The San Jose Unified School District will hold a public meeting on school consolidation on Dec. 8, 6­8 p.m. at district headquarters, 855 Lenzen Ave. in San Jose.

At the meeting, a district task force composed of parents, community members and school personnel will be reviewing various scenarios for consolidating schools within the district.

The meeting will be the fourth one this fall, and the last public meeting of the year. Attendees are invited to submit written questions to be answered by district staff in the last few minutes of the meeting.

Two public input hearings on school consolidation are scheduled for Jan. 5 and Jan. 12.

The task force will submit its recommendations to Superintendent Linda Murray in late January, with the board of education scheduled to consider Murray's recommendation in February.

The district is considering school consolidation as a way to help cut $10 million from its budget in the 2004­05 school year and $17 million in 2005­06. District officials estimate closing one school could save the SJUSD approximately $450,000 per year.

For more information about the upcoming meeting, call the San Jose Unified School District at 408.535.6000.

Make holidays bright for seriously ill kids

The Holiday Angels Toy Drive is asking for help this holiday season in the form of donated gifts for seriously ill and hospitalized children served by Starlight Children's Foundation.

People are encouraged to drop off new, unwrapped gifts at any Starbucks retail location across the United States and Canada through Dec. 25 for distribution to local community hospitals. During the holidays, Holiday Angels "giving" trees adorned with gift tags printed with toy suggestions will be on display at Starbucks. Suggested gifts include not only toys for individual children, but also videos and video game cartridges for use in hospitals.

Busy customers who do not have time to purchase a gift can support the Holiday Angels Toy Drive with a monetary donation to Starlight. For more information, call 323.930.0811, ext. 133 or 119.

Nature holiday ornament class

The Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Gardens will be holding a class to create holiday ornaments from (and for) nature that can be used to decorate outdoor areas and provide food for the birds as well. The workshop, to be held on Dec. 12 from 3:30­5:30 p.m., is designed for children 5 years of age and older and will be held at the Guadalupe Garden Center, located at 715 Spring St. in San Jose. The fee for each workshop is $5. All children must be accompanied by an adult. Space is limited. For more information please visit www.grpg.org or call the Education Coordinator at 408.298.7657.