Parcel tax proves effective

Bigger classes, one fewer guidance counselor, a shorter school year.

All of these and more were averted this year in large part because of the community’s passage of a parcel tax to support Los Gatos and Saratoga High Schools last year, according to school officials.
Voted in on May 3, the passing of Measure A implemented an annual $49 parcel tax per household to support both Saratoga and Los Gatos High schools. The tax is expected to generate $4.8 million over a six-year time span, going directly to educational funds.

“To me, there’s no other option. It seemed like the right thing to do and it was the right thing to do,” assistant principal Karen Hyde said. “We did well and it showed that the community supports education.”

Without the parcel tax, the school would have been forced to lay off teachers and significantly increase class sizes. In the long run, the parcel tax will help the school provide classes for students without having to drop courses or lay off teachers.

“It’s detrimental to the spirit of our school when you see your favorite teacher getting pink-slipped,” Hyde said.

It is also very likely that a counselor would have had to be laid off if it wasn’t for the passing of the parcel tax.

“Those counselors are very important since they make sure that you get the information that you need to get where you want to go,” principal Jeff Anderson said. “If we cut a counselor, there would have been over 400 kids per counselor and it would be harder for the counselors to get one-on-one time with a student.”

Although core academic classes would not have been cut, many electives such as art or drama may have been cut out.

According to Anderson, it is very likely that if the parcel tax were not approved, property values would have gone down, a factor that harms the community as a whole because of its importance in educational systems. Without money to keep the quality of the education up, the value of the property will go down as the quality of the schools is a tremendous factor in determining a community’s value.

“Spending $49 to ensure that school remain potent and that we’re going to get a good education, is a win-win situation for everyone,” Anderson said. “No one really loses out.”

There is no need to worry that the tax will be spent on frivolous things, such as school beautification.

“The parcel tax is earmarked for very specific things,” Anderson said. “There is a community oversight committee that will make sure that we spend it on what we’re supposed to spend it on.”

With the implementation of the parcel tax, the budget for the next couple years looks more secure.

However, this tax would not have passed without the support of the Saratoga and Los Gatos communities.

“It’s a really good testament to the two communities that they stepped up and passed it,” said Anderson. “We’re fortunate.”