Last year I wrote to you about the use restrictions at Santa Teresa High School. In this email, I am including two pieces of correspondence from our athletic director,
Barbara Uchiyama. It is imperative that other neighborhood associations who are in support of the school come forward so that our school grounds can once again be used
by the entire community. If you remember, you posted on the web site several people's response to the restrictions imposed by the district as a result of two complaints. If
you can forward that to Barbara, I believe it will help our cause.
>From Barbara Uchiyama 11/24/03
Hello everyone,
I am sorry to spring this on you with such short notice. However, I was
just informed this afternoon by Jim Dediego from the district, that the
field use proposal will be on the Board of Trustees agenda at their next
meeting, December 4. This means that we have to act now.
We will hold a meeting for all those who can attend on Monday night to
brainstorm and strategize among ourselves. In particular, we are looking
for new/additional neighborhood group representatives. I am sure that there
are more "neighborhood associations" than the Santa Teresa neighborhood
association that has been so vocal. Is there a Snell neighborhood
association? A Glider neighborhood association? A western Santa Teresa
neighborhood association? If you know of people who are willing to share
their opinions on Santa Teresa's field use, now is the time to ask them to
step forward. In fact, if you belong to the Santa Teresa neighborhood
association and do not share the views that they have presented as your
views, I would love to hear from you.
A second meeting will be held on Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. This will be a
meeting with the Board president, Manual Herrera, when we will present our
views and be able to have immediate feedback from him before it goes to the
Board. Room numbers will be coming in next email.
I will email you tomorrow with an attachment that has the proposals from our
school groups and other entities and the Santa Teresa "neighborhood
association's" response.
Thanks, again, for your support and concern for Santa Teresa High School.
Uchi
On 11/25/03 8:30 AM, "Ginny Yandow" wrote:
Hi Barbara, I am the Secretary of the Sunrise Valley Neighborhood Association which includes the area from Blossom Hill Road to Santa Teresa between Cahalan and
Snell. Students from most of our area do attend Santa Teresa H S. I am also a co-worker of Robin Zill-Leon (Santa Teresa neighborhood) who shared your e-mail with me.
Since this is a new subject for us, can you please give me a bit of background which I will share with our E-board and try to get feedback from our area. Thank you.
Hello Ginny,
It is very difficult to put what has happened and is happening at Santa Teresa High in a nutshell, but I will try. Last year
a group called the Santa Teresa Neighborhood Association with a president named Mr. Moore, who lives on Suisse and whose backyard is adjacent to the canal that
separates his property from Santa Teresa High School, received attention from the East Side Union High School District’s school board. They said that the functions, lights,
and noise that came from our high school activities were an interference with their daily lives. Santa Teresa’s administrators did not respond in a timely manner to their
concerns. Unfortunately, the result was that Mr. Moore’s groups’ desires were supported by our school board. Our school teams, clubs, and band have had to deal with
restrictions with which no other school in our eleven school district have had to endure. It has been a tremendous financial loss to our school. It has had a negative impact
on our school spirit, student activities, and staff morale. In addition, other community groups, like sport teams and the YMCA, who used our fields were denied access to our
facilities. Our school board will be revisiting its policies regarding Santa Teresa at their meeting on December 4.
The school belongs to our students education and enrichment. I truly believe that learning takes place not only in the classroom, but in extra-curricular activities and
athletic endeavors as well. We have two new principals with a genuine desire to create a positive and supportive school atmosphere. We need other neighbors who feel
as we feel. I hope that you want to be one of those groups.
I will forward to you the Santa Teresa facilities proposal and the response from the “neighborhood” as soon as I receive the attachment. I am also forwarding your email
to others who may explain better than I what has happened.
Thank you for your inquiry and concern.
Barbara Uchiyama, STHS athletic director (not an administrator)
