ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF MEASURE X

The Santa Cruz County Committee on School District Organization urges you to vote "YES" to reorganize the common boundary line between the Scotts Valley Unified School District and the Loma Prieta Joint Union Elementary School District and the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District. Voting "YES" means these sixteen parcels will be transferred from the Scotts Valley Unified School District into the Loma Prieta Joint Union Elementary District and the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School Districts.

The Santa Cruz County Committee on School District Organization held public hearings and received public and school district input regarding the proposed transfer. The Committee concluded that it is in the best interest of the students currently residing in the area - and students who will reside in the area in years ahead - that these parcels be transferred. The sixteen parcels to be transferred are located on Schulties Road, north of Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz County. All of these parcels have Los Gatos addresses and are within the Los Gatos telephone service area. Traditionally, students living the area have attended schools in the Loma Prieta Elementary School District. A parent of former Loma Prieta Elementary student testified that she believed the parcels were always in the proposed transfer District.

Parents of students living in the area to be transferred indicate that they identify more with the suburban and urban areas of the Silicon Valley. They say they work, patronize businesses, attend churches, and take part in community, youth, cultural and social activities in Santa Clara County. They also said that Loma Prieta and Los Gatos schools were closer by automobile travel. Scotts Valley Unified Schools does not provide bus service to the area. The most used access to and from schools in the Scotts Valley area requires a parent to drive from the Santa Clara side of the hill to Scotts Valley. Parents working in Santa Clara County would have to make the trip twice a day. Transportation for students attending schools in the Loma Prieta School District requires a drive of approximately two (2) miles on County roads rather than the major artery of Highway 17. Parents said that they dropped student attending Los Gatos-Saratoga High School on their way to and from work or other activities in the greater San Jose area.

Your "YES" vote will make attending public schools easier and more convenient for the students of Schulties Road.

Santa Cruz County Board of Education
s/ Mary Bryant, President

NO ARGUMENT AGAINST MEASURE X WAS FILED.

Returning Your Ballot

To be counted, your voted ballot must be returned in one of the following ways:

1. By Mail - The ballot must be received by the Santa Cruz County Elections Department no later than 8 p.m. on June 5, 2001. Your ballot cannot be counted if received after 8 p.m. on election day, regardless of postmark.

2. By You in Person Prior to Election Day - to the Santa Cruz County Elections Department. The Elections Department is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

3. By an authorized representative of the voter. If you are unable to personally deliver your ballot because of illness or other disability, you may authorize, on the green envelope, your spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother or sister to deliver the voted ballot on your behalf. The ballot may be delivered on election day to the Santa Cruz County Elections Department.

4. By You in Person on Election Day- to the Santa Cruz County Elections Department from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day, June 5, 2001. The County Building, which meets American with Disabilities Act accessibility standards, will be open on election day for voters who:

• wish to deliver their ballot in person;
• prefer to take the ballot mailed to them and vote it in a voting booth;
• need a second ballot;
• have questions regarding their eligibility to vote; or
• need assistance with voting.

IF YOU LOSE YOUR BALLOT: If you lose or discard the enclosed ballot mailed to you, you may vote a provisional ballot at the location listed above on election day, or at the Santa Cruz County Elections Department beginning May 7, 2001. Once election officials confirm that you did not vote the ballot mailed to you, your provisional ballot will be counted.