By Sara Ballenger

Los Altos School District Superintendent Marge Gratiot gave a state of the district address to the Los Altos Kiwanis Club at its weekly meeting, Sept. 25, at the Garden House at Shoup Park.

Gratiot first discussed the events of Sept. 11 and their effect on the district.

“A lot of our students have parents who travel for work,” said Gratiot. “The scenes on TV were very frightening to them, because a lot of their parents travel on planes all the time.”

Gratiot said students and teachers have been talking about the events. Counselors from the Community Health Awareness Council were on hand at each campus and other safety measures were taken.

“We had a police presence from the Los Altos Police Department to keep an eye out and make sure everything was safe,” Gratiot said. “As far as each school was concerned, we tried to keep as normal a routine as possible.”

Gratiot said the only other negative the district has dealt with was the potential $3 million budget deficit for the current school year.

Thanks to the fund-raising efforts of the Parent Teachers Associations and the Los Altos Educational Foundation, the district’s educational program remained intact for the 2001-02 school year, Gratiot said.

“The only thing we had to cut were teacher’s aides,” she said. In fact, the district was able to hire one new principal and 25 new teachers.

Gratiot is concerned about the long-term financial position of the district and foresees a possible parcel tax increase.

“It’s really hard to explain why (a parcel tax increase may be needed),” Gratiot said. “We have a budget of $29 million; our state and federal funds this year were only $23 million. If all we have are the same funds of $23 million (next year), the kind of schooling we would offer would be so different from what the people in our community are used to.”

Gratiot projected that without added funds from a source like a parcel tax, the district would be looking at having up to five large schools with up to 800 students, class sizes up to 35 students and only one elective offered at the junior high schools.

“This basic state funding is very basic,” Gratiot said. “It would be a legal education but not one we would want to offer.”

Part of the funding issues the district faced this year were over budget construction and renovation costs.

“We passed a bond measure (for construction and renovation) in 1998 for $94 million,” Gratiot said. “We really felt we were going to have practically brand new schools. We hit it at just the wrong time,” she added about the high bidding climate.

Egan Junior High School cost the district twice as much as projected, she said. “I think we are back on track with the renovation.”

Gratiot concluded her speech by saying that there are four areas she is proudest of in the district: the staff, the uniformity of curriculum at all schools, the district’s stability and ability to build on its history, and the community support.

“If you look at why our district works and why our education works, it’s because it’s clearly articulated,” Gratiot said. “There is an excellent program at every school and we have great support from the community.”