Twain Court; Measure J

	Twain Court; Measure J

"Reorganization of schools districts to transfer territory from Campbell
Union High and Campbell Union school districts to Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint
Union High and Saratoga Union High School districts."

COUNTY COUNSEL'S IMPARTIAL ANALYSIS OF MEASURE J


The California Education Code provides that registered voters of a school
district may petition for an election to determine whether portions of the
district shall he transferred from one district to another. Pursuant to such a
petition, the Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools has called this
election to determine whether the designated territory shall be transferred from
the Campbell Union High School and Campbell Union School Districts to the Los
Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School and the Saratoga Union School Districts.
The territory that would be transferred is shown on the map in the Voters'
Information Pamphlet.

Under the law in effect on the date of this analysis, the territory transferred
shall cease to be liable for the bonded indebtedness of the districts of which
it was formerly a part and shall assume its proportionate share of the
outstanding bonded indebtedness of any districts of which it becomes a part.

A "yes" vote is a vote to transfer the territory from Campbell Union High School
and Campbell School Districts to the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School
and Saratoga Union School Districts.

A "no" vote is a vote not to approve the transfer.


STEVEN M. WOODSIDE
County Counsel

By:
BRIAN L. CARR
 Deputy County Counsel

(Map goes here)


ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF MEASURE J


VOTE YES ON MEASURE J

A YES vote on Measure J will allow the 53 homes of Tract 1963 (Twain Court
tract) to transfer from the Campbell Union School District and the Campbell
Union High School District (Campbell schools) to the Saratoga Union School
District and the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District
(Saratoga schools).

The school district boundary has been a long-standing issue in this
neighborhood. Finally, in October 1996, the California State Board of Education
voted to allow the Twain Court tract to transfer from the Campbell schools to
the Saratoga schools. Subsequently, the Campbell school districts appealed the
California State Board of Education decision. In May 1997, the California State
Board of Education voted to uphold their prior decision allowing the transfer.
The law requires that the neighborhood residents vote on the transfer request
and that is the purpose of Measure J.

A YES vote on Measure J will allow our neighborhood children to attend the
Saratoga schools. One of the primary purposes for requesting that the Twain
Court tract transfer to the Saratoga schools was the sense of community the
residents have with Saratoga. The residents of the Twain Court tract are part of
the Saratoga community in all respects except for the education of our children
in the public schools. Our children take part in extracurricular activities
offered in Saratoga, they attend preschools in Saratoga and they attend the
library in Saratoga, among many other community functions. Logically then they
should be able to attend the public schools in their community of Saratoga.

A YES vote on Measure J will allow our neighborhood children to attend the
Saratoga schools. Now is the time to correct the problem and your vote in favor
of Measure J will allow the neighborhood to be a part of the Saratoga 
schools. Your vote is important and the logical vote is YES on Measure J.

VOTE YES ON MEASURE J and we will finally be full members of the Saratoga
community. Thank you for your support, both past and present.

Your neighbors,


MARILLA J. RONALD

EDWIN S. ROSEBERRY JR.

GRAHAM S. WILSON

JOHN E. FINAN


REBUTTAL TO ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF MEASURE J


Measure J relies on loopholes in State law to justify the transfer of 53 homes
from Campbell Union High School District ("CUHSD"). This can be accomplished
through an election where only you, the residents of those 53 homes, have the
right to vote. CUHSD must now trust in you to not lose sight of the needs of
the larger school community.

A "yes" vote will mean that:

Twain Court's  children will take longer and more dangerous routes to
school, without the benefit of busing.

Those children will be taken from schools in which they are now welcome, and in
which they have established relationships, and sent to school districts that
have expressed a desire to exclude new students due to increasingly inadequate
capacity.

Families remaining in CUHSD, including those of your friends and neighbors that
do not have the benefit of a vote today, will be harmed by the resulting loss
to CUHSD of assessed property value.

While the proponents of Measure J speak of community identity, a school
district is not required to be defined by city boundaries. We hope that your
past relations with our schools make you a part of CUHSD in more ways than
simply by legal definitions.

CUHSD has always welcomed your children in our schools, and we invite you to
remain a part of the school community to which Twain Court has always belonged.
The Campbell Union High School District encourages your NO vote on Measure J.


HENRI ZANDER, Board President

RODERICK MACDERMOTT, Member, Board of Trustees

DIANE UNGUREAN, Clerk Board of Trustees

GEORGE ST. CLAIR, Member, Board of Trustees

SUSAN MAYER, Member, Board of Trustees


ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE J


Campbell Union High School District ("CUHSD") has been in existence for almost
100 years and produced many successful graduates.  Our schools  have  received
statewide  recognition  for  excellence. Children from the Twain Court territory
attending the Campbell schools develop friendships with peers in their
neighborhood and maintain those friendships as they advance through Campbell
schools together.  With the exception of Rolling Hills Middle School, the
Campbell  schools,  particularly  the  elementary  schools,  are significantly
closer to the Twain Court area than are the Saratoga schools.  The Campbell
schools are the neighborhood schools for Twain Court.

A feasibility study conducted by the Santa Clara County Office of Education
reported that traffic on the routes from Twain Court to the  Saratoga  schools
is  projected  to increase  due  to  the construction of Highway 85, while a
corresponding decrease will occur on the routes to the Campbell schools.

The proposed transfer of Twain Court will be detrimental to Campbell Union High
School District.  The District hopes to regain its status as a basic aid school
district, which would result in an increase in state funding.  Factors used to
determine whether a District receives basic aid include average daily attendance
and property values.  The transfer will result in a loss of over $18 million in
assessed property values, moving the District further away from basic aid
status.

We hope that you will join us in supporting the continued success of Campbell's
public schools and vote against this measure.


HENRI ZANDER, Board President

RODERICK MAC DERMOTT, Member, Board of Trustees

DIANE UNGUREAN, Clerk, Board of Trustees

GEORGE ST. CLAIR, Member, Board of Trustees

SUSAN MAYER, Member, Board of Trustees


REBUTTAL TO ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE J


The school district territory transfer procedure is a formal,  comprehensive,
and long term process that utilizes nine key criteria in evaluating the
potential impact of a proposed territory transfer on the school districts in
question. These criteria and procedures are well documented and part of a
rigorous process defined by the state educational system. The objective is
to ensure that all relevant facts (financial, operational, safety, community
identity, racial/ethnic, etc.) are considered before approving or disapproving
an area transfer.

Significantly, the Twain Court transfer request was reviewed by the State Board
of Education on two occasions and on both occasions met all nine criteria and
was approved.

The transfer of the Twain Court properties from the Campbell school districts
will not cause the Campbell districts to lose basic aid status as neither of
the Campbell school districts qualifies for basic aid status today.  Furthermore,
the Santa Clara County Office of Education feasibility study found that, with
or without the Twain Court transfer, the Campbell districts were not likely to
achieve basic aid status in the future.  Consequently, the loss of the assessed
value of the Twain Court territories would have no impact on the Campbell
districts' financial situations nor would it prevent additional funding.

The Twain Court territory is part of the Saratoga community in all respects
except for the education of our students. Vote YES on Measure J and allow the
neighborhood children to attend the Saratoga schools


JOHN E. FINAN

EDWIN S. ROSEBERRY JR.

MARILLA J. RONALD
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