In recent weeks, the Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District (LGSUHSD) board of trustees has made changes to policies related to campus security and the rental system for campus facilities.
District outlines facility improvements and standardizes rentals
In a study session led by Toby Mockler, the director of maintenance, transportation, operation and facilities, district administrators presented plans for increasing funding to complete facility improvements at both Saratoga High and Los Gatos High. Projects include the installation of a new boiler to heat the Saratoga High gym in winter months and the replacement of failing exhaust fans, among others.
The planned solar panel integration for the Saratoga High parking lot, which the board approved in November 2024, has also moved forward after Centrica, the district’s solar panel provider, finalized its design. The system is expected to be completed and connected to the grid by April 2026.
Most notably, the board is planning on updating its facility rental policies under a formalized partnership with Facilitron, a Los Gatos-based company that the district uses to manage permits and payments for facility use. Changes will include increased rental rates as well as new rate categories for different groups around the community — ranging from official district usage to local nonprofits and commercial entities.
The district began to integrate Facilitron as far back as 2022 to stay in line with the Civic Center Act, which authorizes schools to rent their facilities as public spaces and requires them to charge for operating costs.
According to Brittany Brady, director of accounts for Facilitron, the integration of the system has already led to a significant increase in rental revenue for the district, from around $145,000 in the 2022-23 school year to around $388,000 last school year. She says this is because Facilitron allowed for a more centralized process that allows payments to be collected consistently, while certain groups may not have been aware of required permits or fees previously.
Last semester, changes to facility rental policies sparked backlash and criticism against the district for a lack of transparency, most notably from the SHS music department, which was forced to temporarily cancel the annual California Music Educators Association (CMEA) music festival. The festival moved forward after ex-superintendent Bill Sanderson resigned last October and took place from March 13-14.
The district is now working with Brady and Cheryl Galloway, director of community engagement and education at Facilitron, to standardize the use of Facilitron across all spaces in a transparent manner through multiple public board meetings. Brady, Galloway and Mockler will also meet with regular renters to discuss updates and host training sessions for staff involved in facility use.
“The district has made it clear they don’t want big, drastic changes. They want to ease people into [the changes] because this district has a very good relationship with the community, and they want to continue to support that,” Galloway said in an interview with the Falcon. “But they also want to make sure that liability is covered through insurance, and that they know who’s on campus and who’s supposed to be on campus.”
New security system to be installed across both campuses
Following multiple break-ins on the Los Gatos High campus and an overall lack of visible safety deterrents at both schools, Mockler advocated to the school board to implement a new safety system to be installed on both campuses during their meeting.
The plan has two key parts: updated security cameras and a new panic button system for students and staff to alert campus security in case of emergencies.
According to Mockler, the current security camera system — installed in 2016 — has been outdated from the start. Footage can only be accessed from a designated desktop monitor and an individual server, making real-time monitoring nearly impossible. Additionally, poor camera placement results in blind spots on the campuses, blurry images and unreliable coverage.
The new cameras, which are set to be installed over the spring and summer breaks, will be fully operational for the 2025-26 school year, he told the board. They will allow administrators immediate access to surveillance of the entire campus on their phones, allowing them to effectively address situations in real time. According to board documents, the security camera system for SHS will cost around $170,000, although the quote has not been finalized.
Although strict regulations mean that security cameras won’t be installed in private spaces like bathrooms, locker rooms or classrooms, Mockler said that this new system will provide more information to conduct potential investigations.
“When you have a system that encompasses your whole campus, you get to follow the participants of incidents all across campus,” Mockler said. “Sometimes, something happens in open areas preceding what happens in an enclosed area, and [this system will] allow us to see the whole story.”
Rather than providing constant surveillance, the goal of the upgraded system is to serve as a reliable resource after an incident occurs — helping to determine what happened, when it happened and who was involved.
Previously, the school has seen various instances of break-ins, theft and lost equipment — with the old security system being unable to isolate or identify perpetrators.
The second phase of the plan, the panic button, is more tentative and will be expanded on further in later board meetings. It is meant to build on the new bell and public announcement system and will connect to the sheriff’s department to allow immediate responses.
Triggered by a mobile app or over school phone lines, everyone on campus will be able to alert authorities to any emergencies, aligning with new requirements for Comprehensive School Safety Plans which are mandated by California Education Code, the set of laws that govern public schools.
According to Mockler, future iterations of the panic system may even involve lanyards with physical buttons or direct connections to the new camera system for even more targeted distress signals.
“Our campus populations are a microcosm of our community, and all sorts of things happen,” Mockler said. “[The new system] is a way for us to build information when a situation happens. I know it will make the campus safer and give adults peace of mind, allowing them to focus on their job — educating students. It builds more capacity for our teachers and administrators to do what they love: helping students rather than wasting time trying to track them down.”
