am on vacation n~ District trustees have been criti litigating the lawsuits, the first of will use some of the time to !Gat ; cal of Paetzke for not settling the which was filed by Paetzke more on the matter," he said. :!:.:'.· expensive suit out of court before than three years ago. Like Gutierrez, Pae~e- · .. now. Paetzke refused comment on Gu hopes the statement .will ,; · .e.".' "It is time to forget about win- tierrez' remarks. He simply said parties to the suits to settt· ...... \j - - . . yet for hoffieworl<. study in the neighboring school dis• must be worked on outside of tricts and in nearby private class toward the completion of schools . that assignment." • To analyze the results of • Out-of-class assignments th e survey to determine cur are designed for six purposes, rent practices in the Sequoia including reinforcement of in Dist rict regarding homeowrk class learning, independent assignments as compared to practice, enrichment, develop the practices in other schools ment of organizational skills in the area. and discipline . • To survey parents, stu • · "Regular homework is an dents and former students to important factor in helping determine if their assessment students achieve and in help of homework assignments ing them develop effective agrees with what teachers in work habits. Homework is to dicate are their homework be based on the core objec practices. tives of curricululm ... " • To analyze all the informa • Homework is assigned on tion and develop a recommen• a nightly basis or is given in dation to the superintendent the form of projects or long for either district-wide home term assignments. Teachers work guidelines or a uniform make homework assignments homework policy. that are supplemental pur The 14-member committee poseful classroom instruction was chaired by Sequoia High with an emphasis on quality instructional vice principal rather than quantity. Student Jonna Digesti and included ability levels are taken into four staff members, three stu consideration when assigning dents and four parents. homework. The committee issued a two • "Homework has value for page report which fails to re students. It is to be collected s pond to several of the and monitored in a timely charges. ' fashion in ord e r to provide "W hat can we say - the feedback to the studetns and superintendent is aware of it," to be used in determining stu said Yule. dents' grades. The committee made the se • "The homework guidelines statements : of the district should be de • "Homework is defined to filned clearly and well commu mean any kind of work as nicated to teachers, students signed by the teachers tha~ and parents ." ---:.. _.. ,.. Belmont School Re(!ortby-:mo.,~,:::....:::: CA/Z.,t_ ' {;; /1//2, g-IF/%+ What is there about .the institu school transportation, reduction of mentary site. The school district tion of government that cau-ses it to instructional time, reduction of has been offered nearly $2 million seek something for nothing ? maintenance and custodial services for the site, given appropriate A number of well-worn cliches and so on ad nauseam . zoning. So far, no deal! quickly come to mind as we begin Schbols , in addition, have ex Belmont School District and the this column today: "You get what perienced declining enrollment City of Belmont have been talking you pay for ." "There's no such which has freed up classrooms. for nearly eight months about thing as a free lunch." "Free advice When enough classrooms are va zoning and open space. The City is worth every cent of it." "Cham cated, whole school sites may be has proposed that the district give pagne taste-beer budget." "Nickel abandoned. When schools are va the community the playfields at all and At Woodside High: C College nig ht attle~ is~ff looming~ in the Sequoia~ likely~~~m~d~n~ ~o overshadow two other ' • nion High School District , this potentially controversial ·recom (]Afl,L-G#tP-/v/l'tff t IS tomorrow ime on a controversial recom- mendations . endation to reduce from three Fruehling said tha t social stud- Respresentatives from more tern, the California State o two the number of years stu- ies t.ea<;hers !iave developed than 100 colleges and un iver Universi ty system , Calif ents must take physical educa- convmcmg evidence that they ornia communi ty colleges , ion. have been unable to cover ade- sities fro m throughout the The district's curriculum com- quately in three semesters the na tion will partic ipate in the priva te colleges , opportunitie s ittee wants the reduction in or- curriculum for world studies . Sequoia Union High School in the milit ary, and finan cial er to free up opportunities for The board several years ago District' s annual College aid. tude nts to take acade mic elec- reduced the requirement from Night on Thursday , Oct . 18 . College Night is organized ·ves. four to three semesters in order by the Sequo ia district 's stu Superinte nd e n t Merle D. to . free a se~ester for safet y den t personnel services office ruehling said Wednesday night dnver education. Students, parents , and sta ff hat he won't make his own rec- "Competency testin g data sup from Carlmon t, High School , and the career guidance assist: mmendation until the board of ports the contention th at teach will meet with college and ants and counseling depart rustees' Dec. 19 meeting. ers are unable to co.ver all of the un iversity representa tives in ments of the · high school s. It took several years before a m~te r ial w.ith their stud ents ," the Woodside High School About 1800 peop le attended oard majority · voted 3 to 2 three said Fruehling. gymnas ium from 7 to 9 p .m. this event last year . ears ago to re duce mandatory ~e said a social studies coordi- For information , contact physical edu ca tion fro m four to nation committee is studying the Charles Mendoza , dir ector of hree years. issu.e and will make a recommen Included in the · program F our of those tr ustees are still dat10n to the district's curricu student personne l services, will be an arena presentation 369-1411 ext. 243 . on the board. Rosemary Smith lum council next month , after the by the co llege representat ives . nd Helen Hausman supported decision on P.E .. he earlier reduction while Timo- Another curriculum council Stud ents will be able to col thy J. Wellings an d Richard W. re_c~mmendation that the boar d lect info rmation on topics ors t oppo sed . · will face on Dec. 19 is to remove such as appli cation procedure s If th ose tru ste es line up simi- the one unit of credit now given spe cial pro grams , major re arly on the recommendation to for students' completion of the quirements, expenses, social educe P .E. to two years, then I thre ~-week prof iciency test prep and cult ural activi ties , and rustee Sally Stewart , elected in arauon cour ses . · housin g. 1983, would be the decisive vote . Fruehling also must decide by Dorst and Welling s both indi- De~. 19 whether to recommend a cate,d Wednesday night that j u!1if~rm homework polic y for the In addition to th e college they 11oppose the new re duction. d1stnct. arena, special programs will Smith an.d Haus man did not indi- A .c?mmittee failed to giv e be held foc using on the ~ ~~~~MMi.WiW -s&;U,d9...J~.,»'j1',~tspecific recommendations in its University of California sys- was absent. report last fall, but Assistant Su- The discuss ion triggered a de- perintendent Rena Merritt Ban bate in which four st udents, in- croft said that staff has elu din g stu dent trustee developed some specific sugges Computers donated Charmaine Picone, supported the tions . '5.-./1, 1/~E cf 11.iv / r1- pro posed reduction. These include a recommenda- BELI\q:ONT - The Belmont Educat ion Fou ndat ion recentl y "Many stu dents fin4 P.E. u!1-/ tion th at n~ morE: than one hour d tional means of soliciting money, primarily let ters and telephone calls urging donations. But some have used more entertaining techniques, such as the Portola Valley Schools Foundation, which raised $35,000last year by hosting a din ner aod musical show. tion. .J A number of foundations have taken to sug- The foundation movement in C8Ufomia sta.rt- gesting a sum that parents can contribute to ed in the late 1960s and early 1970s in suctl foundations. The Menlo Park-Atherton Educa atnuent spots as Beverly Hills and Piedmont. tion Foundation, arguably the most successful The first foundation on the Peninsula was start- in the area given fts relative size and bow much ed in 1979 in Woodside and, since that time, bas money it has collected, told parents in 1982 raised roughly $200,000. that a donation of $200 per child (or $400 per "In our case, apparently it was an immediate family) would be helpful. reaction to Proposition 13," said Jan Willbanks, "Some people were offended by that." said president of the Woodside School Foundation. Diana Ford, president of the foundatian. She Most other local foundations have started in said the foundation still raised more than the past two years as the impact of the 1978 $101,000 from 651 donations in 1983 without tax-cuttti:ig proposition began to hit local any direct' advice to parents. schools in more dramatic ways. Most foundations rely on small contrtbutions "Most have been started with a sense of from parents, although some do receive large panic," said Bert Loughmiller, president of the ones. Apple Computer co-founder and Home- Los Altos Foundation. , stead Higl;lSchool graduate Steve Wozniak gave Not every local school district has a function- $5,000 to the Superschools Foundation in the ing foundation. The Palo Alto Unified and Cu- Fremont Union High School District. pertino Union school districts, two of the largest Many t011ndation officials who were inter districts in the area and possibly two of the viewed said that it foundations are to be more most Jucrative fund-raising sources anywhere, than just an economic nasb in the pan, local are just getting foundations off tbe ground. The businesses must be involved in foundations. Sunnyvale School District used to have a foun- "A lot of us have never been asked to help, so dation, but al:>andonedthe Idea. we don't know what we can do," said Hugh "Districtwide fund raising ls not as successful Bikle, a developer in Mountain View who is as school by school,'' Sunnyvale Superintendent now an otficiaMn the Mountain View school dis Jack McLaughlin said. "At tbe school base, you trtct's foundation. can target in on exactly wh~t you'll spend the Bikle said be sees local businessmen, many money on." of whom are parents, becotntng more involved Both the styles of fund raising and the disper- if tbey are given the chance. . G t sal of collected funds vary somewhat amoQg As tor dispersing money, many foQndations By DR. RON GILPATRICK 1. Prop. 36 would refund, in its Belmont School Superintendent first year of applicability, $1.7 bil Just when you thought it was beginning to be safe to step onto a lion .to many - but not all - home school campus - along .comes Proposition 36, the Jarvis Initiative! owners and business proprieters. One of the major problems with Prop. 36 is its sheer complexity. There (People who became property own isn't enough space in this article to describe all of this measure's ers after 1978 would not benefit ramifications for local governmental agencies - cities, counties and from Prop. 36 refunds at all.) It school districts. Interestingly enough, there is an ominous, though does so because it refunds the cost probably unintentioned, relationship between Prop. 36 and the Lot bf-li ving (COLA) adjustments tery Initiative, Prop : 37 - which we'll address shortly. added to Prop. 13 between 1975 By now, you all know Prop . 36 purports to correct the loopholes and 1978. Prop. 13, in addition to which allegedly }:lave occurred to Prop. 13, passed in 1978. Prop. 36 allowing property to be taxed at 1 supporters suggest that legal interpretations and local legislative percent of its assessed value, also actions since 1978 have combined to thwart the intent of Prop. 13 - allowed a COLA of 2 percent per and that Prop. 13 is in danger of being entirely circumvented unless year to be added to the amount immediate corrective measures are taken to "save" it. · taxed. The base year used for tax Frankly, California schools haven't yet recovered from the effects ing purposes was the 1975-76 tax of Prop. 13! You all know the horror stories of school funding over the year, even though Prop. 13 was last several years. The national report issued over a year ago, "A approved by voters in 1978. Court ,~ation at Risk," warned that American schools were in danger of action held that, even though the becoming mediocre and that this country could lose its pre-eminence law passed in 1978, the 2 percent as a first-class world power unless schools were improved. Much of the COLA could be applied starting blame for school problems, described in that report, was ascribed to with the base year of 1975-76. lack of adequate fiscal support. Therefore, many counties insti The fiscal problems for California schools - by any standard - tuted the 2 percent COLA as of have been far worse than the country as a whole. In the last year, we that year. Prop. 36, if passed, have witnessed a renaissance in public education - a reawakening of Dr. Ron Gilpatrick would rE:quire a refun~ of a_ny public concern about schools, an infusion of desperately needed, COLA paid before 1978, mcludmg though still inadequate, funds provided by the Legislature, and new a 13 percent interest rebate - and that amounts to about $1.7 billion . legislation designed to reform and upgrade public schools in this The question must be asked - From where is the $1.7 billion to state. be raised? Since a significant portion of the state budget goes to Prop. 36 threatens to undo all the accomplishments made in the schools, common sense dictates the schools would have to pony up a last 12 months, despite the rhetoric proffered by its supporters that big chunk of the refund. It is estimated that the school's portion would schools will not suffer under this initiative. Now, let's dissect Prop. 36 exceed $500 million - or about $120 per child, per year. In San Mateo 7.:1. . '\. and see how it could, or actually will, affect schools : County, $52 million of revenue could be stripped from all governmen- {..(!oi1Ji. f7-- t::ttt-c:-K} Ra~· i th~a;tes :S; k ; n ,h 1- oi - Aoping to keep student workers who are leaving to earn more money at area businesses, trustees in the Sequoia Union High School District have voted to increase the hourly pay for student help. However, the overall budget of $69,000 - much of it comprised of federal and state grants for specific projects -will not be increased. As a result, the district and its schools will limit the number of hours offered student workers. But those working will be paid more . schools tal agencies, of which $25 million would be taken from school districts. My district - Belmont- stands to lose about $210,000 in the first year of Prop. 36, assuming the state doesn't appropriate funds from some other source - and that is certainly a reasona,b e assumption! · 2. Prop. 36 prohibits any local agency from imposing any property tax, regardless of how great a majority vote for it, if the tax WQ-uld raise the level beyond the 1 percent of assessed value . ·curren;l'y, under Prop. 13, voters may vote to raise their property taxes beyond the 1 percent level if there is a two-thirds affirmative vote. Prop. 36, however, prohibits any vote beyond the 1 percent level. In other words, Prop. 36 denies local voters the rig~t to tax themselves at all if the tax is based on property. Not only that, but it would seem that Prop. 36 would nullify any property tax already approved by voters since 1978. This would include the recent Woodside School District tax election, which was a successful voter-approved measure last summer. We all understand the principle of "taxation without repre sentation." Prop. 36 is a classic example of "no taxation regardless of representation." 