Dear Saratoga Community,

In our last update we had mentioned that community members finally were able to secure a meeting with Superintendent Sanderson. Katherine Tseng was also in attendance.

This is their summary based on direct conversations with them and we offer a summary written up by them here for further reference:

They believe they were able to convey a clear and unambiguous message. The message being that the best leaders are able to hone in on the best outcome that offers a win-win for all.

They emphasized the community at large wants to preserve the integrity of the music program by keeping our directors under their free will and not through coercion. There is no other acceptable outcome for us.

They also noted the aggressiveness with which Sanderson started the conversation by saying their intention was to ‘bait’ him to offer up information on personnel matters. They knew from the onset that personnel issues were not to be discussed nor the investigation itself from prior email exchanges with the district. They mentioned to Tseng in their meeting with her the next day that it was fine for him to be defensive BUT to presume what they were coming in to say was presumptuous, arrogant and pedantic.

Sanderson followed by saying he has fluid dialog with teacher union representatives and that he has their numbers and they have his, adding they are able to have any conversation with him at any time. They have never discussed with him any frustrations in the workplace such as unanswered emails, problems with resolving maintenance issues as in the case of the music building’s HVAC units (this is ongoing since 2019). If anyone has issues they may raise it to Amy Obenour who meets with him once a month or the principal. Unless she is a union representative this connection makes no sense because her SHS website profile indicates: Health & Driver Ed Teacher / Speaks Spanish & ASL / Enjoys Swimming, Dogs, & Cooking. Needless to say, waiting a month to start to resolve a lingering problem is truly frustrating. How is he unable to see this for himself as he shares this information? 

When pressed to learn whether he actually had a sit down recently with the music directors to help calm the waters, he said no. He felt the fairest route to take to clear the matter was to delegate his responsibilities to a third party, adding the actual problem is ‘way bigger than what we think’. Quite frankly this statement is jiberish and a tactical deflection to mislead and justify a possible negative outcome for the music community. How is he able to affirm such nonsense if he did not exhaust all avenues to understand the situation at hand for himself? Let us also note, the hiring of an independent investigation is costly and our children are paying for this unnecessarily. 

Since Sanderson did not have the decency to sit with our music directors and understand the situation from their perspective, our community representatives shared that our directors at the end of the day want to deliver on their mission without having to constantly pursue unanswered emails and have maintenance issues going unaddressed or undergo temporary patchwork mendings. Adding, the directors feel loved and supported by students and their families but in general they would appreciate that their work and personhood be valued and respected by all administrators in leadership positions. At the end of the day, the need to communicate with leadership is ultimately for the good of the school and any successful partnership requires a two-way communication channel resulting, most likely than not, in money savings and a good working environment.

Sanderson then shared that his goal was to unveil a strategic plan that would work in conjunction with his wishful plan to raise the parcel tax for 2025, as this would help to improve, among other things, the teachers’ salaries. There was a strong reality check by a community member reminding Sanderson that there was a crisis now, today, in 2023! that needed attention and resolution. That if the outcome of his actions does not align with music families then he can bid farewell to any successful project he may have in mind.

Our community representatives also reminded Sanderson that he may find the 2000+ supporting signatures to the petition to be insignificant BUT these signatures represent 30% of the vote required by Tseng and other board members to keep their seats, and for this very reason alone he should do his darndest to best represent them. They also added that this 30% is also a strong indicator of his chances for any successful implementation of any plans he may have for 2025 and therefore, he too must care to return a winning solution.

This update serves to highlight the following: Sanderson is quick to throw money at a problem but he fails to see that yes we all know teachers overall are underpaid but the problem, to use his own pointless words ‘is way bigger than what we think’, is in fact in the work culture at our school. If they are able to review their work ethics to improve communication and ensure all our teachers are valued and respected moving forward then this big heartbreaking problem we are all going through at least will return a positive and we may continue down our merry musical paths knowing we have corrected a wrong by guaranteeing a good workplace for ALL our teachers district wide.

As always thank you for your attention,

Saratoga - Los Gatos Community Members

Timeline of community action: 

01/31/2023 The Independent Investigation is a Farce Update

01/20/2023 Released update titled ‘Superintendent Sanderson Resign’

01/09/2023 Sent update with email notifying Sanderson (cced Board of Trustees) of our expectations and parameters around the independent investigation.

12/18/2022 Released first petition update.

12/16/2022 Community members attended the SHS Friday Family Time Meeting with SHS Principal

12/15/2022 Community members attended the SHS School Site Council

12/13/2022 Community members attended the LGSUHSD Board Meeting.

12/09/2022 Petition was launched.

12/06/2022 Requested an in-person audience with District Leadership. Still waiting to secure a meeting time/date.