HomeMy WebLinkAboutMay 5Los Altos Hills Education Committee
Meeting Minutes
May 5th, 2010
1. Meeting was called to order by Chairman Carey. In attendance in Council Chambers
were committee members Anne Marie Gallagher, Christine Murad, Susan Stark, Duncan
MacMillan, Lee Hartley, Eric Ramberg, John Radford, Tracey Stewart, Jennifer Carlstrom,
and Bart Carey. Absent was Irena Halsey. Also present was council liaison Ginger
Summit.
2. Mountain View-Los Altos High School District (MVLA) Superintendent Dr. Barry Groves,
and Los Altos School District (LASD) Superintendent Tim Justus were present.
3. Superintendent Groves discussed Measure A on the June ballot, a bond measure for
proposed capital improvements within MVLA. Handouts regarding Measure A were
presented to the committee, and will be included with minutes. The Education
Committee voted unanimously to endorse Measure A.
4. Jennifer Carlstrom provided a thorough summary of LASD and Palo Alto Unified School
District (PAUSD) budgets, with a detailed handout provided to the committee. A copy
of this information will be included. The districts are experiencing extreme budget
difficulties. PAUSD parcel tax was passed by mail-in ballot in May. LASD may ask voters
to increase its parcel tax on November ballot.
5. LASD Superintendent Tim Justus discussed with the committee the current budget crisis,
the anticipated upcoming parcel tax increase, and answered questions from committee
members. He noted that all sources of income for LASD are reduced, the current
situation with educational budgets the worse he has seen in his 38 year career. The
LASD Board is expected to decide in June whether to ask voters to increase the parcel
tax, which currently expires in June 2011. 50% approval will be required for renewal of
the parcel tax after that time, and 66.7% will be required to increase the tax. It was
discussed how the Education Committee might support LASD’s efforts to pass a parcel
tax increase. Concern was raised that parcel tax revenue is not shared with Bullis
Charter School (BCS). A committee member inquired whether one possible solution to
providing a permanent site for Bullis Charter School (BCS), especially given the budget
crisis, is to close one current LASD elementary school. Superintendent Justus did not
anticipate that parcel tax funds would be shared with BCS unless their chartering agency
was changed to LASD.
6. Eric Ramberg presented a sample postcard for committee consideration to educate
residents regarding the LASD parcel tax issue. A copy of this sample mailer will be
included. After discussion, the committee deferred action on a postcard mailer.
7. The committee deferred discussion on final LAH student enrollment data until next
meeting.
8. Committee members discussed school board meeting calendar and presented highlights
from recent LASD and BCS board meetings.
9. Tracey Stewart and Duncan MacMillan presented further Gunn High/Miranda access
update. This should be moved up by PAUSD to phase I funding.
10. With no old business the meeting was adjourned.