3. Prop. 36 would require that any other kind of tax imposed by local governments be approved by two-thirds of the ele ctorate . Cur rently, local, city and county governments can, with the approval of elected officials, assess or impose certain taxes (i.e., local sales taxes , business taxes, license fees, etc .) without voter approval. Prop. 36 would not only require a vote - but a two-thirds majority . In short , and for all practical purposes, there would be virtually no possibility of local governments raising taxes regardless of the ne ed. Local agencies would become almost entirely dependent on the state -Legis lature, which is already limited in its tax-raising powers. How y9.Uld_--. this affect schools? Obviously, if local agencies such as citie§ and counties cannot raise adequate revenue through local source~ they: would be forced to either cut services or demand state assista . H cities and counties seek state aid, schools will be forced to comp 1 for the same dollars. - - - · - - 4. Prop. 36 disallows any new "fees" being impo sea by•roca agencies or increasing any fees already imposed beyond the Consume r- Price Index inflation factor without a two-thirds voter approva!. And - no fees can be charged for anything other than "direct" services. Sounds fair, you say! It is, in fact, a nightmare! Cities charge fees for transit services, library services, attendance to zoos, museums and art centers, etc. Schools charge fees for cafeteria meals, att endance at athletic events, and transportation services. Suppo se cafeteria lunches cost $1 and the CPI goes up 4.5 percent in a year. Can the school now charge $1.045? The reality is that few schools wil'l hardly bother to fool with an addition of 4.5 cents - but if they don't and next year the costs go up another 4.5 percent, and price s weren't raised the previous year , the school could only raise costs 4.$ percent for the current year - a loss of 4.5 percent from the pr evious yeaf. But, that's not the worst of it. / What if, through the collective-bargaining proce ss, wages and benefits go up 6 percent? Who pays the added percentage over the CPI, if fees derived from the cafeteria program are used t~ pay for all employee costs? Finally - and this is the killer - employee retire ment benefits are NOT considered "direct" costs and, therefore, can't be included in any fee-based program as part of the cost s. As a result, schools which previously counted on cafeteria income bringing in enough dollars to offset all costs would now have to dig.. into...their general operating expenses. The cafeteria program would now !:em pete with science, math and reading for dollars. For cities and counties, the "fees" problem would be stagge'ring, almost surely destroying libraries, zoos, transit, and parks and recrea tion services, where fee-based. We have only scratched the surface, and have not addressed the issue of bonded indebtedness or "increased" tax costs to those w~ • bought homes or businesses after 1978, or local vs. state contrQI, CJr rule by the minority. Space doesn't permit - but these are signifkant issues and problems with Prop. 36. Let us finally look at the "om inous" link between Prop. 36 and Prop 37 - the Lottery Initiative. - As an educator, I am deeply concerned that voters might feel, in voting "yes" to both 36 and 37, th ey have taken care of the schools since Prop . 37 purports to add up to $500 million annually for schools . If you are thinking that way, remember - -Prop. 37 is des igned to provide "supplemental" aid to schools, recognizing that schools are already seriously underfunded in, California. Prop. 37 is not designed to "replace" or "supplant" income to schools because funds are reduced. Voter approval of Prop . 37 will not help schools gne -eent-.iL Prop. 36 also passes - p nd could damage the schools irreversibly if chools are forced to depend on lottery money as a chief sourc~ pf income. Sequoia teachers file the~m~~~n t~ whe ~-~':J!J~1fti":u~fronts. th e Board of Times Staff Writer ~e~~w':~~Trustees took a REDWOOD CITY - The rift According to Superintendent action last summer to eliminat between the Sequoia District Merle D. Fruehling , the SOTA 13 of the district's 19 counselo Teachers Association (SDTA) and has filed an unfair labor charge when school opened this fall. the administration is expanding against the district with the state The reductions, according t in this South County school sys- Public Employment Relations Fruehling, were necessary b tern. Board in San Francisco. cause of budget restraints. Th Teachers , already unhappy The district must respond by district saved $455,000 by elim over what they call a meager sat- Friday to an allegation that it nating the positions. · ary increase offer , are now bat- · filed a collective bargaining According to SDTA Preside Donald Hazard, a teacher Woodside High, the district's co lective bargaining agreeme with the SDTA stipulates a st dent-counselor ratio which th SDTA claims is violated by th board's unilateral action. Fruehling is expected to te trustees today at 8 p.m. at the· regular board meeting at 48 James Ave., Redwood City, of new feud with the SDTA. The board earlier this montl approved a contract for a consul ant, Renee Golanty•Koel, dire tor of the Institute fo Educational Improvement, to i stitute an independent stud program . The contract called for Koel t work on a one-on -one basis wit students with severe attendanc problems or who have droppe out of school and to develop ind pendent study contracts to mee their individual learning needs. Fruehling said that he is re ommending that the contract b postponed indefinitely becaus according to him, "the SDT A ha threatened to file an unfair labo practice against the district if w employ Koel. "The association contends th we have contracted bargainin unit work with Koel. I do not fe that we have anyone on our sta with Koel's unique qualificatim or who is willing to work on a hourly basis. We met with th association and are trying t work out are differences on thi issue. If we cannot, I will reco mend that we cancel the contrac with Koel and not proceed wit the program." According to Fruehling, by no hiring Koel the district could los money while also foregoing th program. "She is willing to be rein bursed on a per student instru tional hour basis. The distric would get a return on ADA (a erage daily attendance) revenu next yar that would be somewha greate r than would be paid tgi Koel." Fall grads Fate of closed t,t~e.l~1~d~ _ 1\ugust~• Septem~t Gen- eral Educational Development (GED) test graduates were an oun ced by the San Mateo schools ·still County Office of Education. Those completing the tests :with scores at the twelfth grade level will receive an of • ficial report, generally accept up in the air ed by employers, the armed ervices , and educational in S.J:t..l/~u5 11h//~ BELMONT - City School Dis the properties within the next stitutions in lieu of a high trict officials hope to decide five years. school diploma. within the next few months what Gilpatrick said an unnamed Local recipients of the GED will become of surplus school party is also intereste d in 3.2 award are: from Belmont- properties. acres at Barrett for $1.5 million. 3ennifer Morrow and Felia Superintendent Dr. Ron Gilpa The disposition of Barr ett along Vasiliou ; from San Carlos trick predicted at Monday's with the uppe r campus at Cipri [Anthony Agostini, Jack Beyer, school board meeting that a deci ani and the fields at the three sion will be made sometime after schools remains undeci ded. Dum itru Mercea, and Re- the first of the year. In yet another real estate item, ecca Ste wart . The disposition of the playing Gilpatrick said rece nt studies Practice tests, study mater fields at Barrett, McDougal and show it will cost abo ut $36,000 to als , and counseling to help Cipriani schools, plus the school renovate the district office at prepar e for the GED are of buildings at Barrett, were in 2960 Hallmark Drive . ered to county residents limbo until the Nov. 6 election. Some residents have criticized the distric t for retaining the off who are 18 or older by the A meas ure on the Belmont bal lot would have allowed the city to ice in the midst of an expensive Coun ty Office of Education's buy the properties through a one residential neighborhood and Vocat ional Education Divi time $160-per-parcel tax. Bel have suggested that the office be sion. For more information, mont voters, some of whom had moved to one of the closed school call the Career Preparation argued that they already owned sites. Center in Redwood City at the land through their taxes for Gilpatrick said, however, that \ 8"65-2116 . the school district, rejected the moving the office to Cipriani, for measure. example, would cost much more ---- Gilpatrick said several options than keeping it where it is. still exist. The city, he said, could In other business: still agree to buy the properties • Jean Whatley, represe nting listed on the ballot measure, but the Sterling Downs Neighbor with fun ds other than the one hood Association, criticized the time tax. The superintendent board for agreeing to repaint the added, however, that such a mansard roof at Fox School at a move would be a long shot. cost of $2,400. Trustees voted for Another possibility would be the repainting afte r some neigh for the city to buy only the three bors said they didn't like the playing fields and not the build bright color. Whatl ey also said ings at Barrett . Nesbit School needs repairs. Still another option would be Trustee Michael Garb said the for the city to rezone Barrett district realizes that Nesbit needs School for a higher density. In repairs and has alloca ted about excha nge for the increased value $119,000 over the nex t five years of the real estate , the district for capital improveme nts there. might give the playing fields to • Trustees agreed to spend the city. $1,800 for 15 por table heate rs for Other options might be availa the leased classrooms at Cipriani ble, Gilpatrick said, ad ding that and Barrett. Gilpatrick said the school official s will continue to district must heat all of the talk with City Manager Ed Ever rooms at the schools because the ett. central heating system is set up that way. The portable heaters, All three elementary school s he added, will reduce the heating were dosed more than a year ago bill by heating only the leased because of ongoing drops in en rooms. rollment. • Gilpatrick reported that ne The district has leased McDou gotiations are continuing be gal to a private school for stu tween himself and several dents with learning disabilities. parties involved in the longstand Recently the trustees agreed to ing legal battle over distri ct pay allow a pre-school to renew its men ts to a broker who leased lease of the lower campus of Cip unused classrooms. The superin riani School. tendent said he ho pes a settle The district has also given both ment can be reached before the leaseholders the option to buy suits go to trial. ~ I conducted in the district over the past eight years. "I understand Trustee Stew art's concern that the district needs long-range strategic plan .-e the administration to be account ning because there are so many able or to undertake studies or uncertainties facing us. I analysis of alternatives. "However, because there is lit• Conversely, the board majority tie prospect that we will be able over the years seemingly has re to deal with anything of much sponded to administration significance beyond responding suggestions as opposed to initiat to the need for cost-of-living ad ing direction for the administra justments for staff and restora • tion to pursue. tion of important programs that Other times, it could be have been reduced or eliminated, argued, the board and the admin I would have a difficult time istration have reached .accord on preparing a charge for a broadly issues and studies - including based, long-ran _ge planning com long-range planning - together. mittee. But by and large, the Sequoia "I also would feel uncomforta• board over the past several years ble asking a group to put in the has been passive and responsive time and effort that would be as opposed to aggressive and ini required to obtain the input from tiating. the various constituencies with Stewart's s_tyle and constant the near certainity that very lit questioning seemingly is threat tle can be done with the results ening what has been a comforta because of lack of funds." ble working relationship between Stewart, though, mainta ins the board and the administra• that "strategic -planning provides tion. a systematic approach for defin Many Stewart supporters are ing the purposes of the district excited about the prospects of a and determining the operations future board that is more aggres and the funding to meet that pur sive with the administration pose . Strate.gic planning is a com while at the same time worried prehensive process. It is not a that such involvement could pe short-term plant of fragmented netrate into the operation of the goals and objectives. It is a long schools. range plan for action. The pro• Stewart, in her call for stra cess for stratetic planning can tegic planning , said in a report to result in a three-to-five-year plan her colleagues that past short- for the Sequoia district ." term and long-term goals The Sequoia board tradition • adopted by the board was appro ally has adopted a set of goals priate "but today more compre and objectives each year. hensive planning is an economic necessity. With the current unst Some board members, defen• able school funding environment, sive of Stewart's description of rapidly changing needs and many the goals as "fra~mented," de new demands , strategic planning fended their pracuce. is not only a necessity for growth Both Dorst and Wellings sug• of the district but also planning is gested to Stewart that if she had a mechanism for its survival." some ideas she could submit Fruehling, in a written re them to the administration. sponse presented to the board Uninhibited by her lack of sup- /,, • ,-- u • ,., ,.\ last week , cited several studi es port from her collea ues Stewart (Lq-.JJ ., ~ ~ ...... K..J erl!, _t _OO;=.-;. ·:r lf: ~ 5-~ ::r::rt 11>::S :=:;.Ill"'~- ~ - ~~~ ~ 11>::.2 ::s 11>~ t,::1n 11>en 11>:r 11>11> =.; :: 15~ 11>11> [ g-o :: :r ;;: 3 ... ~ n c(JQ ~ n C :r"O ... c..11>C..Cll -o-3 Cc..~ . - C ::s o-3 ;· Ill ?- - · ::r o CJQ o ... Ill "O ~ - · '"' 11>n c..::r CJQ"' er c "O C:0 :r < - · On - · o t =- ·"''"' < ~ o 3 ::S-11>11> :rill -2 11> - 11> 11>"' ::s Developef, city vie f or ::S O Ill - · 0 ro - ,.. 0 Ill '"I '"I Ill O 3 - ,.. ::S 11>'"I '"I er ' :::; "' ...,g_...,J;;::S. ~ ciCc..~ :::i n'~ ::S g_O O O C..,.. (l) ;::11> t O Ill Cll 0 Q. '-' ... y~ "' •• ... - Q. ::s ::s - ·... • - :r ::s ...... , ;;;· 0 er C ,.. '< Q."O - · ::S "' Q."' (IQ 3 .., O .....,"O~"' CJQ (l) (l) - (t) • C: .., ::s- • - •~ I (ti I""""](/) - I O'O Q) ,.. - · :::; ::S (l) Cll t '"I O ,.. N :;' ~ '"I '"I "O ::S Ill ::,- ;i1,.. '"I - · C.. :f ;i1- ·-. Ill .,., (l) (l) < ~ e; 0 '"I Ill lll::S d Q. c..11>11>< Ill Ill n -. n o ::S "' (l) .... .,.. !"'.1 ... . ,.. "' 0.."0 '< ::S Ill !1>::S,....,'< "'° Ille.. ~0;:,~(l)(JQ ; • ..,-(l)(l)Cll(JQ '0"' Barrett S chool site land ro c I "'Ill • ::s 11> ... ::s... Ill 11> . '< ro Ill ::s Ill n 11> _ ... S',I'(. T1F11n .V1_ 1_I F',? "'"O ~ q ~ "' Q. Q. ~- v, g-~ -."O 5-(1) v, ::S ..., ~ :r '0 Ill 0 t (l) Ill '"I "O ~ _,. ,.. - · ,_. 11>,., "' ::, C O ,- ::S ::S By ALAN QUALE The school board took no for- Me~ntime, a liaison committee Ill ::, Ill :l",.. - · (l) .., Ill < "O - · ,.. Ill er (1) '"I ..., 0 Ill ::S Times Staff Writer mal action on the proposals, but will continue to look at the pro - vr~ Q.~~ 5.-~ g "' ~ -c ~ -C"::S e: ro g. ro ;.a-= ; · t ,.. (l) .,. . -· 0 11>,.. :r C" - · (l) -· "' "' Ill Q. (1) "" Q. - CJQ::S- BELMONT - A private develo- trustees hope to reach a consen - posals and trustees will await to- O « n - -n n ::s "'(1) ""::-: m .-.o. q ,o::s "' ..,~- -v,· Ill per offered Monday to buy Bar- sus Dec . 17. night 's City Council action. ;:l (1) ~ - ::S"O Ill v, Cl> "O < n "' :;, (1) - · (1) ,.. ti> ,.. " Q.l ~- ...,. ....- ::!. ('I) """'..:.,.. 2°:Cl Cl ('t) CJ ~ Q.~ . O .,..::S. g q-0.1 n VJ rett School and b u ild a ::S-':, O::r lll OC" o" n::s ::s m :::: . :=,::s er ...... < lll::S- residential retirement complex However, Haffey did offer the mv, ::sm=??