The property, which is now zoned as part of the Campbell Union High School District and the Campbell Union School District, is located on Sperry Lane in Los Gatos.

Such petitions don't come by very often, said Suzanne Carrig, senior researcher at the Center for Educational Planning of the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

"The county usually receives about two or three of them every year," she said. "We're actually considering three territory transfers right now."

One Blossom Hill resident wants to transfer his property from the Union Elementary School and Campbell Union High School districts to the Los Gatos Union School and Los Gatos­Saratoga Joint Union districts, she said.

But the question becomes, who can transfer and how?

It isn't impossible to have territories transferred, she said. The first step is for a petitioner to write a letter to the county committee on school district organization stating the reason or reasons for wanting the transfer.

The county then relays the requests to the affected districts, soliciting their response.

Both the Campbell Union School and the Campbell Union High School districts have already said they are not recommending the transfer, Carrig said.

The Los Gatos­Saratoga High School District is also recommending against the transfer.

"Our governing board looked at the resolution," said Cynthia Ranii, Superintendent for the Los Gatos­Saratoga Union High School District. "We found there was no compelling need for the district to support a piecemeal transfer that would mean more piecemeal requests like it."

School districts often don't want territories transferred after taking into account potential loss of students and funding, overcrowding and other factors, Carrig said. But she warns that just because a district doesn't want a change doesn't mean the county will reject the request.

In addition to hearing the recommendations of the affected districts, the SCCOE also considers a number of its own criteria in determining whether or not to grant such a request.

Under Education Code Section 35753, any reorganization of district territory should not be primarily designed to result in a significant increase in property values that causes financial advantage to property owners.

The redrawn districts must also be adequate in terms of the number of pupils enrolled, and they must be organized on the basis of a substantial community identity. They shouldn't promote racial discrimination or segregation nor should they result in any substantial increase in costs to the state.

Moreover, the proposal should result in an equitable division of property. And any territory transfer shouldn't significantly disrupt the educational programs in affected districts, nor should it result in a significant increase in school housing costs.

Fulfilling all the requirements isn't easy.

"We deny the transfer 99 to 99.9 percent of the time," Carrig said. "I think the last time the county approved one was 10 years ago."

Even so, just because the county almost always denies the request doesn't mean the petitioners cannot appeal the decision, she said. A few years ago, someone requested that his parcel on Bear Creek Way be transferred from the San Lorenzo Unified School District to the Lakeside School and Los Gatos­Saratoga Union High School districts, only to have the request denied by the Santa Clara County committee.

"But the State Board of Education overturned the county's decision," Carrig said.