03/08/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The primary charge of the committee was to serve as the City Council's "eyes and ears" on all education issues in Town and to promote public education opportunities for Los Altos Hills resident children. Council considered the requirement that membership be based on school district boundaries, with four members being residents from the PAUSD and three members residing in the LASD. Council determined that the requirement would not be included in the charter of the standing committee but that membership be a general representation of both school districts with efforts made to ensure the districts were represented. MOTION SECONDED AND CARRIED: Moved.by Kerr, seconded by O'Malley and passed unanimously to create a new Public Education Standing Committee and direct staff to advertise for the volunteer opportunities with the newly formed committee. The amended Standing Committee Resolution with the addition of the new Education Committee was scheduled for Council consideration at the March 22,2007 meeting. 5.1.1b Consideration of"GO Plan" as Framework for Negotiations with the School Districts-Mayor Pro Tem Jones Duncan MacMillan introduced this item to Council. He proceeded with a PowerPoint presentation that outlined the creation of the Good Outcome (GO) Plan and its key objectives. Following the December 5, 2006 County Committee hearing, a group of interested citizens from both school districts developed a plan that they believed addressed the expressed comments of the County Committee members. The authors were seeking common ground that was amenable to citizens that represented opposing opinions regarding reorganization. Council had before them a copy of the full text of the letter that was sent to the SCCOE Committee on School District Organization detailing the GO plan. MacMillan reviewed the four common goals that were the keystone of the GO Plan. They included: 1) Preserve existing school choices; 2) Make the border porous; 3) Improve LAH representation; and, 4) Strive for a win-win solution for BCS. MacMillan explained that the citizen group had selected the words behind the major goals with great care in the hopes that the districts would change their basic approach to the Hills and "see" all Los Altos Hills students and all Los Altos Hills public school properties and make their business decisions accordingly. The first three goals were the initial targets of the group, with the realization that if the first three were not achieved,the fourth goal had minimal chance of success. MacMillan offered that the opening of Bullis-Purissima school was the first step and not the final solution. Every non-LAH student attending the school was a step away from having a neighborhood school. The citizen group also agreed that an open-enrollment charter was not a neighborhood school and was a problem. • MacMillan concluded the presentation by noting that the supporters of the GO Plan would continue to seek closure for the Plan topics from the responsible parties and to that 5 City Council Meeting Minutes March 8,2007