« ... ~ :rc.. c..::,« n ·CJQro o .~ ~"; · ::s m on the -site. · possibility of the city's buying . A city . official said City Hall the playing fields at the three might also be interested in buy closed elementary schools "at ing · Barrett, '' plus the playing Naylor Bill prices" and to lease fields at two other closed school Barrett with an option to pur sites . chase. City School District trustees Haffey did not specify what the said they will try 'to reach a con city would pay for the playing sens us, perhaps next Monday . fields, but "th _e purchase price of night, over disposition of Barrett, Barrett School woul d be calcu Cipriani and McDougal lands. lated by taking the difference The developer, Roger Berg, between the $1,025,000 pre told trustees that his family viou sly negotiated and the Nay owned enterprise has been inter lor Bill price." ested in building a retirement The $1,025,000 is what the city center in }lelmont for several ha d offered to pay under Mea years. sure B, which asked local voters Berg said he already owns to .,approve a one-time tax on eight retirement centers in Cali their properties. fornia and would like to build a Haffey said that when voters 100-room retirement hotel, plus rejected Measure B Nov. 6, they 84 condominiums for senior citi did not want to be taxed, but zens at Barrett . they still want the city to acquire "It would be a community the fields. within a community ," Berg said, He admitted that Belmont noting that .the average age of doesn't have the mo n ey right the hotel resident would be now an d that it needs time to about 80 years, while the buyers "fin d the financing and come up of the condominiums could range with the cash." between SS·and 75. · , Futhermore, Haffey said his Berg said his firm would like to proposa ls have the suppor t of the lea se the 5-acre site immediately Rec reation an d Park Commis for $10,000 a month while he ap sion, but the plan has not been proaches the city for a rezoning. approve d by the City Council With the rezpning, Berg said he which will receive it tonight . would be willing to buy the prop erty for about $2.2 million . . Despite the tentat ive nature of "We envision that we would be the offers to the sch ool board, a successful in getting the zoning ," spat soon develope d b etween he tol d trust~es . Haffey and Berg . In response, Belmont Recrea Haff ey said he believes Berg tion Superinten dent Rick Haffey will ru n int o diffi cu lty with the said, "I am not in a position to rezoni ng. offe r you $2.2 million." "Are you saing that I am un rea listi c?" Berg asked. "Ye s," Haffey re pli ed.lJ ) ) ) S,f h,901»eport Sequoia Union H.S. District C!.}/- LMerle D. Fruf«~ '71- centrated on the academic cepted school standards were Superintendent skills needed to obtain econ- elim ina ted. Part I of 11 omic success in society. The Pendulum Swing However, the schools did It was also about this time There have been a number not · escape criticism, particu that students and society be of recent national studies that larly following the launching came more and more concern have been critical of the nat- of USSR's Sputnik. There was ed about the Vietnam War. tion 's public schools, particu- immediate public response Obviously, the possibility of larly, the high schools. during the late 1950s and participating in this war was These studies find that stu- early 1960s, and tremendous on the minds of high school dents today are not doing as government support went into age students. well academically as they did training math and science tea- Continued next wePk. 20 years ago. They find that chers. Emphasis was. placed tes t scores have been declin- on turning out engineers, and ing and that public confidence the schools were successful in the schools is less than it in doing so . used to be . They are critical During the 1950s and early of the diverse curriculum in 1960s , students and teachers our schools and recommend were very serious about basic that schools should place more academic education. There emphasis on the basic academ- were strict dress codes, tough ic education of students. disciplinary standards, and Educators who have been high academic expectations. involved in the public schools At the same time in society for many years cannot re- there was a growing civil member a time when the pub- rights movement and a num lic schools have not been un- ber of court decisions order der attack for failing to meet ing the desegregation of the educational needs of stu- public schools. This was a dents. It seems that the time when there was an in schools are always failing to crease in power of teacher meet the expectations of our unions, and everyone was de society. One of the problems man ding a greater voice in is that society's expectations decisions affecting their change over time, and the lives. schools usually lag behind in In the schools, there was responding to those changes. increased emphasis on free- Historical Look dom of expression, humanism, It is useful to take an his- _and teaching students what torical look at public educa- they wanted to learn rather tion since World War II to than what was formerly ex get an overall picture of what pected that they learn. has been going on in our Schools were expected by schools. Public schools re- society to concentrate on fleet what is occurring in many things other than aca society and tend to follow the demics. The standard academ same pendulum swings that ic curriculum changed con go on in the larger society. siderably from structured These swings move from con- courses to more unstructured -ill~atl-~--t J,/School Report - Sequoia High ~chool Dist. Part II of 11 likened the changes to the In the Sequoia ~istrict a used to be. The number of Continued from last week swing of a pendulum, curriculum study committee student behavior problems has reaching its extreme. This consisting of a broadly based In last week's School Re been reduced considerably . week 's column proceeds group of parents and staff port col umn, Fruehling told made a series of recommen Back To Basics how soc ial and economic from there. dations to improve the quality trends took education from Merl D. Fruehling Many schools all over the By of education in the schools. the tradit ional basics-oriented · Superintendent nation have returned to a basic ' approach to the more liber- Increased Requirements academic curriculum with high • al "what (students) wanted to In the past ten years the As a result of all of these expectations and tough discip influences in the last few learn" approach, covering pendulum has been swinging linary standards . This is not ' trends from World War II back in the other direction. years, the district has increas because the schools are re- The end of the Vietnam War, ed its graduation requirements through the 1970 s. He . sponding to the criticisms of the successful desegregation from 200 to 220 total units the national reports but rather C-69-12 B and integration of students of which include four years of because the schools are refle ct different racial and ethnic English, two years of math ing the changes that are oc cur Students planning to atte nd backgrounds by _many school ematics, and two years of ring in the greater society and College of San Mateo for the systems, the reduced empha science. the expectations of that socie first time this spring and en sis on student rights, and more The district board of trus ty. roll in nine or more units or conservative court decisions tees adopted a student behavi have influenced schools. This or policy that includes strict Most of th e civil unrest, ec in an English, reading or math onomic uncertainty, and mili course should take placement change can be followed by disciplinary actions for mis what has occurred in the Se behaviour on campus. tary involvement have lost tests as soon as possible, ac their significance. Society is quoia Union High School Dis ~~~[ cording to test technician The result is that our stu not expecting as much of the 8 (1) r::.(1) Marge Dierkes. trict. dents scored the highest on schools in the non-academic "' "' '< :::, State tests this past year l(l ~. ·"' The combined tests last ap In 1976, the district began ar'eas, and so the schools are proximately four hours and than at any time since the ~ 5: 8. g ~ to implement a more structur free to co ncentrate on aca (")e. O:~ will be given at 8 a.m. in the ed curriculum with rigorous tests have been given. They demics. g- !! g p,, college library. Test dates are academic expectations of stu are also scoring well above the ~-~ "' ::, :;;ro· c.. Saturdays, Dec. 1 and 15. dents. The parents and other state and national averages on As a result, it is inevitable • o::iKro- Students who take tests members of the Sequoia dis the College Board SAT tests. that the state and national 3 rt-'O 0 II> ~(1) 0 early increase their choice of trict community began de They are attending school . test scores of public schools ::, i:: "'~ classes and guarantee an early manding higher standards and at a rate that is the high est and other measures of schools' t"'(") p,, · • l>l 0::::, ::,r appointment with a counse more attention to the basic since we have been keeping success that have been declin @i::: ::,_0 c.. g- · lor / advisor. academic areas. There was records. Our theft and van ing for so many years will tum .,...--@::r ,... (") (1) For more information call also a call for better disci dalism losses have gone down around and begin climbing! (1) II> 0 :::, the Testing Office, 574-6175. pline of students. dramatically from what they once again . 00£:'"' ~ ~ (1) ~ e; 3 ~ . .m O" ='Op,, !""".g·c.. ::,[~ .o· ,_(1) i:: ~ ~ 1;l 3 -·§ ::is~.p,, ~ c.. '< !"' ~ ) ) Wednesday, Nov. 21, 1984 THE Tl~IES San Mateo- ;~ County test scores above state averages BAYSHORE ELEMENTARY Written Expression 280 Written Expression 308 Written Expression 399 S{\N CARWS ELEMENTARY Score Mathematics ...... 267 Mathematics ...... 311 Mathematics ...... 418 . Score Grade 3 Reading ...... 270 Grade 6 Reading ...... 252 Grade 6 Reading ...... 275 Grade 6 Reading ...... 336 Grade 3 Reading ...... 334 Written Expression 292 Written Expression 261 Written Expres sion 279 Written Expression 350 Written Expression 353 Mathematics ...... 298 Mathematics ...... 257 Mathematics ...... 274 Mathematics ...... 340 Mathematics ...... 340 Grade 6 Reading ...... 198 Grade 8 Reading ...... 293 Grade 8 Reading ...... :...... 283 Grade 8 Reading ...... 354 Grade 6 Reading ...... 309 Written Expression 227 Written Expression 281 Written Expression 278 Written Expression 345 Written Expression 317 Mathematics ...... 209 Mathematics ...... 275 Mathematics ...... 266 Mathematics ...... 344 Mathematics ...... 318 Grade 8 Reading ...... 269 Grade 8 Reading ...... 299 Written Expression 246 HILLSBOROUGH LAS LOMITAS Written Expression 296 Mathematics ...... 245 ELEMENTARY ELEMENTARY RAVENSWOODELEMENTARY Mathematics ...... 303 Score Score Score BELMONTELEMENTARY Grade 3 Reading ...... 34 7 Grade 3 Reading ...... 364 Grade 3 Reading ...... 225 SAN MATEOELEMENTARY Score Written Expression 347 Written Expression 351 Written Expression 243 STATE TEST SCORES Grade 3 Reading ...... 314 Mathematics ...... 344 Mathematics ...... 369 Score Mathematics ...... 249 Grade 3 Reading ...... 298 Public elementary school di5 Written Expression 334 Grade 6 Reading ...... 292 Grade 6 Reading ...... :...... 350 Grade 6 Reading ...... 174 tricts in San Mateo County hav Mathematics ...... 337 Written Expression 315 Written Expression 337 Written Expression 301 Written Expression 201 Mathematics ...... 288 received their 1983-84state tes Grade 6 Reading ...... 309 Mathematics ...... 322 Mathematics ...... 367 Mathematics ...... 180 results. Generally, district Written Expression 302 Grade 8 Reading ...... 330 Grade 8 Reading ...... 376 Grade 6 Reading ...... 265 ·Grade 8 Reading ...... 188 Written Expression 273 here scored above state aver Mathematics ...... 307 Written Expression 332 Written Expression 356 Written Expression 184 ages. Students were tested ii Grade 8 Reading ...... 290 Mathematics ...... 342 Mathema tics ...... 386 Mathematics ...... 286 Mathematics ...... 160 Grade 8 Reading ...... 283 reading, written expression an1 Written Expression 299 mathematics in the third, sixt l Mathematics ...... 307 JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY MENLOPARK ELEMENTARY Written Expression 285 Mathematics ...... 284 and eighth grades. Eighth gra d Score Score REDWOODCITY ers were tested for the firs BRISBANE ELEMENTARY Grade 3 Reading ...... 276 Grade 3 Reading ...... 344 ELEMENTARY time. Scores range from 100 ti Score Written Expres sion 280 Writ ten Expres sion 317 SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO 500. Higher scores indicat Grade 3 Reading ...... 313 Mathematics ...... 264 Mathemat ics ...... 333 Score more proficient students. Eac Written Expression 317 Grade 6 Reading ...... 261 Grade 6 Rea ding ...... 329 Grade 3 Reading ...... - ..... 260 UNIFIED Score district has more detailed tes Mathematics ...... 319 Written Expre ssion 260 Writte n Express ion 332 Written Expression 268 information on its own school Grade 6 Reading ...... 291 Mathemat ics ...... 268 Mathematics ...... 337 Mathematics ...... 269 Grade 3 Reading ...... 291 Written Expression 301 and pupils . Parents and oth e Written Expression 313 Grade 8 Reading ...... 236 Grade 8 Readi ng ...... 376 Grade 6 Reading ...... 246 interested persons can obtai Mathematics ...... 345 Written Expre ssion 234 Writ ten Expression 383 Written Expression 261 Mathematics ...... 279 Grade 6 Reading ...... 264 such information by asking to Grade 8 Reading ...... 237 Mathematic s ...... 214 Mathematics ...... 366 Mathematics .... :...... ! 258 it. Scores for local high schoQ Written Expression 236 Grade 8 Reading ...... 227 Written Expression 279 Mathematics...... 275 districts were released by th' Mathematics ...... 252 LaHONDA·PESCADERO MILLBRAE ELEMENTARY Written Expression 234 state earlier this year. ., UNIFIED Mathematics ...... 233 Grade 8 Reading ...... 255 BURLINGAMEELEMENTARY Score Written Expression 267 Score Grade 3 Readi ng ...... 324 Score Grade 3 Reading ...... 270 Mathematics ...... 269 Grade 3 Reading ...... 311 Written Expression 336 Written Expression 274 Mathematics ...... 330 SAN BRUNO PARK Written Expression 320 Mathematics ...... 280 Mathematics ...... 309 Grade 6 Reading ...... 286 ELEMENTARY WOODSIDEELEMENTARY Grade 6 Reading ...... 313 Writt en Expression 304 Grade 6 Reading ...... 307 Written Expression 298 · Score Score Written Expression 308 Mathematics ...... 310 Grade 3 Reading ...... 306 Grade 3 Reading ...... 359 Mathematics ...... 338 Grade 8 Reading ...... 279 Mathematics ...... 313 Grade 8 Reading ...... 269 Written Expression 299 Written Expression 379 Grade 8 Reading ...... 324 Written Expression 288 Mathematics ...... 292 Mathematics ...... 385 Written Expression 262 Mathematics ...... 319 Written Expression 322 Mathematics ...... 251 Grade 6 Reading ...... 283 Grade 6 Reading ...... 332 Mathematics ...... 320 Written Expression 276 Written Expression 345 LAGUNA SALADA PORTOLAVALLEY Mathematics ...... : 272 Mathematics ...... 317 CABRILLOUNIFIED ELEMENTARY ELEMENTARY Grade 8 Reading ...... 272 Grade 8 Reading ...... 379 Score Score Score Written Expression 266 Written Expression 336 Prade 3 Reading ...... 287 Grade 3 Read ing ...... 308 Grade 3 Rea din g:::················· 410 Mathematics ...... 266 Mathematics ...... 354 ,--- bO::.·-a::r~-("')~ -n,- o ~ ii>5-ra "'!:;,1-'i:;...,i:r..., n 5 ~ T c: QI"« QI c:. QI ~-a ":s ~..,.,, ... ~"a" . <; ... ir-::i.l!!-:sa' :::-~->., =-« ~ jG 0., .,'O"' >> g> Q. ID n n."' QI ::rd e_8 ... ~ ,.. ,..,'< :S :S :I: QI "' 8 Cl) ~ ::, IDQ.QI::: :S ,,,.a,_.,i,""" One,, !,,s ... .,,..i,::X:: ~- c,, • :S ,.. ::J' • '"' N -, lj;' ,.. 'I> QI • ... ;> c,, ID 0 ::J ..., s:: a "' CS QI > S ... " ;·-a ::r" :s ::'" 'O Q. n· Z ~ -3 a ~- 8 < Q. 8 ::!. er p. QI QI QI ID ' "'. ~ § ,.. 8 QI G") 3 (ti 0,.. . ,..