Next year’s budget woes may be solved, but the Los Gatos Saratoga Union High School District (LGSUHSD) is now facing a $3 million deficit for the 2011-2012 school year.

The budget deficit for 2010-11 has been solved by cutting courses and programs, implementing a salary freeze and a pay cut, withdrawing money from the reserve and instigating teacher layoffs. As a result of these changes, some class sizes such as English 9 will increase by one or two students.

But the programs LGSUHSD has decided to cut have only postponed the deficit problem to the following year.

School officials are proposing the idea of a parcel tax, an additional tax on property that is implemented to provide funding for schools and the district.

If the district receives enough community support, the school board will decide to place the parcel tax on the regular November ballot during its next meeting at Saratoga High on June 15.
If the parcel tax is not approved, the district will either consider to withdraw more money from its strategic reserve or ask for more parental support for schools.

Although residents who do not have any connection to the schools, such as the elderly, may not want to support the additional tax, Anderson feels that it is in everyone’s best interest to support it.

“It would be nice of both communities to share the burden of making sure [that] the school is funded correctly because the value of a home in a town has a lot to do with the quality of the school,” said Anderson.