At the Los Gatos­Saratoga Joint Union High School District board meeting April 20, board members heard from concerned residents who live in the complex at 95 Church St. in Los Gatos as well as representatives from the soccer club. The complex borders Los Gatos High School's field-hockey/soccer field.

A report on the field was presented by LGHS Assistant Principal Doug Ramezane regarding its current uses and the possibility of installing artificial turf. The turf field has been proposed to be paid for by the soccer club in exchange for its use. There are no plans at this time for lights or bleachers to be installed, Ramezane said.

The advantage of a turf field would be significantly less maintenance, he said, but there would be a small window of time to complete the renovation process, because the field is used nearly year-round by the high school students. He also said LGHS students would have first priority to use the field.

"The drawback for the community would be the heavy usage that Los Gatos High School requires," he said.

Ramezane's report was for informational purposes and discussion only, rather than action. But Forbes Mill complex residents were concerned that they didn't receive notice that the issue was to be discussed, since they could potentially be impacted by the soccer club's proposal.

Ronald Reneau, a resident of 95 Church St., said that for 23 years residents of the complex have enjoyed cooperation with the high school, but were concerned that relationship could change with the soccer club's plan to returf the field.

"We regret that while the club claims wide community support, there has been little regard from the club for the neighbors," Reneau said.

The major concerns with the plan from neighbors who spoke included noise and traffic, the possibility of lights or permanent bleachers being erected and the boom of players and spectators that could adversely affect the economic value of their residences.

Cornelia Pendleton, a 13-year resident of Los Gatos, claimed a new field was precisely what the community needed, to give students a safe surface on which to play soccer. Soccer club coach Mike Karr presented a slide show of the grass fields in Los Gatos—including those at Raymond J. Fisher Middle School and Oak Meadow Park that aren't part of the high school district—which are overcrowded with players and are deteriorating from play. Karr added that he had to turn away about 400 athletes from his league because there isn't enough space in the community for them to play.

"We are really victims of our own success, and gophers," he said. "Gophers are the reason kids get hurt."

Karr showed the audience multiple pictures of potholes, dirt mounds and erosion, which he claimed was due to gophers.

"We might as well not bring cones. We can just do the drills around the gopher holes," he said.

Board member Phil Nielsen questioned why the soccer club was approaching the high school district with its plan, since Fisher, Louise Van Meter Elementary School and Union School District are where the majority of soccer games take place in the community.

"Fisher has been the hub. Union has been the hub. Why Los Gatos High School out of all the fields in town?" he asked.

Soccer club members and high school officials have plans to sit down and make sure the proposal is feasible for all parties involved, including condominium owners. And should board members make a decision about the proposal, District Superintendent Cindy Ranii said they will do so during a public hearing, taking public comments into consideration.

Ranii also gave a report on residency issues within the district. The district is classified as a basic-aid district, meaning the majority of its revenue is generated from property taxes.

The district recently went through an investigative process headed by Ranii's secretary, Pat Salsman, to ensure all students listed as residents of the district actually live in the district. Forty students have been "disenrolled" from the district because they were found to be using improper addresses or claimed to live in the district when they actually didn't, Ranii said. Twenty of those students were from Los Gatos, and 20 were from Saratoga.

Why the crackdown? It costs about $9,692 to educate a student in the district, Ranii said, which amounts to about $387,680 being drained from the district by students who don't live within its boundaries. As of April 30, she said, two more students will be asked to leave the district. There are five more open investigations.

"We do it respectfully, and we do it thoroughly," Ranii said. "As much as humanly possible, we try to make sure that the folks who attend our district live in our district or have been granted the appropriate transfers."