(tl c,,IDQl:S:S:SQI> 'O.,,• .. . Oi,:S~ e ,.. .,,~er., ~Zn"'~~-08 QI g~Q."'o ~ "". -i erIt> ,.. ,.."' i, n.... "'"'Olt>n A, n - "' er"" -... '"- :s...... -• ::rn""... AAZ ~ .... ;:; er QI :: • ., QI QI ... '< ::i. n ;;i QI ... QI ::r . ~ )> =t:'l ., :,,;- QI ... . :S ., 0 Q."' :S ,.. ~- n er,.. :S ,.. - QI ..-. ~ :, ~=~"' ~=-:s· ... Q.~~QI "c:sQl~n=> ~ -i = ~~- II) --; a «Q. .... QI "~= . Ql:S QI c:- QI "ti ~ ... m:s ~ ~~a-="' :::~~a-., ..._ ~ i Q.. t:'l ID o~ ... Q. 1D~SID1D-0Q1 er~o-"fl •• CIJ Q. a'~., "ti Q.c:, ... «QI~.,., .... :s., ~ ::_ ; ID ID ~ C: ~; er,.. 8 ~:: . ID g_e!. e_ ~ ~ 0 El:: ID er ... ID ID c::., ID 0 o "' ~-- ...... "' er~ ID ~ o oero~ mo;a-:so ... ~ Q;erolt>~~ ~ - C(' (ti - 0 • :s • (ti (1Q ., QI "' • • ('I) ., :s ... ':'' I ~ -~~ &i.. < > .D E 0 f CARLMONT ALUMNI PRESENTtwo$1000checks Fruehling, Mike Schmid, Manuel Martinez, Noreen to Sequoia High School District Superintendent Speier. Speier is director of marketing for the Villa Merl Fruehling. In the picture, from left to right: Hotel. Turturici was the "prim~ ~over 1 ~;;the Carlmont Principal Peter Newton , Darlene Turturici, fashion show benefit. C!,4-~ ff~ /f/,,JJ7$f ~PCl c,.O ...... ~"'Dlo~c.."~::s"S8"~::s.,,'1;1~; ::S"'~ g.;:Je. §~~a- ....@=:= the five -year study. Significant ~~~o "'"'~ =Cl..,n ! athletes, meanwhile ice tougher scholastic re'. mts. ,oard adopted a relaxed (who's he?) not forgotten judged by Jack Robertson, an attorney from Menlo Park. An assortment of Millard Fillmore souvenirs are also available in conjunction with this year's hunt, reported Bob Hunte r, Carlmont's director of student activities. The souvenirs include Millard Pillmore glass mugs, buttons, T-shirts, sweatshirts and caps, Hunter reported . Student teams may preregister for this year's conte st by sending the $9 entry fee to Hunter at Carlmont High School. Hunter noted that last year several teams expressed an interest in drafting a code of ethics to help improve d Fillmore, the 13th relations betwe-en the teams ent of the United and local libraries. , i s shown above. A A group of students who t ( r ight) looks over an will participate in this year's ·r during a previous contest is preparing the code ·d Fillmore Tri v ia of ethics and teams that want to give input should call Hun ter at Carlmont High School. By the way, for the trivia buffs, Fillmore succeeded to ; pas t to beg, borrow occasionally fouled up their The answers gathered for the presidency when Zachery nerim es even steal the opponents by leaving false this year's questions will be Taylor died in office , He was ·s from oth er teams. tips at libraries and other judged and scored Jan . 14. born Jan. 7, 1800, in Cayuga ,r rp ;ims have also research plac_e_s_. ______~ __ T.:..h:..:.e::...:,19::.;8::,;S~co~n:.:.t:;.:e:..::s:..:.t..:WI~·~ll:..b:::.e:::...... _____ C=ou.::.n::..:..:...tYw.,..:N..:.;...:Yc..:.· ______SZ4- San Mateo THE TIME~ Getting in tlie spirit at Carlmont Homecoming Week at Carlmont High School in Belmont is Presided over by King Mike Morgan and Queen Laura Teutschel (right) . The week's activities included two rallies, a roya l banquet and class competitions . The winners of the "pile the shaving cream on your buddy's head" contest (far right, foreground) are seniors John Trawear (kneeling) and Grant Stephens. English teacher Norma Bisignano is the official measurer . . ... . - - -· ni-. .-.t,...c hv M ike Russell) i "O (/) Ql C "O contest (U of the ana, nKe ocner Sl:11uu1:s :sun"'· L ! Ti mes Photos bv M ike Rus sell) Belmont studies school land alter1 3y Phyllis Brown box Nov. 6. A second proposal would allow the city sites . fie ·1mes Tribune staff . J . /'7.A . The city and district are considering to exchange a change in zoning at the Bar In addition, Gilpatrick said the district f..) E/V , T/H E 5 / //o2..6{ if, three alternatives that would allow the rett and Cipriani sites for the open space has been contacted by a developer who di~ _ A priva1e proposal for building a retire city to obtain ownership of part of the at all three sites. The exchange for a would like to build a senior citizen facility wll nent center Is among the proposals being closed Barr ett, McDoug al and Cipriani 'higher' or more lucrative zoning theoreti on three acres at one of the sites. He esti ty :onsidered by the Belmont School Distri ct school sites, distri ct Superintendent Ron cally would bring the district more money mated the value of the proposal at $ 1.5 1nd the city for putting surplus school land Gilpatrick said. on the housing market million . fl city hands. Gilpatrick called the offer "extremely : 1 The first alternative would be for the The third alternative would allow the The discussions are the aftermath of the appealing and very attractive ." 0 iefeat of Measure B, a grass-roots initiated city to purchase the property proposed for district to have an even higher zoning on th; tffort to have citizens contribute money to sale on the November ballot The stated only one of the sites, the Barrett site, in The developer, under that proposal, ti€ ~urchase the land that failed at the ballot price for the land was, over $1 million. exchange for recreation land at the three would pay for the city to obtain the playin g ye n · bccumo i'i money ls uvuilable. All but one like bingo games. "But I don't ng, writing huv e little or no cash reserves think it's my job to be the chief : when host left from the days before Proposi bingo-caller at this time," he 1pan, D-Mill tion 13. said. vils of the And, like other schools state - Laguna Salada has no reserve to• bv M ike Russell) ool land alternatives I would allow the city sites. fields it wants to acquire. e In zoning at the Bar- In addition, Gilpatrick said the district The district and the city have just begun es for the open space has been contacted by a developer who discussing the alternatives, and are no The exchange for a would like to build a senior citizen facility where near agreement on how the proper ratlve zoning theoreti - on three acres at one of the sites. He esti ty transfer would be accomplished . e district more money _ mated the value of the proposal at $1 .5 et. million. "We really haven 't done much on this . Gilpatrick called the offer "extrem ely We were waiting for the election to die 1tlve would allow the appealing and very attractive." down," Everett said . Everett speculated iven higher zoning on that a decision on the future of the proper s, the Barrett site, in The developer, under that proposal , ti es probably wi.11 not come until next 1tlon land at the three would pay for the city to obtain the playing year. Lateststate tests' results Peninsula pupi ,ls,iscore lyRobert Rudy The tests were taken during the K-to-8 districts in the state ." material used to test younger stu Mountain View and Whism1 ~es Tribune staff /) , ;{ past year by about 1.2 million Third -grade students, both dents bas less to do with critical school districts also improved si third- , sixth -, eighth- and 12th thinking or problem-solving skills. nificantly. ~1in7u?~tro~ ch(fctrlil~ around the state and on the Penin {t grade students . The legislatively sula , did particularly well on the "We think it's easier ," he said. Some local school officials, ho ,ral, have scored higher than their mandated tests cost $950,000to ad tests , most dramatically on the Honig said, "Although the scores ever , refrained from using ti ounterparts around the state on minister and report . mathematics tests. leave much room for improve scores to make pronouncemen eading, writing and math tests, re The 1983-84school year marked Statewide math scores also im ment, they confirm the fact that we about the effectiveness of partic ults from this year 's testing pro the first time eighth-graders were proved for sixth-graders , but read are moving in the right direction lar school districts. :ram show. tested. ing scores declined for the second with SB 813 and other education-re "These scores are always subje Results of the California Assess- "We felt we needed something to consecutive year. form efforts ." to careful scrutiny and caution 1ent Program tests were present test students at the end of the ele McCabe said third -graders Among Peninsula school dis said Bill Gram, superintendent . d today to the California Board mentary-school careers," said Pat around California may have done tricts, scores improved in all test the Mountain View elementary di f Education by state schools Su McCabe, a consultant with the test better than their sixth - or 12th area s in the Redwood City School trict. "We tend to take them t< e rintend ent Bill Honig. ing program. "There are a lot of grade counterpart s because the District. Thitd-grade scores in the much at face value an~ make t< -~_,,...,.---,~ =--:-:-::-..=--=-:7-:--;------· ·· - ~ on the district's scores. He noted that written expression scores at .,.•Lande ls School were among the best in California, and part of that · is due to a special Power Writing program at the school. Whisman Superintendent Duane many judgments about schools Bay said that even though be bas based on the scores. been forced to explain poor tests "These tests don't test children 's scores so often in the past, he is he ability to solve problems or work sistant to take credit for this year's with other people and a lot of other increases. things that are needed to succeed " If they follow this way for the next few years, maybe then I'll say classrooms. wide tests scores . Many real-estate in the world. It only tests your abili 1 ty to answer the questions on the we are making a big difference, " "Still ," he said , "they (the re- agents use the scores to help guide test." he said. suits) are certainly delightful to . prospective buyers - particularly However, Grafft said that a con Bay said that in small districts see and better ~ban we expected ." parents - into areas with good certed effort by teachers in his dis such as his scores can fluctuate a School admmlstrators are not schools. trict apparently did have an impact fair amount on tile basis of a good the only people who wait each No " I look at the scores in the paper performance by just one or two vember for tile release of the state- and sugge st certain areas," said ifeien Low of Lytton Propertie~ in able. Cox Realtors in Mountain Vii \_ Palo Alto. Low added that people without said he does not try to sell one a: '\ Low said she often recommends children also are interested in see over another. '\ that people with children check out ing test scores because "It helps Palo Alto and Cupertino for their improve the salability of their "That's not the role of t schools, but added that Los Altos homes when they want to sell." · agent," be said. "It's up to pare \ and Mountain View also are desir- On the other hand, Jim Talley of to explore schools on their own • • • ,. H p I dist t d t.,l ; -84 :·'\ :' i - -- -- . - - -- 7'I, Las Lomitas Elem. 364A 377 98 350A 342 98 376A -- 369A 372 98 367~ Menlo Park Elem. 344W 350 94 329A 357 95 376A -- 333W 346 91 337A ~ ortola Valley Elem. 410A 391 99 336A 396 96 354A -- 418A 391 99 340~ Ravenswood Elem. 2258 212 11 1748 187 1 1888 -- 249W 233 24 180~ 'R~dwood City Elem . 260W 257 35 2468 233 29 2278 -- 269W 259 46 258~ ~ ,$ijn Carlos Elem . 334W 345 91 309A 309 91 299W -- 340A 334 94 318A San Mateo Elem. 298W 301 72 2658 278 52 283W -- 288W 292 67 286~ ' ·woodside Elem. 317"' ' • 359W 323 97 332W 320 95 379A -- 385-A 3 13 99 1•)' .s~nta Clara County !:,.( ,. Ggpertino Elem . 348A 339 95 312A 313 91 324A -- 354A 340 96 324~ , . l6s Altos Elem. 335W 354 92 • 354A 353 96 346A 354 97 347A -- 350A Mtn . View Elem . 342A 319 94 289A 294 79 2528 -- 337A 311 93 290Vt , . P,alo Alto Unified ·352A .320 96 330A 323 95 349A 333W 330 91 '. .S~nta Clara Unif ied 298A 292 72 270W 266 57 256W 309A 296 82 ; · :Synnyvale Elem . 284W 288 60 275A 291W 283 69 I • 293 64 280A [,-:~ h isman Ele_m. 326A 266 88 250W 232 34 273W -- 331A 254 91 High school scores (all 12th grade~ • 1 < READING MATH WRITTEN San Mateo County Year 83-84 82-83 % 83-84 82-83 % School Districts i'•., San Mateo Union 66.1W 67.8 76 72.5W 73.4 86 67.0W ,~; Sequoia Union 68.6A 65.9 91 72.6W 70.9 86 69.7A 61 Santa Clara County Fremont Union 69.4A 70.0 95 76.1A 77.0 96 69.1W ,$9 Mtn . View-Los Altos 66.58 68.3 79 74.0W 73.6 91 67.9A 167 Palo Alto Unified 73.8A 73.9 99 82.1A 80.7 99 75.4A ·73 Santa Clara Unified 62.6W 63.6 45 69.9A 68.8 74 65.8A 62 i ------1suladistricts scored on state achievementtests chool scores READING MATH WRITTEN EXPRESSION 83-84 82-83 % 83-84 82-83 % 83-84 % 83-84 82-83 % 83-84 82-83 % 83-84 % 83-84 82-83 % 83-84 82-83 % 83-84 o/, 3 3 3 6 6 6 8 8 3 3 3 8 6 6 8 8 3 3 3 6 6 6 8 e 3 14W 308 82 . 309A 306 91 290A -- 337A 326 93 307W 304 90 307A -- 334A 311 93 302W 299 91 299A 364A 377 98 350A 342 98 376A -- 369A 372 98 367A 360 99 386A -- 351A 372 97 337A 349 99 356A 344W 350 94 329A 357 95 376A -- 333W 346 91 337A 344 97 366A -- 3178 335 86 332A 337 98 383A 410A 39 1 99 336A 396 96 354A -- 418A 391 99 340A 384 97 344W -- 399A 398 99 350A 358 99 345A 2258 212 11 1748 187 1 188B -- 249W 233 24 1808 210 1 160B -- 2438 222 18 2018 203 1 1848 260W 257 35 2468 233 29 227B -- 269W 259 46 258W ?49 40 233B -- 268W 261 44 261W 250 45 2348 334W 345 91 309A 309 91 299W -- 340A 334 94 318A 303 93 303W -- 353A 347 97 317A 318 96 296W 298W 301 72 2658 278 52 283W -- 288W 292 67 286W 292 77 284W -- 301W 306 77 2738 .276 63 285W 359W 323 97 332W 320 95 379A -- 385A 313 99 317W 310 93 354W -- 379W 318 99 345A 373 99 336W 348A 339 95 312A 313 91 324A -- 354A 340 96 324A 312 95 333A -- 343A 336 96 315A 307 95 328A 354A 353 96 346A 354 97 347A -- 335W 354 92 350A 370 99 348A -- 349A 368 97 345A 346 99 336A 342A 319 94 289A 294 79 252B -- 337A 3 11 93 290W 286 80 272W -- 361A 336 98 315A 289 95 281A 352A .320 96 330A 323 95 349A -- 333W 330 91 339A 334 97 372A -- 328W 318 .91 317A 315 96 340A 298A 292 72 270W 266 57 256W -- 309A 296 82 283A 281 74 277A -- 299A 289 75 275W 273 66 2538 284W 288 60 275A 293 64 280A -- 291W 283 69 280A 294 71 278A -- 281W 283 58 287A 292 81 275W 326A 266 88 250W 232 34 273W -- 331A 254 91 2598 257 42 259W -- 332A 282 91 262W 250 47 273W The accompanying charts lndi - better that 99% of the corre- High school scores (all 12th grad~) cate achievement test results spondlng grades in the state . ThE from the California Assessment letters follow ing the numbers in• READING MATH WRITTEN EXPRESSION Program . On the chart , thircj- , dlcate whether sco res were wlthir San Mateo Co,,mty Year 83-84 82-83 % 83-84 82-83 % 83-84 82-83 % sixth- and eighth-grade scores (W) , above (A) or below (B) thE School Districts are based on a 100-400 scale , normal range of scores for dis • San Mateo Union 66.1W 67.8 76 72.5W 73.4 86 67.0W 67.8 81 while 12th-grade scores were trlcts with similar socio-economic Sequoia Union 68.6A 65.9 91 72.6W 70.9 86 69.?A 67.9 95 based on the m1mber correct out characteristics. The percentile Santa Clara County of 100. The percentile rank Is for rankings are approximate but Fremont Union 69.4A 70.0 95 76.1A 77.0 96 69.1W 69.9 93 all districts In the state. For ex- within 4 to 5 points of accuracy, Mtn. View - Los Altos 66.5B 68.3 79 74.0W 73.6 91 67.9A 67.7 88 ample, If a grade received a 99th- according the state Department Palo Alto Unified 73.8A 73.9 99 82.1A 80.7 99 75.4A 73.3 · 99 percent ile mark , it performed of Educat ion. ;' Santa Clara Unified 62.6W 63.6 45 69.9A 68.8 74 65.8A 62.6 75 %::Percentile. Percentiles for eighth-grade scores were not releesed SQ~~"-::! 0 0 ~!2w:::-a ;; Q) s ~ - ~ ::;-c5·n s a;; e:~ ~ ~ ~ ~ =~ s :r g ~ a~ s a g ~ -~::,-0 ...,.>-lg -0 (Q 0 s~o3i::r::, a§;s.~~ (l) ::l. ;;i =a ;- ;- & g a : a ;;i o ;:;· o (l) <"D6t 0. ::,- (l) ~ ~ii ~ a s~ aa s- · ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~i ~ ~- s ~ ~ ~ 8 o--,j;• 1 have been mostlysuccessful and uneventful By Robert Rudy /F.A/ . ??_/"?67.