Pedestrians at peril on San Antonio

Christopher Bruno

I read with interest and concern your article (April 13) regarding the perilous conditions on San Antonio Road for cyclists and pedestrians. My own teenage son was struck on his bicycle at a crosswalk in San Mateo last week by an unobservant motorist, and I was rear-ended in my car on San Antonio Road when I stopped for a pedestrian at Hillview Avenue earlier this year. Traffic in the No. 1 lane (closest to the median) had already stopped to permit the crossing, and I, in the No. 2 lane (closest to the curb), came to a stop alongside. I was hit so hard without warning that my car was pushed across the crosswalk. I would have killed anyone who had been crossing in front of me.

Adding insult to injury, literally, I was berated by the man who hit me. He claimed that I had no right to stop at the crosswalk with a pedestrian on the median attempting to cross. Here am I, a merchant whose business is located at San Antonio and Second Street, who is only too painfully aware that my clients and employees cross this street on foot, being lectured by a San Jose resident about my incautious driving habits. I’m sure he was lost on his way to Interstate 280. His insurance company accepted full liability for the accident. But I am gun-shy today about driving on that road.

At a bare minimum, I would suggest immediately purchasing those red hand-held flags (stored on poles at crosswalks) that I believe I first saw in use in Sun Valley, Idaho, and I think were tried out in Berkeley. I don’t know if they are a long-term solution, but while that’s being determined, it would give pedestrians a proactive opportunity to gain the attention of these ADD-afflicted drivers who collide into us, and, perhaps, raise their awareness of the cyclists among us, too. My heart goes out to the family of the pedestrian killed recently in Los Altos.

CUSD funds flowing in wrong direction

Lynette Lee Eng

While neighboring school districts are experiencing work force or wage reduction, I find it strange that the Cupertino Union School District would have the funds to give two senior district administrators substantial salary (nearly 20 percent) and benefit increases.

The district claims to be one of the lowest-funded school districts in the state. It recently asked the community to support a local parcel tax to maintain class size reduction and other programs. Money for these salary increases should be going into the classroom. There should have been caution in moving forward on these salary and benefit increases at this time. The implementation of Lawson Middle School is not complete. The hiring of principals, teachers and additional staff for this site as well as the other schools within our district should remain the focus and priority at this time.

The goodwill of the community should not be taken advantage of by misleading parents to believe that the money needed is for their children while the district seems to display questionable spending practices. We should be concerned that this could affect the morale of our principals, teachers and classified staff as the administration takes care of themselves.

I believe the community would appreciate if items involving the creation of higher positions of authority were made into an open public discussion item so they would be able to learn why such positions are needed and how it would impact the budget.

All-day kindergarten meets desires of parents

Marge Gratiot

Your editorial last week showed a lack of understanding of the reasons for lengthening the school day for kindergartners.

I am writing not just as the school district superintendent, but as a former kindergarten teacher.

The new state standards for kindergarten require a great deal more direct instruction in language arts and reading than has been our practice in the past. Although we have always had some children who either already could read or learned how to read in kindergarten, the expectation now is that almost all children will be beginning to both read and write before beginning first grade. Yet we want to offer a well-rounded program, with time for play, science, music, art, physical education, cooking, field trips, drama, etc., as we believe all of those activities are important. The teachers complain at every grade level meeting that there isn’t enough time to fit all of these activities into their current schedules. A longer day will address that.

The parents who filled out the initial survey indicated their support (70 percent of them!) for the program for two major reasons: Their children are already attending a longer school day in their preschools, or both parents work full time and the parents would rather have them be in a public school instructional setting than in a child-care center. You may call the latter “convenience” - I see it as meeting the desires of our parent community.

As soon as we can find a way to resolve the facilities issues, I predict that all of our kindergarten classes will be on an extended day schedule.

Why Costello Acres, not Rosita?

Steve Barnes

Why is the city council so responsive to residents of the Costello Acres neighborhood (re: halting the school expansion) but won’t even work with us Rosita folks to scale down the regional pool complex?

We’re on a dead-end street. Costello Acres is not. Homes in that neighborhood are huge. Ours are not. The council caters to the wealthy (and SPLASH - Swimmers Promoting Los Altos Aquatics Safety and Health).