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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDecember 10Final  –  Approved  1-­‐14-­‐15     Los  Altos  Hills  Education  Committee  Meeting   Regular  Meeting   December  10,  2014   1.  Call  to  order:    The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  chair,  Heather  Rose,  at  7:05pm;   noting  a  quorum.    Present  were  committee  members:  Duncan  MacMillan,  Heather   Rose,  Andrea  Angquist,  and  Jennifer  Carlstrom.    John  Harpootlian  was  present  as  the   council  liaison.       2.  Minutes:    Upon  a  motion  by  Jennifer,  duly  seconded,  it  was  resolved  that  the   minutes  of  the  November  meeting  were  approved  as  amended,  by  a  unanimous   vote.       3.  Enrollment  Data:    It  was  the  consensus  that  Duncan  would  approach  Wanny   Hersey,  superintendent  of  BCS,  one  last  time  to  see  if  she  would  respond  favorably   to  Deborah's  email  of  September  25,  2014  requesting  LAH  enrollment  data  for  the   2014-­‐15  academic  year.    Failing  in  this  effort,  Heather  will  approach  John  Phelps,   chair  of  the  BCS  board  of  directors.     The  purpose  of  the  enrollment  data  is  to:     (a)  Remind  the  school  districts  that  even  though  the  numbers  of  LAH  students  are   low,  the  amount  of  tax  dollars  contributed  is  high.   (b)  Track  enrollments  in  public  schools.    This  is  one  indication  of  how  satisfied  our   residents  are  with  public  education.       (c)  Better  understand  which  schools  the  town  could  engage  based  on  top   enrollments  by  residents.     4.  Fence  Blocking  Walkers/Bikers  to  Terman/Gunn  at  Foothill/Arastradero:     Duncan  and  Heather  agreed  to  document  the  issue  and  provide  this  information  to   the  County.    Council  member  Rich  Larsen  had  offered  to  provide  this  to  the  County.     5.  Traffic  Safety  Issues  at  Gardner  Bullis  on  Fremont  Road:    Concern  was  registered   about  unsafe  practices  on  the  part  of  resident  drivers  illegally  passing  left-­‐turning   (waiting)  parents  in  the  afternoon  pick-­‐up  (~  2:35  -­‐  2:45pm).    Anecdotal  evidence  is   that  10+  cars  can  pass  in  the  oncoming  lane  out  of  frustration  for  the  long  waits  on  a   given  day.    It  was  decided  that  Jennifer  would  enlist  a  parent  photographer  to  gather   evidence  over  the  period  of  a  week  to  illustrate  this  behavior  and  the  Committee   would  then  take  the  issue  to  Town's  Traffic  Safety  Committee.    It  was  suggested  that   the  next  Our  Town  newsletter  article  cover  this  "traffic  hotspot  issue"  at  GBS  and   offer  a  shunpike  map  for  residents  trying  to  avoid  the  slowdown.     6.  Miranda  Road  pathway:    Residents  are  moving  forward  with  the  Pathways   committee  to  evaluate  possibly  building  an  end-­‐to-­‐end  pathway.     Final  –  Approved  1-­‐14-­‐15   7.  PAUSD  Update:    Duncan  reported  that  Terry  Godfrey  and  Ken  Dauber  were  sworn   in  on  December  06  as  members  of  the  PAUSD  board,  replacing  Dana  Tom  and  Barb   Mitchell.    Melissa  Baten-­‐Caswell  is  new  Board  President.     Gunn's  new  principal,  Dr.  Denise  Herrman,  has  reordered  the  space  in  the  expansion   of  Spangenberg  to  house  “Wellness”  services;  including  guidance,  nurse,  ACS   (Adolescent  Counseling  Service)  and  nutrition  services  in  one  place,  on  the  new   second  floor  of  the  addition:                                                          http://pausd.org/community/board/downloads/item_011.pdf   The  hope  is  that  students  will  be  more  comfortable  going  to  a  more  generalized   location  than  the  current  obvious  nature  of  visiting  ACS.         The  California  Healthy  Kids  Survey  (CHKS)  and  Palo  Alto  Reality  Check  (PARC)   indicates  (http://pausd.org/community/board/downloads/item_012.pdf)  that   bullying  is  down.    Dauber  urged  that  elements  of  the  findings  become  the  routine   subjects  for  more  discussion  at  upcoming  board  meetings,  suggesting  a  20-­‐minute   agenda  item  at  each  meeting.     Duncan's  impression  was  that  the  OCR,  Office  of  Civil  Rights,  letter  will  likely  die  in   Washington  without  aggressive  follow-­‐up  (legal  fees)  by  PAUSD.         PAUSD  BOT  is  split  on  need  to  add  a  13th  elementary  school  site  in  south  Palo  Alto.       8.    MVLA  and  Youth  Center  Update:    Superintendent  Barry  Groves  announced  he  will   retire  at  the  end  of  this  school  year  2014-­‐15.    City  of  Mountain  View  has  set  up  a   new  Teen  Center  with  many  promising  sounding  programs.    By  contrast,  the  Los   Altos  Teen  Center  known  as  “the  lounge”  is  considered  “not  safe”  by  parents  due  to   lack  of  supervision.    City  of  Los  Altos  is  proposing  a  bond  measure  for  Los  Altos  &   Los  Altos  Hills  to  build  new  community  center  facilities.     9.    LASD  Update:    One  returning,  Tamara  Logan,  and  two  new  board  members:     Sangeeth  Peruri  &  Vladimir  Ivanovich  were  sworn  in  replacing  Doug  Smith  &  Mark   Goines.    Steve  Taglio  is  new  Board  President.    Facilities  Master  Planning  Committee   continues  to  work  through  pro’s  and  con’s  of  the  options.    LAHEC  comments:       (1)  Adding  new  land  to  LASD’s  holdings  will  not  get  any  cheaper  than  it  is  now.       (2)  Accommodating  growth  to  date  could  be  done  in  current  LASD  land  holdings   without  closing  a  school,  but  public  field  space  available  for  middle  school  students   (and  the  community)  may  not  be  equivalent  to  Mountain  View  Whisman,  which  also   progresses  to  MVLA.     10.    Future  Growth:    (a)  ABAG  continues  to  push  for  more  housing,  but  not  more   school  space.    (b)  Stanford  continues  to  expand  with  a  need  for  more  K-­‐12  student   education.    (c)  There  are  ~700  extra  kids  in  PAUSD  middle  school  now  that  are  soon   to  enter  high  school.     There  being  no  further  business  the  meeting  was  adjourned  at  9:06  pm.