> Fruehling said his district values its desegregation Times Tribune staff / ;z./ 7/ J 1 mentary and Sequoia Union High school districts that ruled the district should balance its minority enroll involve 10 percent or less of the total population In ments more evenly. those districts. Meanwhile, the Peninsula district considered most The San Mateo district was one of the first in the segregated - the San Jose Unified School District - state to initiate a voluntary busing program when it only buses students who are Involved In so-called did so in 1967. Today, said administrator Tish Bus- magnet schools. Magnet schools are schools with spe selle , the district has about 3,000 minority students out cial programs that are designed to attract students ·of a total population of 8,000 children. Of those 3,000, from a wide geographical area and, in San Jose Uni l_she added, only 800 are bused. fied's case, have been used to integrate schools. Although roughly half the minorities in the San A spokeswoman for the San Jose district said slight Mateo district are Asians or Pacific Islanders, Bus ly more than 700 students currently are being bused selle said it is primarily blacks and Hispanics who are to five magnet schools. bused. Almost all of them come from the area north The San Jose district, though, has more than 60 per of Fifth Avenue in San Mateo, where there has never cent minority enrollments in nearly one-third of Its been a neighborhood elementary school and where schools. A federal appeals court earlier this year the area's only middle school recently closed. ruled that school officials in the past purposefully I Busselle said there are no plans to alter the district kept their schools segregated and ordered a federal plan , adding that the current school board favors inte- . trials court to find ways to desegregate the district. gration and multiracial school experiences. San Jose trustees are now in the process of deciding I Similarly, Sequoia district Superlntenden \ Merle whether to appeal that decision. Deadlineset for schoolsale wants to build senior bous By Phyllis Brown in g, and the San Ma t eo Times Tribune staff~!K't County Office of Education, /Jt,21/,77HIF5' I. h 01 Tfte Belmont c oo D s- which bas discussed moving trict, faced With two poten at least some of its adminis tial buyers, bas given city trative offices from Red officials a February dead wood City, district Superin line to come up with a plan tendent Ron Gilpatrick said to buy land for recreation at Monday. its three closed school sites. Tbe senior housing devel- Tbe two other possible buyers are a developer, wbo _.,,-,Tfor tbe city to develop a means of needed recreational space since fering a zoning change that would ment and living center on the land.' financing tbe purchase ," Gilpatrick the schools were closed in July allow denser, and thus more lucra "We will not negotiate with him said. 1983 due to declining enrollments. tive, development on a part of the directly yet. But we are listenill8," "I feel that it is really time to However , there has not been Barrett site in exchange for the Gilpatrick said. bring these negotiations to a con enough cash in the city coffers. playgrounds, Hardwick said. In addition, the Redwood City clusion," l?e said. The most recent city effort at The February deadline "doesn't based San Mateo County Office Of iOper has offered more than $2 mil Belmont has until Feb. 1 to reach buying the land was a November appear unreasonable" Hardwick Education has expressed interest ion for the Barrett School site, lo an agreement with district officials ballot measure that would have said. in the district's closed sites. ~ted near the intersection of Ral- on how it will buy tbe entire Bar truced residents to buy the land for Hardwick said the city still is at "The county is looking down the ton Avenue and Alameda de las rett School site and the playing $1.03 million. Voters rejected the tempting to purchase the land for road for new facilities for the coun fields at tbe Cipriani and McDou proposal by an overwhelming mar the $1.03 million price voted on in ty office. They have looked at bolb ~rw:h!:esi~~urnty w~~:~~ ~;i~: gal school sites, Gilpatrick said. gin. November. However, Gilpatrick the Barrett and Cipriani sites. They terested or how much it is willing The terms of a city purchase The city still does not have the said the district can't be held to sell have talked about moving all of to pay, Gilpatrick said. agreement should be "signed , cash to buy the properties. Mayor at that price. their facilities or only their special Tbe two potential buyers have sealed and delivered" to the dis William Hardwick said the city is If the city is unsuccessful in its education facilities. But there bas put pressure on the yearlong exclu trict by April 15, he said. If not, the considering a number of different efforts, the district can turn to a been no talk about price," be said. ive negotiations between the dis district may negotiate with other financing schemes, including a $2.27 million offer for the entire Gilpatrick stressed that befo 1;e rict and the city. buyers, Gilpatrick said. lease/purchase arrangement, to Barrett site from Everett Berg of. negotiating with buyers other than "There bas to be a limit on how City officials have wanted to pur acquire the playing fields. the Senior Living Co. of Emery the city, the properties would be 1ongthe district should have to wait chase the school land for badly The city also is considering of- ville. Berg wants to build a retire- put up for public bid. arlmont sends latter- n viet city of Sabor. "We can end the arms race If everyone mes Tribune ~,8, /t:Z--/43/y1 The letters contain the students' hopes contributes In a small way like this," 1tttife"~at Carlmont High School in Bel for peace and friendship, along with infor Evans said. ont are attempting to bridge the commu mation about themselves, the![ families Using some simple Russian words and ication gap with the Soviet Union by writ and their homes. phrases and the 33-letter Russian alpha g letters to Russian citizens in their own Carlmont English instructor Bill Evans bet, each student in Evans' five classes nguage. got the idea from Ground Zero, a national prepared letters to mail to the Soviet The letters are part of a project to estab pacifist organization . that has sponsored Union. sh communication with citizens of the So- similar programs. Pictures of all the students in the five \ \abottle' to Soviet city classes will be mailed with the letters . we're letting the Russians know that an in Sabor, Belmont 's sister city for the creasing number of Americans want t project, is about the same size as Belmont, avoid war," Evans said. which has a population of 29,00Q. "The fact that the Russians live under a Because communication with Soviet government that is not acceptable to u cities is so unusual carlmont students disturbs me, as it ·does most Americans wonder whether th;y'll hear from their But that doesn't mean that we can't ~e ' sister city. along with them in order to save th "Even if we never hear from anyone, world," he said. ' EDITORIALS ~!~~~~t~::~~~ grams: So-called students put in their Sally l~;.~\~~;~T~~;r.~ Stewart suggested the same stand four years on the football or basket- ard for Sequoia . But the board decided ball teams, then leave without graduat- to wait until the results of a study on stu ing. If they become professional ath- dent athletes are in before deciding on letes, they'll make a lot of money; if not, tougher standards. they're rarely prepared for any other Superintendent Merle Fruehling, productive activit y. questioning the practicality of higher So many athletes have followed that standards, said , "We have kids who, path that it's become more notable when working at the top of their capabilities, an athlete gets his degree before head- may not be able to squeeze out more ing for the pros. But the pattern still has than a D." the capacity to produce shock when it That's a real shocker, if it's true. After happens at the high school level - as it all, we're talking about average high did on a succes sful Woodside High school courses here - not calculus, School basketb all tea m that had four physics or advanced English composi stars who failed to gra duate. tion. If students have troub le squeezing The story of that Woodside team was out more than a D, they shouldn't be told last week by Don Hazard, president wasting time - any time at all - on the of the Sequoia Union High School Dis- practice field. They should be studying . trict teacher's association, as he urged Frankly, we think that the student-ath the Sequoia trustees to raise acade mic letes can get grades higher than D, at standards for athletes. He said the bas- least in some courses. What they need is ketball players who didn't gradua te had motivation, such as higher academic been "cheated " by low academic stand- standards before they can participate in ards. athletes. Sequoia administrators may be Indeed they had, but the Sequoia trust- pleasantly surprised to find how many .ees didn't do much to rectify the situa- athletes can raise their grades if they tion by their hesitant approach to raising need to in order to compete in sports. the standar~s. They finally ad~p~ed ne_w Perhaps a c average is too high, at rules ~llowmg _students to participate m least immediately, but four Ds and an F athletics only if they take at least five in five courses is too low a standard. The classes and receive passing grades in Sequoia district should experiment with four of them. gradually increasing standards for ath- Since a passing grade is D, a student letes, aiming at that C average. If it can can participate in sports by getting four work for other schools in the area, it can D's and an F. Many other districts in this work for Sequoia. 0-1,-u-.,,-, ~ au ,.,u 1;111;,u'-'\I u 1, n 'c u school districts . An earl!er ·issu e involving bow 0 charge teachers can use their preparation extra 2.1 percent raise for teaching periods may have been resolved, .c a longer school day and year, the Fruehling said, by giving teachers district is offering a 1.5 percent .more freedom to usethat time pe ca cost-of-living raise. Teachers, he rloq as they wish. However,the ·re said, are asking for a 2.5 percent / is no final agreement on use of cost-of-living raise. I pre~on periods. . . , . -a.. ·HaZ$ri1 said teaclier mo~e in Fruehling said the district 's offer the high scJiool distrtc! , bM suf Cl) to teachers, who did not get a raise fered because of the lengUrot con: last year, was comparable to what talks. teachers already have received in tract Teachers at•W~lde . High School recently vofced, tlieir .c coocerns·b~ passing out expian~:,. (.) tory •letters · to parents at Back-to- Schoolnight t • • • • • •• Al~ough disconten tsgreatest at ca Woodside High, FruehUogsaid low Cl) morale apparently is 5P"-'8dlngto .. other d~ct scnoots.: · · . Playingfavorite s?.~,..u. E'A/frlf/~1$'.tJ. Rep~irS plann :ed -Sy Steven Stark · Hall said. ~ ~s the Belm,ont Elementary "It's been a long time since School District favoring some major maintenance has been schools over others? . done. We have four sites and <1) <1) • <1) . ' For the past two board .of . there's loU to pick up.'! Q) 'i:~~~ en trustee meetings, district-wide District Superintendant <1) <1) ::s c:: c:: :; :> 'O ·- ::s neeqs in the four schools ·have Ron Gilpatrick · ·said the dis <1) <1) E 0 (.) been . brought to the fore as trict should have involved it ~~~;::: .. • ~.Of-< <1) 0 th~ board continues it's tour · self iong ago with the stat e c:: (1) • c:: <1) (1) ~ <1) al (.) of neighborhood schools. matching · deferred mainten- · ...... (.) (.) al c:: .. ·- , . •~we care about every ance plan. · · · ·- ~ :> '1) 0. ~~~~ school equally'' .Board Pre- The district · has· $26,000 in o...... en .s sident Catherine Mason de- vested in deferred mainten:. ::S'Oal~ ...s ti) ·- ..... al quire students to take three sem~ ters - .or 1 ½· years - of genetj physica l education in the i~ fres: el,ectiv,e ma n and sophomore yea rs and ~ additional year of a more sped cation course s often become a mat- lized sport class such as tennis i ter of "throwing out the ball and program, the fitness of American ba dminton during the ir ·Junior c start playing." youth wmdr op." senior year . "We have more classes than ,we . S\Jperintendent Merle Fruehling. : Along wltb th e physica l edu c, like to admit that are str ictly re- .who opposed reduc ing the physical tton re quire men~ Fruehli ng· sa : creational ," Walti said. educationr equirement when it was he and his sta ff are considering s All general physical ed~catio n p~ posed two years ago, said the paratl ng athletics froin the regul1 classes , however , do requir e stu- lss ue ·now Involv es ba lan cin g physic al ~ducatlon pr ogram. St dents to parti cipate twice a week in prtorttJes. . dents involv ed in te am spor cardiovascular oriented activitie s "The prot Jem I have ls I think would pra ctice after school ra th1 such as swimming or running. \ pbysical education is-important," than d\lring the last peri od of ti "That is needed by gro wing lhe._sald." Being physi~lly ,flt ls lm day. ·' · ' '·' 'I '· , bodies, " Walti said, adding th atj ~ Bui we are 111'11financ ial District trust ees ani' not expe "without a structured high school l~ .~ tlo~~ e. r~. ;,VI_~. have JOmake edto vo.t~ o~·th~ ~~r ;unttt, nE ,ome d. i~np1lbout wb.a_t ':~ :,nn- v ear after more spectl lc tntom tlon · has·'been gathe red . Howev1 ~-i] ·k pbysi cal eau~ on 1our of the five curre nt trust e req,ulteme will not entire ly !S()lve the pr oble faci ng tbe .d istri ct' s -were on the school boardwhen t elecUve pro lll, Frue hling ~ld. district lowere d tbe p)iysical e, He said elective ·class es ofte n re ca tio n requ ire m ~nt from fo quire small teacher-to-pup ll ratios years to thr ee. At tha t time, tn aµid th'ose sma ll c~ ar e getting ees Helen Hausma n and R~nu Smith vote d for th e reduc tl c hatder to afford. · · f,uehling said he may propose wblle • tru11tees Rich ard .Dorst a Ted Wellln~ voted against lt. an alternativ e plan that would re- -- - -· -- ·-· -- . Frue ng not crma nei""Lo~;u- geles City School District, which re istrict's cently Implemented a C-average requirement for students, has found that students who cannot maintain academic standards tend ew rulesto drop out rather than work harder. That fear was shared by Dorst. "If the requirements are too high n_sportsand they don't go to school at all, what do we gain?" he said. y Robert Rudy Don Hazard, president of the dis trict's teachers association, said es Tribune staff , ., /,n/J schools are in danger of exploiting ~tlls~ffti/~ffn1on students by keeping aca demic igh School District voted Wednes standatds low. He cited a highly Y night to raise academic stand successful Woodside High School rds slightly for student athletes basketball teem from 1983 that in d said they will consider making cluded four star players who failed ch requirements even more de to graduate . anding In the future. "I think we cheated those kids," liazard said. The trustees, who also reviewed Helen Hausman, who said the hysical education requirements discussion on eligibllity standards or all students, adopted new rules posed "difficult philosophical ques tating students can participate in tions," countered by saying that "if thletic programs if they take at playing is a privilege , perhaps it ast five classes - four of which (higher standards) is an incentive ust be five-unit classes - and re for him to do better ." elve ·passing grades in four of On the question of required phys hem. ical education classes for all stu A passing grade ls a D or higher, -dents, Fruehling endorsed an advi o that means a student can get sory committee's recommendation four D's and one F and still partici that the district lower its require pate. ment from three years to two. The The board agreed, however, to ndertake a study of student ath- recommendation was made with ough study of its physical education etes and to consider making the the hope that students would use program and consider ways to im academic policy tougher in April. the extra time to take electives In- prove it and make it more attrac rustees Ted Wellings and ~ichard stead. , . tive to students before deciding to orst, two longtime advocates of The district s elective program cut the course requirement. Both school sports, voted against the has shrunk dramatically in recent suggested that cutting the require- Udy. years, partly because students have ment be delayed for at least a Academic standards for student more required academic cours, s year. . athletes vary in Peninsula high to take and partly because of a lack Stewart said that the district can school districts. The California In of tundlng to support elective pro- not blame Sacramento and the lack terscholastic Federation recom grams. of funds for the deterioration of the mends that student athletes be re Preuhllng said the district's program, adding that "making pro- quired to maintain C averages in . physical education program , once grams better is not just a function four out of five classes, and both a model for districts throughout of more dollars." the Palo Alto Unified School Dis California, has deteriorated consid- Dor st, who was on the school trict and the Mountain View-Los erably In recent years . He also boatd when it decided to cut the Altos Union High School District go noted that there are more failing physical education requirement along with that policy. grades given In physical education from four to three years, said there Trustee Sally Stewart raised the courses than any other type of is no guarantee that students will possibility of requiring Sequoia stu class. take more elective courses just be- dents to maintain a C ayerage to be Both Stewart and Dorst su~- cause they have fewer physical . ble for~ilWlil.SllOILUILQl~ms.