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Councilmember O'Malley thanked the audience for attending the session and <br /> congratulated the Standing Public Education Committee and Ad Hoc Committee on <br /> District Reorganization for their efforts. O'Malley concurred with Kerr that the Council <br /> strongly believed in the importance of neighborhood schools. <br /> Mayor Warshawsky thanked the PEC and AHCDR for their work on the issue. He <br /> explained that the closure of the Bullis School had been the impetus for his involvement <br /> with the issue and while researching the matter he recalled his own childhood experience <br /> with a neighborhood school and its value to the community. He suggested that the fact <br /> that three different school district boundaries run through the Town without the benefit of <br /> a single public neighborhood school; the small town feeling that is so important to a <br /> community was missing. He believed this affected the quality of life for residents. <br /> Warshawsky questioned why the children of Los Altos Hills were four times more likely <br /> to attend private schools; why the Town was one of the largest on the Peninsula without a <br /> public school within its boundary; and, why some of the Town's children are required to <br /> travel by bus 45 minutes to attend school? In researching a "fix" for these problems, <br /> Warshawsky always arrived at the same conclusion each time - a K-8 school within the <br /> borders of the Town was needed. He concluded that he would honor his campaign pledge <br /> and push to have this issue brought to a vote to let the citizens of the Town ultimately <br /> decide the issue. <br /> Mayor Pro Tem Jones thanked the audience for taking the time to attend the Special <br /> meeting. He explained that the intent of the meeting was to be a collaborative session <br /> that would afford everyone the opportunity to exchange opinions and make suggestions. <br /> 3. PRESENTATIONS FROM THE PODIUM <br /> PowerPoint presentation titled"Los Altos Hills Public Education Update-A public forum <br /> to update the citizens of Los Altos Hills on efforts to Reorganize Public Education in Los <br /> Altos Hills" was given by Mayor Pro Tem Jones and John Radford, Public Education <br /> Committee and Ad Hoc Committee on District Reorganization member. For <br /> informational purposes, a copy of the presentation is attached. <br /> 4. Q&A FROM PANEL OF INVOLVED CITIZENS AND COUNCIL <br /> REPRESENTATIVE <br /> Mayor Pro Tem Jones was joined on the dais by panel members: John Radford, Kathy <br /> Evans, Duncan MacMillan and Planning Commissioner Dr. Bart Carey. The Panelists <br /> introduced themselves and spoke to their experiences with education in Los Altos Hills <br /> and what had brought them to work on district reorganization. Jones served as a panelist <br /> and the moderator of the Q&A segment of the meeting. Written questions from the <br /> audience were forwarded to the panel for comment and questions were asked directly <br /> from the floor. <br /> 2 <br /> City Council Special Meeting Minutes <br /> November 15,2006 <br />