Los Gatos, Saratoga: High schools seek funds to improve aging infrastructure

School district leaders are pinning their hopes on  Measure N to modernize Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools, which have some near century-old historic buildings, so that they last through the next 100 years.

Should voters approve the measure on November’s ballot, Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District would issue $321 million in bonds to fund maintenance efforts, technology upgrades and building safety at both high schools.

If passed with a 55% majority, property taxes would be increased by $30 per $100,000 in assessed value. It would take 14 years for the bond to be paid off without including interest.

Superintendent Heath Rocha said the funds would be used to repair and upgrade deteriorating roofs and restrooms, electrical, heating and cooling systems and modernize outdated cafeterias, indoor athletic facilities and classrooms.

“We’ve been good fiscal stewards but we have aging facilities,” Rocha said. “There’s high expectations in this community, as there should be, but I think our facilities need to match the performance and achievement of our students.”

Projects expected to be covered by the bond were prioritized based on community input for the district’s facilities master plan.

Los Gatos High School would get a new parking structure, increasing capacity from 337 spaces to just under 600. Expanding offerings to students, the school’s 70-year-old career technical education building would be upgraded and a new field house with a fitness center, physical education classrooms and restrooms would be added.

Saratoga High School would get new math classrooms, currently the smallest on campus. The side of the school adjacent to Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road would be turned into a drop-off zone and the robotics department would get their own building and competition fields to recognize achievements.

Both schools also would see upgrades to their cafeterias and security improvements.

Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association President Mark W. A. Hinkle argued facility upgrades do not improve academic performance. He said any needed funds should be allocated from the annual operating budget, rather than asking taxpayers to pay more.

Hinkle also suggested the district should consider a parcel tax to hire and retain teachers, which he said would have a more tangible impact on students’ education.

“What they should do is decide what’s the priority,” Hinkle said. “If (they) need to hire more qualified teachers because the academics are so poor, buying new technology or putting a new roof on the building (is) not going to get you what you need.”

The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District has approved fewer facility bond measures than many neighboring districts. As a result, it has the lowest K-12 bond tax rate per $100,000 of assessed property value across the 30 school districts in Santa Clara County at $13.20.

The district’s previous bond measure, Measure E, was passed in 2014 and raised $99 million for modernization efforts and other improvements.

Rocha said the bond tax rate after its passage was supposed to be $18 per $100,000 of assessed property value. However, after the district refinanced a portion of the general obligation bonds at lower interest rates than what they were sold for, property owners in the district saved $3.6 million in property taxes, and the bond tax rate dropped to $13.20.

Rocha said all the money from Measure N must legally be spent on Saratoga and Los Gatos high schools. An independent citizens oversight committee and mandatory annual audits would ensure that all funds would be spent as promised. The state cannot take those funds nor can they be used to pay administrators’ salaries or benefits.

“We’ve been phenomenal fiscal stewards when it comes to this, but we have needs that now warrant us to take a bond measure forward,” Rocha said.