- ed that the district make a thor- education classes to take. She said she hoped that students who were struggling academically would seek help to improve their grades. · Superintendent Merle Fruehling, noting that the Sequoia district stu dents represent a wide range of ac ademic abilities, questioned how much a higher standard would mo tivate some athletes. "We have kids who, working at the top of their capabilities, may not be able to squeeze out more Utan a D," he said. ... --., .. ~ . . . . ,,; . • ·.. " ,: - 1-R~,-l)ort c~r~ ./1$:;::,challenged t . ' . . ' . . ' ' St.ate.officialse xplain California schools' poor showing in national survey • t., • ,i ,I,:• •. I . e; ·Robert Rudy . 1., long as the trend ls up, I think the ly only the brightest - s'tuden ts seriously. • · . ._ r~e s Tribune staff w J . J. public will respond/' take the tesl I "Unfortunately, the P"Qblic tends · 77/.iJ...-Sl':L::t~ 7/fff Bell's rep ort on the nati on's Inaddi tlon,Honlg sald C8lifornia, tob e infatuatedw iths horthi;ttldsta- '1(/or nia Superin~ ~nt of · schools, his final one before leav- has some unusual factors involved. tlstlcs like miles per gallon,'.' Kirst !i(!hoots·B_ill H_onig does not appear ing of(ice, compared state s -In 36 ·As one exa mple, he noted tha t said. · • . ,. . . . top CO?~erned about statistics re- categories. ca ufornla's schools pro- Asian students in•the state score an · Cslifornla schools also ranked · lensed earli er -this week I by· U.S. duced mixed results. .: , .\ average of 59· points higher tha n relatively h!gh on average ·teachers,· ~ ucaUon Secretary Terr el Bell · For instance , California's av.er- their counterparts in the state on salaries, placing seventh in thei na ~- ich ranke4 California s~hools age ,score on the Scholastic Aptl- the -math portion of the test but 50, tion. with an average salar ,y, of ' ~ ow several other states on·a va- tude Test - a combined total of points lower on the verbal. $23,614 _ a Jump of roughly $4,000 ·• tY.of measures. ·• ' · ·- 897 - ranked ·sixth .among states, · In general; Honig .said Bell's re-~ since l 982. Bµt ~yen that, relatl:ve~·- ,n a te lepho ne intervi ew froin thai ·g1ve the SA_T. However, ca1.1- port ls~ -positive step i~ that it wml high salary_pal,es when_compar~ [s ·offic e• in S1;1crament o, Hon\g fornla's ranking was fourth in t)le motlvate·~hoo l~ ~o improve, but it to ave ra ge teaching ,sa_l~ries ..In ~Jd Jt wlll take another three · or nation Just two years ago. · · • also is '' too •.narro w" because itj Pe ninsula school districts, which · four years before Cellfornla's com- Honig said the re port bf SAT does ~ot ,take into a~count varla- are considerably higher. prehensive·package of edµCl\Uonal scores does not present an entirely tlons ·tn students ' ·famil y income On the ot~er end of the ~pee~ re.torm s; enacted _i n 1983, take a~c_urat e plctu re -beca~se Qf the levels and ethnic backgrounds. trum, Csllforni!l ranked·3lst tn_~e ~j:)ld. . ' : .• . ,; · number of students who take the , · Michael Kirst, a pro fessor ofl na tion on the amo unt of money ' "I thin_ • k the public understands test: In cant ornia, about 30.per~ent ,.educatio _n at Stanford University spent on each stud_ent - $2,733. ..• t;',_HonJg said. "Peopte·make a of all seniors take the test, while ·. and former president of the state That figur e is about $215 lower :ot of. hoopla about these numbers ,other states that score higher.do.so Board of Education, also cautioned iom one year to_ !fle ne_xt, bu! ~ _in ,part because fewer_- and usual- · aiai ns! tak I~ th_e numbe rs 'too and class size, which is illustrated clearly on the Peninsula, where both salaries and class sizes are among the highest in the state. Many local districts have been fi- nancially squeezed since the pas than the· national average. In 1982, sage of Proposition 13 ln 1978.With the state ranked 27th at $2,671per large salaries taking up a larger student. proportion of school budgets, dis- counting the District of Colum- tricts have been forced to cut pro bla, C8llfornla ranked 50th in class grams and put more students in size, with an average class size of each class. 23.3. Both Kirst and Honig said class Kirst said th~t three fa~tors - sizes are important and make a teacher salaries, spendmg per particular difference is some spe pupil and class Slze - have been ciallzed classes such as writing. ,comparatively high in California Honig said that if the state is going for at least 20 years. t espond to the growing number Part of the reason California ~ ~ispanlcs in cautornla schools, ranks so low on spending per pupll 01 izes will have to come down. is that the state spends far more c ass s . than average on higher education, Hispanics have the highest dro~ a situation Kirst partially credited out rate of any ethnic group in the to the state's extensive community state and score an average of 40 college system. points lower on both the verbal and t .... L..c,Q,lAJ.hArO.a.ic.. 2. New faculties had to be 1. Perhaps the most notable The closing of any school is created, transferred and inte singular achievement is the re always a painful experience. grated into new schools. markable success of the real Regardless of the justifica 3. A new curr iculum had to igned 6-8 middle school pro tion, and no matter how well a be created for the sixth graders gram at Ralston school. The community is prepared for new to Ralston . new "core" program, with school closure, when it finally 4. PT A reorganization had elective options for sixth grade happens, it's like losing a life to take place, merging old/new students, has been very well long friend. The "Why my groups, working out parent received by parents and stud school?" phenomenon is most leadership probl ems. ents. Ralston staff members difficult to combat. 5. Many students had to have worked exceedingly well adjust to new traffic routes together to assure a solid pro Yet, schools do close-life and to a new school environ gram for incoming sixth goes on, and it is important, at ment . graders. some point, to take stock of 6 . Movement of furniture, 2. A counseling program the situation-to evaluate what equipment, supplies, texts. was restored at Ralston-a pro was accomplished by closing a materials all had to be orches gram abandoned many years school. Was closure worth it? trat ed in time for school to ago becaus e of fiscal problems. Did anything worthwhile begin in September . 3. A Library Resource per .transpire because schools were 1. The "neighborhood son was brought to Ralston and closed? school" concept had to under a librarian was provided for It has been a year since the go considerable psychological the elementary schools-long·------ Belmont School District closed adjustment for many families . without any paid assistance the libraries. three of its six elementary for the past several years. In addition, the district school sites-all at the same 8. The community has had time. McDougal, Cipriani and to deal with the issue of what 4. Instrumental musi c was took steps to reorganize its Barrett Elementary Schools to do with a vacated, surplus expanded to include string ins- operational procedures. A truction at all levels. new homework policy was closed their doors permanently school site. in June of 1983. In addition, 5 . Custodial and mainten- adopted, and a new . report ance programs were strength- card and parent reporting pro grade levels were realigned in There may be other issues the remaining schools, sending ened . cedure has just been completed which impacted the communi and will be launched next year . the sixth graders to Ralston ty-but those mentioned 6. Paid noon duty supervi- District goals and objectives Intermediate School-wh ich seemed to generate the great sion was reStored, giving have been streamlined and re became Ralston Middle School, est concerns . Somehow, each teachers a duty-free lunch vised. a 6-8th grade program . The hour. of those issues has been dealt PTA groups have begun to elementary schools are now with or is in the process of 7 • Inservice training was take an active interest in school K-5 programs. being resolved . provided for nearly 85 percent Many problems had to be of the instructional staff in beautification projects. One Of greater significance, how vacated school site has now faced by the sending and re ever is what Belmont School computer literacy. Nearly one-fourth of . the teaching been leased with an option to ceiving schools-let's name a Dist;ict has been able to do few : purchase _, which could result with some of the funds it has staff and every administrator in $1.3 million coming into 1. Safe transportation was saved by consoli dation and be received training in maStery the district coffers. a primary concern. New bus cause of the reorganization teaching/clinical supervision. routes had to be established. which has taken place. These 8. New Language Arts and A major effort was made by Many families had to work out factors are certainly worth Science materials were pur- staff this year to beef up state new car pool arrrngements . noting: chased for all students and for test scores, the results of which TU~RE Yov G{O A'5:A\N! ~gort ~ .. be 1. Perhaps the most notable 1te- singular achievement is the re markable success of the real I to igned 6-8 middle school pro iers gram at Ralston school. The new ''core" program, with 1ad elective options for sixth grade aew students, has been very well ent received by parents and stud ents. Ralston staff memb ers to have worked exceedingly well 1tes together to assure a solid pro on- gram for incoming sixth graders. ue, 2. A counseling program ) \ ) ) Michael Garb, a district trustee, said he believes the entire school Park tax board backs the plan. "I think this presents a great opportunity. I . don't think there are any prob lems," Garb said. will go The Park People are "in the ball park" on the price of the three sites, though the district and city have not agreed on an exact fig on ballot ure. "We will work with the city to es tablish a price before the election. Citizens' group wants The price is·not an obstacle," Garb funds to buy school sites said. Still, David Frydenlund, presi By Phyllis Brown dent of the Park People, was cau- Times Tribune staff ...L _/.. tious. . /Je-A/,7?~~:5 7/~?..,:. "I think everyone in the orga: A one-ttme tax fobuy recreation nization is aware that all we hav.e land at three closed Belmont done is jump through the first school sites was approved for the hoop. Now we must make sure that November ballot on a unanimous 67 percent of the voters are with vote of the City Council Tuesday us," Frydenlund said. night. A Park People poll of about 350 The council approved with little voters found that 74 percent of discussion putting the tax measure them would approve a special tax on the ballot. Its proponents, a citi for park purchase. zens' group called the Park Peo- The poll was largely responsible ple, applauded the action. . for convincing the c ,uncil and "I'm excited. We are just a vehi school board membe~ to support cle for people who want to pre the effort, because it suggests serve our open space. I think it's broad-based support throughout great," Geoffrey Fernald, Park the city. People steering committee mem Rick Haffey, recreation superin ber, said. tendent, said he believes the tax The special tax is the second spe has a good chance of passing. The cial measure facing Belmont voters. devotees· of the nearly one dozen this fall. Another .citizens group, youth and adult team sports the Alert Belmont Citizens, has tar leagues, which must fight for prac geted"1onr-of five councilmen for tice and playing space, .are likely recall for mishandling city money. backers. If the tax succeeds at the polls, it The city h~ wanted to purchase would be one of few to do so on the Peninsula since the passage of Proposition 13. Such taxes are diffi. cult to pass because they must be approved by two-thirds of the voters. The proposed tax would assess each Belmont parcel $160 to fl. nance purchase of the Barrett School site and parts of the McDou gal and Cipriani sites from the Bel mont School District. The district closed the three schools because of declining stu dent enrollment in 1982. The dis trict has put them on the market for sale or lease. The Park.Peopl ve estimated that the cost of the land, which totals about 10 acres, would be about $1.25million. Fernald said that is little to ask to prevent development on what little parkland the city still has. "People love parks. They give a feeling of community. Children can ,, play there. Senior citizens can enjoy them," Fernald said. Fernald's enthusiasm apparently is shared, not only by the City Council, but by the landowner, the school district. Wednesday.October10, 1984 The Carlmont Enquirer-Bulletin-7 ,~(!at dist,:i9~JIJ)proves budget fiie M~lf"1cf(af nfst1ict board Tuesday night Belmont school trustees .. approved a budget that allows only a small reserve for raises. are opposing proposition36 The $5.4 million budget includes an undistributed $207,000reserve, which is all from which the district By Steven Stark tion to the board, Gilpatrick The Belmont School Dis can d~aw for raises, according to Supt. Ron Gilpatrick. described the fee setting re He said that 85 percent of the budget is already in .ct Board of Trustees went gulations as "an absolute vested in employee salaries and benefits. n record in opposition to nightmare." ~roposition 36, the propose? Under the proposed propo Jarvis 4 initiative, at their sition, fees can only be set to ct. 1 meeting. cover the direct costs of the By a 3-0 vote (members service. This excludes moneys huck Paetzke and Josephine collected to cover retirement eLuca abstaining) the board and other benefits to employ assed a resolution describing ees providing the services . he initiative as "detrimental Also, fees may only be ·o the welfare of public ed- raised accoarding to cost of 11cation in California" with "a living increases of the previous ery high probability of creat- . year. Gilpatrick raised the g fiscal chaos for schools." spector of costs rising greater Board members concurred than the cost of living in ser rhat passage of Proposition 36 vices such as cafeteria and ould not only eliminate local transportation services in :itizen options in raising local school distric ts. Droperty truces, but would also For fees to be raised over validate any property true the cost of living increase, a neasures passed by citizens voter approval of two-thirds ince July 1, 1978. is necessary. Superintendent Ron Gil Board president Katherine Datrick said an estimated $1.7 Mason said gaining two-thirds illion expected to be refund voter approval has been his •d to homeowners could result torically tough to achieve. an approximate $120 cut Paetzke and DeLuca ab er student in average daily stained from voting because ttendance funds for schools. both were still studying the In presenting the resolu- bill. "'-"-''------Wednesday, August 29, 1984 The Carlmont Enquirer- Board Delays Sports Cuts uu. t?