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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNovember 12Final  –  approved  12-­‐10-­‐14     Los  Altos  Hills  Education  Committee  Meeting   Regular  Meeting   November  12,  2014   1.  Meeting  was  called  to  order  at  7:05  pm  by  the  Chair,  Ms.  Rose.   Present  were  committee  members:  Duncan  MacMillan,  Heather  Rose,  Andrea   Angquist,  Karen  Schuster.    Quorum  is  four  members.    John  Harpootlian  was  present   as  the  council  liaison.    Public  present  was  Courtenay  Corrigan.     2.  Motion  made  to  approve  minutes  from  our  September  meeting  by  Duncan   MacMillan,  duly  seconded,  the  September  minutes  were  unanimously  approved.       3.  Election  results:     • Measure  N  is  passing  at  57.27%.  Bond  spending  priority  will  be  discussed  at   tonight’s  LASD  Facilities  Master  Planning  meeting.    Specific  plans  will  be  in   place  before  the  Bond  is  issued.    The  LASD  board  is  committed  to  spend  the   money  on  growth,  which  includes  BCS.       • New  LASD  BOT  most  likely  will  be  Tamara  Logan,  Sangeth  Peruri,  and   Vladimir  Ivanovic.    Results  will  be  final  in  early  December.   • Ken  Dauber  and  Terry  Godfrey  are  new  on  the  Palo  Alto  School  Board.     • Same  results  for  the  MVLA  board  as  election  night.   • Proposition  2  passed,    the    “rainy  day”  fund  for  K-­‐12  public  school  education.     A  contributor  to  this  fund  are  school  district  budget  reserves  that  exceed  9%.     Removing  local  control  from  school  districts  to  manage  their  reserve  levels   runs  counter  to  current  state  trend  toward  increased  local  controls.  Also,   there  is  a  “loophole”  in  the  current  wording  of  the  proposition  that  takes   property  tax  money  from  basic  aid  districts  during  times  of  economic   hardship  to  contribute  to  the  “rainy  day”  fund.    Rep.  Rich  Gordon  expects  to   close  this  loophole  through  legislation.       4.  Enrollment  Report  –  Mountain  View  and  Palo  Alto  enrollment  report  was   completed.    The  LASD  report  is  almost  finished.    Waiting  for  a  response  from  BCS  or   we  will  make  an  estimate  on  the  number  of  students  enrolled.    Contacts  in   administration  at  BCS:    Superintendent/Principal  is  Wanny  Hersey,  K-­‐5  Principal  is   Jocelyn  Lee  and  6-­‐8  Principal  is  Alison  Schwartzbaum.   5.  Routes  to  School:     • Portola  Ave  in  Los  Altos:    A  joint  safety  committee  between  BCS  and  Egan   was  formed.    It  was  recommended  that  the  committee  receive  representation   from  local  neighbors  to  support  the  joint  safety  committee  goals  for  Portola   Avenue.       • Miranda  in  Los  Altos  Hills:    Two  residents  on  Miranda  asked  for  an  end  to   end  path  at  the  Pathways  committee  meeting.    There  is  money  in  the  CIP   fund  which  is  prioritized  by  the  Pathway  committee.  Residents,  dog  walkers,   Final  –  approved  12-­‐10-­‐14   and  children  need  separation  from  cars  as  traffic  on  this  road  has  increased   in  volume  and  speed.    End  to  end  pathway  can  take  a  long  time  to  be  formed   because  our  home  owner  turnover  is  low.    High  traffic  areas  are  defined  as   places  were  lots  of  residents  and  students  or  bicyclist  use  a  path.    The  city   has  the  right  of  way  (20’  from  center  line  of  road  on  both  sides)  for  a  path  on   either  or  both  sides  of  Miranda.       • Arastradero  &  Manuela/Oak  Hill:    A  swatch  of  land  on  the  corner  of   Arastradero  and  Foothill  next  to  Manuela/Oak  Hill  is  owned  by  Caltrans.     There  is  a  chain  link  fence  boarding  Arastradero  &  Foothill  on  that  land  that   forces  students  to  walk  close  to  traffic  at  the  Arastradero,  Oakhill  and   Manuela  intersection.    Heather  had  spoken  with  the  Traffic  and  Safety   committee  about  this  and  they  said  it  was  outside  of  the  town  boundaries  in   the  City  of  Palo  Alto.    