San Jose
– Mayor Ron Gonzales said two smaller high schools without 9th
graders is the way to go once development begins in the Coyote
Valley, an area just north of Morgan Hill that will some day be
about the size of Gilroy and Morgan Hill combined.
The question of whether one high school or two should be built
was hotly debated Monday night as leaders and the community
discussed the proposed Coyote Valley development.
San Jose – Mayor Ron Gonzales said two smaller high schools without 9th graders is the way to go once development begins in the Coyote Valley, an area just north of Morgan Hill that will some day be about the size of Gilroy and Morgan Hill combined.
The question of whether one high school or two should be built was hotly debated Monday night as leaders and the community discussed the proposed Coyote Valley development.
Gonzales, a co-chair on the task force, recommended a high school of 10th to 12th grade, with 9th grade remaining in the junior high campus. The mayor’s remark “dismayed” Russ Danielson – a task force member and former board member of the Morgan Hill Unified School District (MHUSD) – because it goes against the Morgan Hill school district’s views.
“We just got out of 27 years of warehousing the freshmen at the junior high schools,” he said. “I really wanted to put that recommendation to rest.”
Danielson said once Coyote Valley’s population reaches 80,000, two high schools will be better than a single site.
“The kids (will) have more space for themselves,” he said. “If prison overcrowding is a crime, why isn’t school overcrowding?”
At the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force meeting in San Jose Monday, consultant Doug Dahlin of the Dahlin Group told task force members the new community could potentially have one big high school or two smaller ones to educate a possible 2,900 students. The actual number of students might be much higher, said Danielson, a Morgan Hill resident. For a potential population of 80,000, Danielson forecasts about 15,000 students from kindergarten through 12th grade. High school is about one third of that group – 5,000 students, he said.
Whether to build one or two high schools in Coyote Valley is a critical question for MHUSD as well as Gavilan Community College. Both districts reach north to San Jose’s Bernal Road, thus including Coyote Valley. Gavilan President Steve Kinsella said he hopes task force members will be open to hearing opinions from Morgan Hill about the high school issue.
“I think it’s only the Morgan Hill Unified School District board that should be responding to whether one or two high schools is the way to go,” he said.
A crucial component to consider for Coyote Valley schools is the educational program residents of Coyote Valley will want, Kinsella said.
“That should be the major consideration whether there will be one high school or two high schools,” he said.
Quality of education in Coyote Valley is a key consideration to development of schools, agrees MHUSD Superintendent Caroline McKenna.
“Those who have children, by and large, would like their children to go to a school of smaller size,” she said in a phone interview Wednesday morning. “Ultimately, the school district would make the decision whether they build one high school or two high schools.”
At this time, the district favors two smaller high schools.
The Morgan Hill school district board of trustees has considered the idea of possibly changing the district boundaries so it no longer incorporates Coyote Valley, she said, but to day the board has yet to take action.
“It’s very preliminary,” she said.
Danielson recommends that initially one high school be built. A “logical site” for a second high school should be preserved for a time when Coyote Valley’s population reaches a point where it might be needed, he said.
“Conventional wisdom, we’re not building mega-high schools any more,” he said.
Mayor Gonzales stressed quality of education over high school size to retain students.
“My preference is for two smaller schools,” he said. “We need to create an environment where parents don’t find a need to go find a private school.”
Parents looking to purchase homes in the planned community will definitely look at the quality of teachers, he emphasized. And smaller high schools will attract better teachers, he said.
Task force member Eric Carruthers, a retired planner, said he preferred one large high school because he didn’t want to see a social division between two schools “competing for funds, competing for football and all those kinds of things.”
Task force member Helen Chapman, who works for the San Jose Unified School District, stressed that one high school would help keep maintenance costs down for the district.
“One high school will be cheaper to run than two,” she said.
Morgan Hill school board President George Panos said he wanted to talk with other member about the one-or-two high school question before offering an opinion.
“We’re still doing our homework with the committee and the board,” he said. “There’s still a lot of homework to do.”
The San Jose City Council will vote on the task force’s recommended plans for Coyote Valley in December 2005. If approved, construction of the new community might begin as early as 2007.