/V?. rh ...r/z1 1 "A plan sttpported by the Se- quoia Union High School Dis trict to save IO boys and girls sports programs could end up costing the city of San Carlos tens of thousands of dollars. The elimination of one third of the district's sports programs was recommended to the trustees by School Su perintendent Merle Fruehl- 't ing as a means of saving the financially-strapped district ap pro x ima tely $50 .00 0. After a public hearing and board discussion, however. the deci sion was mad e to retain t he sports programs. whi le ne gotiating with the city of Sa n Carlos on upk ee p costs for the now vacant San Carlos High School. The dis tric t currentl y bud - , EXPECTING A LARGE CROWD for discussion of the proposed cutback in 10 boys and girls sports pro gets $83,000 to pay for secur- J grams, the Sequoia High School District Board of Trustees met in the gymnasium of Sequoia High School las ity. electrical and water costs. Wednesday. Attendance at the meeting was far below that expected. maintenance of the schooi H • h s h s ,i~:~i::~u~/s~~/f the playing 1g C . 00 I ports------~ Both the playing fields and gymnasium are used by cityF'rompage 1 sports organizations, but only a Los Altos developer has put have proposed rezoning 12 keep of the site next mo1 roughly $200 is put into the a $8 million bid on the site. acres of the site to open space Should the trustees app site by San Carlos each year. the proposals have been de- to allow for the much needed the change in policy. the Since the high school closed scribed as "inappropriate" by pla y ing fields. trict wo uld no longer pay in 19 8 2, the district and the city staff. The city has also expressed main te nance of the fields city of S~.n Carlos have been Specificall y. assistan t city inte rest in purchasing the fields the buildings on the site at odds over what type of planner Ron Glas has said the under the Naylor Act (allow would not repair any va housing development is appro- density of the proposed devel- in.g public agencies to purcha se ism to the premises . riate for the area. Althou h opment exceeds the accept the pla y ing fields of schools Funds for partial main able level. particularly because for a minimum of 25 percent ance of the site. said F , of the steep slo pes that would of the market value). Moceri.president of the A be built on. A meeting is scheduled for ican Youth Soccer Orga A confrontation between this week between city and tion (A YSO) cou ld be r the city - and school district Sequoia Union High School throug h tournaments at 1 over the site has be en brewing District staff. with the trustees schools throughout the co for several months. as sta ff scheduled to vote on the up- of the season. Belmont school officials endorse sale of property to city for parks By Phyllis Brown purchased by using a one-time The district's trustees asked Times Tr~bu'- sti:tt /o 4zJ/% 4- tax assessment of $160 against school officials to work out a ,P~'tfoof ~frfct od1c1als have the property of Belmont's 7,810 deadline for the city to pay for stamped their seal of approval landowners. the property if the measure wins on a popular taxpayer school Support from the trustees is approval at the polls. purchase proposal on the Bel• important because they must The trustees said that a dead mont ballot agree to sell the land, though line for paying for the school Measure B, which would buy it already has been placed on land should be set, and, if the parts of three closed school sites the ballot for voter approval. city is unable to meet the dead- for park land, has had veiled "It's not just a technicality," line, the district should then be Belmont School District support district Superintendent Ron Gil- able to offer the property to until recently. patrick said. "The school district other buyers. District trustees last week must agree to sell the land to the The City Council is scheduled gave their formal support to the city," he said. Board members to discuss the deadline Tuesday. measure, and set the purchase caUed the plan a "good compro- The trustees also expressed price for the land at $1,025,000. mise" that would pay the district concern over the possible ef Barrett, McDougal and Ci- for its land and give the city fects of statewide Proposition 36 ~~L:u:.,,i ~~oo.1 C!.if..Q1 .t:u'.I. _ lllo.111 ho had.IY.needed olaviruz-1ields. _ ..,,,.,'-'tb._e____sameal t The money raise , appro ma e ly $1.25 million, is about what the Belmont school district would like to receive • for 11 acres of land on the three Sale price properties, property advisor Geri Steinberg said. agreed upon tax faces The Belmont School District Boar d of Trustee s declined Mon day to endorse the prop osal out ri ght because of a possible per ~i~ ~f~~t'1'1tellin?-price for t hree hreat ceived conflict of interest , but its closed Belmont sch ool s has ind ividual members indicated been set and it's within the their enthusiasm for the idea. assessment earni ngs pro- 'Vould be canceled if "I think it's a good idea, and I • posed by Measure B. tate Prop. 36 passes certainly want to see the playing The Belmont Elementary fields stay in the community," School District Board of boatd President Cather ine Mason Trust ees unanim ously agreed y Phyllis Brown said. to the $1.025 million sel iQ1es Tribune staff /, ~ /., "Belmont is deficient in park V~,,l/, T/H.T5 9/Ytff'/JJ"f. ling price to th e city for the land - that is not a revelation," ent ire Barrett School site A ·seemingly popular ·1ocal tax Trustee Chon Gutier rez said. "I easure on the November ballot support the Park People 's efforts," and th e McDougal and ~ authorize buying school land to Cipriani playfield s at their he said. used as parkland could be scut The Park People organization Oct. 15 meeting . ed by a state tax measure on the was formed to save .the parks at the Measure B, set in motion ame ballot. by the citiz en's group call The only local tax measure on three schools, closed in 1983 be ed the " Park People, " will e Peninsula election ballot, Mea cause of declining student enroll ments, from being removed from generat e $1.25 million if re B, would institute a one-time approv ed by th e voters Nov. 6 . x on all Belmont parcels to buy public use by private buyers. City officials have indicated to The board 's agreemen t as nd at three closed school sites. sumes passage of Measur e B It could be approved by Belmont the school district that they want to buy the playing fields , but they and complic ations arising from ters and simultaneously can state -wide vote r appro val of flied ~f. the state's voters approve have no cash for the purchase. They have offered a trade of better the Jarvis 4 initiat1ve. Jarvis ropos1t1on36 , popularly known as 4 would invalidate any local arvis IV, after its author, veteran zoning at the Barrett site, which sits on commercially developable property tax assessment th at protestor Howard Jarvis. excee ds 1 percent. Jarvis' Proposition 13 estab land on busy Ralston Avenue, but District superintendent Ron ,shed a I percent limit on state-set that idea is on hold until after the Gilpa trick said that the two operty taxes. Proposition 36 election. staf fs "felt with con fidence" ould extend that limit to all taxes Geoffrey Fernald, a member of that the price agreed to was elated to property ownership. the Park People, said a two-thirds , consistent with separate ap vote tor the citizens' proposal If passed, it would invalidate prais als con ducte d by the ~any taxes levied since July 1, should be enough to protect the 78, and would refund an estimat citizens from unfair taxation. , two parties . $2.8 billion in taxes statewide a "I feel that the two-thirds of the The district decline d to dis chool finance researcher said ' local citizens voting in the election close their appra isal to allow "Since every area of the state is provides tor everyone the demo flex ib ility should Measur e B ~xing up to the 1 percent limit cratic influence over local funds i fail. The city , suffer ing a froposition 36 would seem to in: that is necessary," Fernald said. lack of ade qu ate playfields , alidate all tax measures that have He added that, should Jarvis IV sough t to trade the play pass, he is certain it will see legal fields for rezoning in order o-thirds of the voters," said Bar challenges. "I am certain it will be to allow the district to get a Miller, a researcher with the taken to court it it passes," he said. top dollar for th e remaining enlo J>ark-based californians for sites . air School Finance. Part of the te nt ativ e agree Ironically, citizens seem willing ment calls for t he city to tax themselves for Measure B maintain all re maining dis roffered by the Park People a cit: trict -own ed playfields as 'ens' group organized to pr~mote currently practi ced in a city/ , e city purchase of the Barrett school district maintenance ~d parts of the Cipriani and agreem ent for thre e years cDougal school sites. beyon d the curr ent c.ontract. A Park People survey shows 74 Geraldine Steinber g, pre ~rcent of Belmont residents favor sident of Ensh aHah Develop ie measure and the City Council ers and th e district's re raised the idea and put it on the presentativ e in the negotia allot. School board members have tions , called the agreement ·d they support the measure . " th e fru it ion of a lot of The proposal would institute a patien ce ." ne-time tax of $160 a parcel on all Both sides can live with this. r the city's 7,906 land parcels . The Steinberg said . ecial tax must be passed by two- irds of Belmont's voters. It would ~ paid in two $80 installments. f~l~s~chools . not so had, after ·'all {l_LVrJ NT - School officials ston School who entere d Carl "As a report car d, you get an campaign to make local parents he aped prais e on th e publi c mon t H igh School sc ore d very out stand ing gra de," Newton told more aware of the virtues of schools here Mond ay and took a well on recent tests. the Belmont tru stees. Carlmont. few swipes at pri vat e schools in "Two-thirds o.f the Ral ston stu- Newton said about 100 of the "We are going to let pare nts the area . dents coming to Carlmont were stud ent s gra duati ng from Ralston know, by golly, th at this (Carl "Belmont (School District) is a at or above their grade level av each year are enrolled in private mont) is a school that pro duces," very good district and it turns out erage ," Newton said . He added · high schools. Gilpatrick said . an excellent educational prod - that the tests also showed tha t Newto n claimed that Carlmont uct," said Peter H. Newton, pr in- .the Belmont students had good Belmont School District Super High Scool has "progra m,s that cipal of Carlmont High School. writing skills and they al so int enden t Dr. Ron Gilpatrick private schools can't matc h." In a report to trust ees, Newton scored well on mathemati cs por- not ed that Belmon t and San Car Belm ont Trustees Mich ael said students from Belmont 's Ral- tions of the tests . lo s are similar socio-economic Garb said many Belmont parents communities but a larger percen- remain suspicious of Car lmont tage of Belmon t students enter High School and these parents pri vat e high schools than the should visit Carlmont to look at students from San Carlos. the high school's programs first "Ther e has been a tra ditional hand . • • k feeling !n Belmont tha_t there is Trustee Charles Paetzke said, e l mont d lstrlct may ta somethrn g wrong with Carl "I have twin daughters attending e mont ," Gilpatrick said , adding Carlmont High and I am one sat th at parents in past years be- isfied customer." In other business, the Belmont trustees: ·-_oner,~rom pronerty sales ~:Y~p';:,'1:i:::'.:i~~:dro!:ihi;~• Accepted an audit report of 1 · U /iJ -:',< /, 7.f. Gil patrick said Carlmont has the district, prepared by C.G. ,':' 1·, . /. t:./ .t/lfA,, C'.~ - . r . . evo lve d into an excellent hi h Uhlenbelrg and Co. i LMON:t.{ - &: y ~ ool~is - l<;1ndsonly after lengthy negoua - the $1,025,0~0 for the properties, school under Newton's adminTs- . • Scheduled a special study t~ict trustees agreed Monday to t10ns. but they stipulated that a pay- trat ion "Carlmont's • session for next · Monday to dis a~cept a total of $1,025,000 _for '.J'hecity al_s~ agr~ed. to main- ~ent schedule must. ht: nego- .•s olid a~d aca demicalros~~~~ 1;~ cuss disposition of surplus school Barrett School and the playing tam all remammg district-owned ttate~ between the d1stnct and Gilpatrick said Y g, sites. Voters recently rejected a fi,elds at Cipriani and McDougal school fields for three years be- the City. . I Gilpa trick ciaime d that Carl - proposal for the city to purchase schools. :yond the current co~tract .. Supe_r- ;n other bus1~ess, the tr:ustees: . mont High School students today the playing fields at three closed Th . nl be guaran- m~ende~t Dr. Ron Gilpatrick sa~d . Voted against renewi!lg the score hig her t han st udents . schools, plus the school buildings e money wi 11. 0 .Y h' this maintenance agreement 1s Neighborhood Montessori lease b · h in te,ed, truStees said, if two t mgs worth more than $100 000 to the of three classrooms at Central I ne ar Y pr_ivate sc 00 1s on Sch?- at Barrett. The district must look happen : district. ' School. District rental facilitator , !~st~et::~~~~~T~st s and he said at several options for disposing • City voters must approve School Board President Katie Owen Bruce said the district t. 1stnct has started a of the property, Gilpatrick said. Measure B on the Nov. 6 ballot. Mason described the proposed needs the classrooms for instruc- Measure B calls for a one -time agreement as "a win, win, win. tion and an expansion of the com- levy of $160 per land parcel to It's good for the city and it's good puter room. raise a tot al of $1.25 million to for the school district." · ·• Learned that legal costs buy the 10 acres of play ing fields Other trustees agreed to accept stemming from the lawsuit filed at the three closed schools, plus $1,025,000 for the surplus proper- by Charles Petzke, and other re- the buildings at Barrett . ties , but Trustee Chon Gutierrez lated lawsuits, total $23,323.96. • Sta te vote rs must defeat added a schedule should be set Paetzke's suit alleges that educa- Proposi tion 36 (the .larvis Initia- for the city to pay the district. tion codes were violated when tive), which could make Measure "If they don't pay us (within a the district paid a broker who B illegal. At best, th e district specified schedule) the whole had arranged for private organi- could be tied up for year s in liti- thing falls apart," he said. zations to lease vacant class- gation over Meas ure B if Prop. 36 This stipulation, he added, rooms. passes, they said. would insure that the district and Gutierrez said all parties in- Gerald ine Stei nberg, the dis - · city would not be locked in years- volved in the lawsuits are contin- trict's consult an t on surplus prop- long court battles over the pay- uing to negotiate in hopes of erties, said city officials agreed ment if Prop. 36 becomes law. reaching an out-of-court settl - to pay $1,025,000 for the school Trustees then voted to accept ment. Sequoia says thefts, Meeting vandalism dropping ~•h ~--r; ners 1t>/Q%4 REDWOOD CITY - Vandal- The dollar loss for the 1983-84 of minds ism and theft losses in the Se- school year was $80,503, a 35.5 quoia Union High School District percent drop from the year be- 1 ast year were the lowest in 14 fore. That-year the district's loss years, trustees were told Wednes- from thefts and vandalism was on land dav . $124,806. The 1983-84 figures were the The decrease is the result of a lowest since 1970-71 when Belmontto sell portion concerted effort by students and $80,442 was reported lost in the staff members on each of the dis two categories. · of schoolsite to tenants trict's campuses to put an end to The losses were much greater theft and vandalism, Assistant then, though, because of