Duncan  had  spoken  with  the  City  of  Palo  Alto  and  they   said  that  the  land  with  the  fence  was  owned  by  the  County.    So,  we  need  the   County  to  take  action  to  remove  a  portion  of  the  fence  to  allow  better   separation  from  traffic  for  students  traveling  to  Gunn  and  Terman.   • Discussion:    Send  an  official  recommendation  from  the  Education  Committee   to  the  Pathways  committee  to  take  Miranda  &  Fremont  further  by  making   them  a  route  to  school.    The  recommendation  is  that,  this  committee,  write  a   memo  to  the  pathways  committee  about  a  new  route  to  school  on  Miranda.     Asking  for  two  new  routes.  One  route  is  called  ‘segment  4’  and  the  other  on   Miranda.    It  has  been  suggested  that  capital  funds  be  spent  on  these  projects.         6.  The  following  Motion  was  made:    The  Education  Committee  recommends  to  the   Pathways  Committee  that  they  increase  the  priority  on  their  CIP  list  for  two  routes   to  school.    One  is  “Segment  4”  from  “Concepcion  to  Westin”  of  the  Fremont  path  and   the  second  is  an  end  to  end  path  on  Miranda  “Fremont  to  Estacada”  on  the  west  side.     This  motion  also  includes  a  suggestion  that  we  send  this  to  the  Traffic  and  Safety   Committee.    Miranda  could  have  speed  mitigation  measures.    Duncan  MacMillan   moved  to  approve  the  motion  above,  duly  seconded,  and  it  was  unanimously   approved.         7.    Karen  Schuster  makes  a  Motion  to  recommend  to  the  city  of  LAH  that  they   provided  a  crossing  guard  for  Gardner  Bullis  until  they  provide  a  lit  sign.  Duly   seconded  motion  carries  unanimously.         8.  School  District  Updates:     LASD:    Meeting  this  evening  about  the  Bond  passage.    Ed  Summit  was  very   successful.    Keynote  speakers,  workshops  and  networking  events.    Principals  from   Middle  School  traveled  to  D.C.  to  receive  Blue  Ribbon  Award.       BCS:  They  are  formerly  separated  into  two  programs.  K-­‐5  elementary  at  BCS  on   Portola  and  6-­‐8  middle  school  at  BCI.    BCS  on  Portola  has  a  dedicated  Maker  Space   and  Art  Lab.    At  the  middle  school  there  is  a  Fab  Lab  and  a  Library.    Board   Final  –  approved  12-­‐10-­‐14   recommended  to  support  Measure  N,  not  endorse.    BCS  board  activity  was  focused   on  Prop.  39  in  past  years,  there  is  now  focus  on  internal  issues.    Managing  growth  is   an  issue  they  will  focus  on.         Gardner  Bullis:  A  dedicated  full  time  psychologist  is  on  staff  in  addition  to  CHAC   counselors  and  other  staff  to  support  students.    The  school  is  also  implementing  a   new  reading  and  writing  education  path  that  will  cover  K-­‐6.       PAUSD:  Palo  Alto  is  facing  many  issues  such  as  student  suicide  and  past  harassment   of  high  school  students  by  a  principal.    Max  McGee  is  dealing  with  OCR  (Office  of   Civil  Rights)  issues.         9.  Our  Town  newsletter.    How  can  an  Our  Town  Article  provide  information  for   parents  about  not  applying  too  much  pressure  on  our  students-­‐  especially  high   school  students  applying  to  college.    Andrea  expressed  raising  awareness  that   parents  are  there  to  support  the  whole  child.      Use  a  college  admissions  officer  who   is  looking  for  the  whole  child.      CHAC  was  also  raised  as  a  town-­‐supported  resource   for  emotional  support  and  parent  education.    CHAC  councilors  have  the  ability  to   observe  students  in  school  and  at  home.     10.  John  Harpootlian  reminded  the  committee  of  appropriate  behavior  for  town   committee  members  as  distributed  to  all  committee  members  by  the  town  clerk.       There  being  no  further  business  the  meeting  was  adjourned  at  8:45pm.