infla Tj,mes Tribune staff /~r,/- Superintendent Sherrill Hough tion, Houghton pointed out. 1-''fti'in~~a?oot officials agreed ton said. A reported decrease in loss of personal property is encouraging M6nday night to sell part of the for since it holds true at Woodside, mer Cipriani school for more than Sequoia, Menlo Atherton and $500,000 to the site's current ten Carlmont high schools, the dis ants. trict's four comprehensive Under the contract approved by schools, he said .. trustees of the Belmont School Dis Most of the -personal property trict, Robert and Beth Kane can thefts in the district's schools oc purchase the 2 ½-acre site for curred out of hall and physical education lockers and locker $557,000 if they buy it by Decem rooms. The theft of bicycles and ber 1985, according to Superinten mopeds was also a major prob dent Ron Gilpatric\{. The price of lem, Houghton said. the land increases by $25,000 for The only discouraging note, he each additional year it remains un said, was that the district's equip- _ purchased. ment losses increased from $276 The Kanes will continue to lease in 1982-83 to $4,010 i~ 1~~3-84. the land for $3,264 a month until they buy the site, where they oper ate a Montessori school, Gilpatrick EDITORIALS said. The Kanes opened the school at the site several years ago and continued to lease five classrooms, Yes' on Belmont'sB a playground and laboratory facili :q-M 'l/~E ~ /~/19/;J".:f ties after the school was closed by PPONENTS OF Mea~ure 13in Bel the district in June 1983, Gilpatrick mont pose a question that should said. The Kanes were the sole bidders grab the attention of every prop on the site. The superintendent owner there: Why should we pay a said he was pleased with the sale. 60 special tax to buy schools' playing "We think we got an extremely elds when the school district has al good price," he said. Gilpatrick did ady said the city could have the fields not know when the Kanes would e.? - purchase the site. . But the issue isn't quite that simple. The school operated by the st spring the City Council, anxious to Kanes already is compatible with d to the city's scarce supply of recre the city know how much of the Barrett Belmont zoning laws, Gilpatrick ion land, agreed to rezone Barrett site the school board would want re said. hool to allow high-density develop zoned and how much would be left for Under the contract, the tenants open space. must pay the district a $60,000 , ent, in exchange for the Belmont down payment when they decide to hool District's transfer of three play- But if Barrett were developed, this buy. fields - at the Cipriani, Barrett and much would be certain: The City Council Dougal school sites - to the city. would have a fight on its hands over the Money from the sale of Cipriani at Measure B propo~ is that the city impact of a high-density complex in that will go toward $1 million in repairs neighborhood. And with the services the and maintenance needed at all the y the school district for the entire district's schools. Gilpatrick said rrett site, including the buildings, as new development would require, the the schools need a new paint job, 11 as the Cipriani and McDougal swap would no longer appear "free" to flooring and tiling. Ids, for about $1 million. The money the city. uld be raised through a one-time-only The fate of the remaining 7 ½ A vote for Measure B is a vote for acres of the site will be determined of $160 per parcel. playing fields and the Barrett buildings, by the outcome of Measure B in he original, special-tax-free plan which the city presumably could use for today's election. If the measure is ks fine, except for some important, expanded community activities. More approved, the city of Belmont will den uncertainties. No deal was for importantly, it is a vote for a certain out buy the ·land for a park. Uy struck between the school board come to the city's quest for open space d the council, so no one really knows - without changing Barrett or any other , w much of the playing fields the neighborhood. If voters feel that that ool board, anxious to maximize its certainty is worth $160, as we believe It enue potential, would offer . Nor does is, they should vpte "yes" on Measure B. f rustees set deadline for school sites purchases By Steven Stark been offered in excess of tax. the fields , but an answer earned from the sale and Following the defeat of $2 .3 million · for the entire must be made by Feb . 1. lease of vacant school sites ~easure B at the polls in Barrett site by a developer With Measure B and the will be spent in renovating 3elmont, long -term financing who wants to build a senior money to renovate the Bar Gilpatrick said the school and maintaining other dis- , 'or the purchase of thr ee citizen condominium/apart rett site immediately, Haffey distri ct is "not adverse " to trict buildings. While the said, the city had hoped to :losed school fields and the ment complex. Zoning lending th e city the money distri ct is in good fiscal 1 mtire Barrett school site will charges would have to be be able to op en a community for the pur chas es, citing the condition from an operating ' center within the year . )e explored · by the city. changed for this offer to beneficial result of having a standpoint, Gilpatrick said, I ~eanwhil e , the Belmont Ele fly, however. "Now , we want to ex steady str eam of income to the district does not have nentary School District Board plor e long -term finan cing but th e distri ct from the loan. sufficient funds to attend to )f Trustees said an " agreement Haffey, in def ending the Gilpatri ck added funds its building _needs . \ n principal " musi . be reach ed city efforts to purchas e the we will have to mothball a vith the city by February. playfi elds d espit e th e results large portion of Barrett," of Measur e B, said th e poll Haff ey said. Re creation Superintendant results were not against ob Ow en Bruce , district rental :lick Haff ey pr esent ed th e taining th e fields and school facilit ator , told th e coun cil ;chool board possibl e option s building as mu ch as th ey th e scho o l district is com :he city may p ur sue to fi- were again st th e on e-tim e mitt ed to th e city acquiring 1ance th e pur chas e of th e :losed Cipriani, McDougal and 3arrett playfi elds and th e 3arrett schoo l building at a :pecial boar d mee ting held on ) ec. 10 . Th e op tions were approv ed )Y th e Belmont City Coun cil ;he followin g night and in :lud e askin g th e school di stri ct :o pro vide a long -term laym ent plan, borrowing :he fund s from th e Belmont <'ire Pro tec tion District or 1sing Association of Bay Ar ea }overnm ents (ABAG) funds . Measur e B, which would 1ave rais ed $1.25 million ;oward the purchase of the )layfields and school site by mposing a one-time tax of $160 per parc el on taxpayers, Nas defeated at the polls n Nov ember. The city and ;chool district had agreed to 1 $1.025 million sale price for the properties, which would have left money 1vailable for restoring the Barrett building. Under the present city negotiating position, funds for · - ·-- '- '------0 ~ - -.....4- •_ hJ_Uld _lno to provide a long-term payment plan, borrowing the funds from the Belmont Fire Protection District or using Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) funds. Measure B, which would have raised $1.25 million toward the purchase of the playfields and school site by imposing a one-time tax of $160 per parcel on taxpayers, was defeated at the polls in November. The city and school .,district had agreed to a $1.025 million sale price for the properties, which would have left money available for restoring the Barrett building. Under the present city negotiating position, funds for restoring the Barrett building will not be available. Parts of the site will probably be mothballed with renovation held off for some time, Haffey said . Superintendent Ron Gilpat rick said the sale pri ce for the sites will have to be higher than the previously negoti ated price of $1 .025 million. "It can't be a gift to th e city" Gilpatrick said, "We've received other offers that are . so attractive that we have to rethink how we are look ing at that original $1.025 million offer.' The school district has -----~ --- ·--- ~ ------Wednesday, December 19, 1984 • The Carlmont Enquirer-Bulletin-15 District receives•goodgrades By Steven Stark at or above grade level in all as board president. They also It was a night of good news, areas tested, Newton said . re-elected Josephine DeLuca ll around, for the Belmont as vice-president and Michael :lementary School District. In reading, 70 percent of Garb as clerk. The board also Belmont-graduated students at Students graduating from is composed of Trustees A. Carlmont are at or above grade Gutierrez and Chuck Paetzke. 1e district's Ralston Inter- levei, an achievement describ 1ediate School are doing bet ed by Newton as "exce llent ." ~r than average at Carlmont Similarly, more than half of ligh School and an audit of Belmont's students are above ne books shows the district to grade level in math and En ,e accountable and healthy, glish achievement and one he Belmont School District fourth of all Ralston graduates are enrolled in advance science loard of Trustees were told at classes. Newton said. beir Dec. 3 meeting, held at be Central School. "As a system , Belmont is "Belmont is· turning out an doing an excellent job prepar Kcellent educational pro ing their students to go on to uct," Carlmont High School high school ," Newton said. 'rincipal Peter Newton told Newton said Belmont stu he board, interpreting results dents entering Carlmont show iven to eighth graders in read strong study skills as well as ng, math, science and social good time management and tudies. priority setting skills, contri buting factors in their above "As a report card, your average success at the high t;aff would get excellent school. rades," Newton said. An audit, prepared by the C.G. Uhlenberg and Co . Certi An overview of test results fied Public Accountants firm iven to all eighth graders at of Redwood City, for the year arlmont shows Belmont stu- ending June 30 was adopted ents' test scores exceeding by the board . 1ose from both San Carlos In general terms, the board nd Ravenswood students at- was told, the district is ac countable and healthy. nding the high school. Fully In other board action, the rn-thirds of all Belmont stu members re-elected Catherine mts attending Carlmont are Mason to serve a second term .H~!:~M!tof snrpl school land still By ALAN QUALE city will receive full reimburse The private developer , Roger begin leasing the Barrett site for Bruce told the City Council Times Staff Writer ment for its Naylor Bill purchase Berg, recently told the school dis $10,000 per month. He said he that the school district has been BELMONT - The city staff of the play fields. trict's Board of Truste es that he also would approach City Hall planning to dispose of the sur will continue to search for ways Haffey said the city staff has would like to purchase the 5-acre and try to get the land rezoned plus schools for severdl months or the city to acquire surplus come up with three alternatives Barr;t site and build a resi den for the residential construction. after the facilities were closed rschool properties, following the for financing which th e City tial d lvelopment for senior citi If City Hall gave Berg the re due to declining enrollment . r oters' rejection of a plan for Council may want to cons ider: zens, including a 100-ro om zoning to allow the development, He reminded the City Council taxypayers to pay for the proper- 1. The city can ask the school retirement hotel and 84 condomi - Berg said he would th en offer to that the school district is anxious ies. district to provide a long-term nium purchase Barrett School for $2.2 to sign a contract for the proper Belmont Recreation Superin- payment plan. Berk offered to immediately million . ties no later than Feb. 1. endent Rick Haffey - who 2. The city might borrow funds maintains that Belmont voters 1 from the Belmont Fire Protection still want the school lands even District and repay the loan on a though they refuse to pay for long-term basis. them - was recently instructed by the City Council to proceed 3. The city might use Certifi goes on with his study of how Belmont cates of Participation through might acquire all of Barrett the Association of Bay Area Gov School site, plus the playing ernments, another long-term fi City Manager Ed Everett said fields at Cipriani and McDougal nancing plan which Haffey said Haffey and other staff members is currently being used by many wanted to know from the council schools. Bay Area municipalities. Haffey recently told the coun whether "you want us to pursue cil that the guidelines for acquisi Council members said they ap it or not?" ton would be as follows: preciate Haffey's efforts becau se The council adopted a motion , the Belmont community has directing the staff to proceed • A conceptual agreement with grown accustomed to using the with its study of various alterna the school distr ict is needed by open space at the closed school tive for acquiring the surplus Feb. 1, 1985. sites . school lands . • Cipriani , McDougal and Bar " If it (the school land) is dev el rett school playing fields will be oped it is lost forever," com purchased at "Naylor Bill mented Councilman Joe Green. prices." "The community needs the • The city will lease Barrett open space," added Councilman School with an option to pur William Moore. chase the property at any time. School District representative The purchase price for Barrett Owen Bruce said the district School would be calculated by needs a firm commitment that is taking the difference between "signed, sealed and delivered by the $1,025,000 previously nego Feb. 1." tiated (under the ballot measure Bruce noted that the school dis rejected by voters) and the Nay trict also has been given an offer lor Bill price. by a private developer to pur • SAould the city decide not to chase Barrett School. Bruce said purchase all of Barrett School that the school district is not fa and the property is rezoned to a voring ''one proposal dr the higher density by the city, the other." County may want vacant scliool site . 1-t.f/he?S -1;0~/y f By ALAN QUALE interested in a lease with option Times Staff Writer to buy. ELMONT - The San Mateo Gilpatrick said that the added unty Office of Education is in interest in the properties might ested in moving into a vacant increase their value. hool here. He said the district might con ~r . R on Gilpatrick, Belmont sider disposing of all of its sur ools superintendent, told the plus properties despite a ool board Monday that county previous plan to keep at least one ~, icials },:-.velooked at Cipriani of the sites in case enrollment d Ba!"rett schools. starts rising. if ~~ county Education Office's He added, however, that he se on space at 333 Main St., sees little possibility of enroll dwood City, will expire soon. ment increases that would re en it does, the county wants to quire the district to reopen a ove, Gilpatrick said. school. elmont's surplus schools have Board chairperson Katie Mason 1rnered the attention of several said the city's plan to acquire the rties in recent weeks as trus playing fields looks good, but s announced they're eager to Trustee Chon Gutierrez was criti pose of some of them. cal of the city for not making a Barrett, Cipriani and McDou- definite offer to acquire the 1 schools closed in 1983 be school lands. use of declining enrollment. Trustee _ Josephine DeLuca A private school has since agreed, saying, "We cannot af ase d McDougal with an option ford to wait too much longer . purchase the property. Trus Gil pa trick said the district es have al so leased the lower should seek a contract for the mpus of Cipriani to a pre disposition of the surplus proper hool. ties that is "signed, sealed and Still undecided is the use .of the delivered by April 15." •st of Cipriani, the playing In other business, the trustees: elds at all three schools and the • Received a proposal from ildings at Barrett School. Belmont Recreation Superin Only last week a private