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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-04-20 City Schools Liaison Committee Agenda PacketBIG CREEK ELEMENTARY Palo Alto Unified School District Melissa Baten Caswell, Board Member, Chair Ken Dauber, Board Member City of Palo Alto Liz Kniss, Council Member Eric Filseth, Council Member Staff Cathy Mak, District, Chief Business Officer, Staff Liaison Khashayar Alaee, City, Senior Management Analyst, Staff Liaison 1. Oral Communications 2. Approval of Minutes – March 16, 2017 and February 23, 2017 3. Review of Recent City Council/PAUSD Board Meetings 4. Discussion and Update About the Joint Cubberley Master Plan 5. Review of Upcoming Agenda Items School/City Liaison Committee Meeting Thursday, April 20, 2017 8:00 AM to 9:30 AM Palo Alto Unified School District Conference Room A 25 Churchill Ave School/City Liaison Committee Special Meeting Agenda City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 1 SCHOOL/CITY LIAISON COMMITTEE PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT CITY OF PALO ALTO DATE: February 23, 2017 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF February 23, 2017 Opening The School/City Committee held a special meeting in the District Conference Room A at 25 Churchill Ave, Palo Alto. The meeting was called to order at 8:02 a.m. * All handouts can be viewed in the Business Services Office 25 Churchill Ave. Palo Alto Unified School District Representatives: Melissa Baten Caswell, Board Member, Committee Chair Ken Dauber, Board Member Cathy Mak, Chief Business Officer City of Palo Alto Representatives: Liz Kniss, Council Member Eric Filseth, Council Member Khashayar Alaee, Senior Management Analyst Oral Communications Alison Cormack a PAUSD resident/parent believes the status of Cubberley should be at the top of agenda topics to discuss. She referenced the Cubberley report from four years ago and stated there is still so much work that needs to be done. Caswell said it is important to have community input on this topic. This item is not on the agenda and will not be discussed but will be added to the list of future agenda items. Approval of Minutes – December 15, 2016 MOTION: The December 15, 2016, meeting minutes were accepted. Review of Recent City Council/PAUSD Board Meetings City Council: Filseth said the items reviewed at the last Council meeting included retail preservation, land use for the Comprehensive Plan, and appointments were made to the Parks and Recreation Commission and Planning and Transportation Commission. The names will be passed on to the Board electronically. Filseth said there was a brief but spirited discussion on the structure of the Comp Plan that is ongoing. Council discussed the top goals for the year at the planning meeting which included housing, transportation, infrastructure, and budget and finances. Filseth said the City is projected to run an operating deficit this year. Council is scheduled to have a session on the Stanford general use permit on February 27. The City’s Director of Planning and Community Environment Hillary Gitelman gave an update on the Comprehensive Plan Update. Gitelman stated the CAC is scheduled to conclude its work sometime this spring; right now it is tentatively scheduled for May. A supplement to last year’s draft EIR was circulated and they are soliciting comments on the draft document. City Council will have a public hearing on it on March 20, 2017 at 7 p.m. The original draft EIR had four scenarios and the supplement adds two more scenarios with updated student generation rates. District: Caswell said the Board met offsite in January to look at their goals to see where they stand. The Board is optimistic about how many goals they can accomplish this year. There is a Special Budget Study Session on March 7th. The Board has asked the Superintendent to come back with more aggressive list of cuts. Caswell invited City Council to tour some of the bond projects. Kniss agreed the tours are very helpful. Kniss requested the number of students enrolled by grade; Mak will email the data to the Committee. Caswell said they are in the process of closing on our of Office of Civil Rights agreement on the resolutions for the cases at Gunn and Paly. Caswell said the calendar for next school year has not been set and are still working on it. The start date will probably be the same as this year. City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 2 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF February 23, 2017 The Renaming Schools Advisory Committee will bring a recommendation to the Board on whether three schools should be renamed. Caswell said they passed a resolution last fall to protect immigrant students, the resolution specified they will not tolerate discrimination against any students. Last year, they also passed a Board policy in support of LGBTQQ students that included having non-gender specific restrooms. Caswell said they need to put out a communication to the community that they have board policies and regulations that clarify where we stand on the issue. Kniss mentioned the City has not discussed gender-neutral restrooms but it will come to City Council at some point. Alaee mentioned they have not looked at it as a formal policy but they do have existing protocols and procedures for children going to the restroom at the camps. Kniss recognizes this is a discussion City Council need to have further. Caswell mentioned the District’s discussion on whether they would be better served using the District office property as an extension of Palo Alto High School and moving the District office to Cubberley but there has not been a Board discussion on it yet. Kniss said this property is obviously the District’s decision but considering the options the Board has regarding this area, they might find it is underutilized. Caswell stated they have had many discussions about why the bus parking is located in North Palo Alto but have not found an alternative solution. Alaee added that about two years ago they had a brief conversation if the District would consider moving the District offices to connect with the City. They have an interest in the District offices potentially relocating to the California Avenue area or downtown Palo Alto for access to transit for staff and as well as the economic development aspect of employees using the California Avenue or downtown services. The City does have land they could potentially look at. Caswell suggested the District and City should have a discussion on this since it last discussed two years ago. Kniss asked if the District leases the Paly and District office land from Stanford. There was no confirmation of this at the time. It was later clarified by the District’s Bond Program Manager Bob Golton that Escondido, Nixon, Gunn, and Paly were all were acquired from Stanford University, contingent on the land being used for school purposes. Suggested Future Agendas The Committee reviewed the list of possible agenda items for the year. -Property Tax Update -City-PAUSD Demographer Report -Shared Use of Playing Fields and Playground Space -Bike and School Safety -Construction Plans -Project Safety Net -Track Watch -Housing for Staff -City Sponsorship of Middle School Athletics Program -Update on Bus Parking Caswell suggested bike/school safety and construction plans ahead of summer to get in front of potential issues. Future Meetings and Agendas The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 16, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. at the District office. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 09:16 a.m. City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 1 SCHOOL/CITY LIAISON COMMITTEE PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT CITY OF PALO ALTO DATE: March 16, 2017 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF March 16, 2017 Opening The School/City Committee held a special meeting in the District Conference Room A at 25 Churchill Ave, Palo Alto. The meeting was called to order at 8:02 a.m. * All handouts can be viewed in the Business Services Office 25 Churchill Ave. Palo Alto Unified School District Representatives: Melissa Baten Caswell, Board Member, Committee Chair Ken Dauber, Board Member Cathy Mak, Chief Business Officer City of Palo Alto Representatives: Liz Kniss, Council Member (Absent) Eric Filseth, Council Member Khashayar Alaee, Senior Management Analyst Oral Communications Mark Peterson-Perez lives in Nicaragua and has a website under the domain name paloaltofreepress.com that will soon change to bayareafreepress.com; the server and domain will be in Nicaragua. He received his education from PAUSD and was institutionalized by the education system of Palo Alto and shoved out without knowing how to read/write or do math. Dyslexia is a disabling disease. If you have children who are impaired, please give them the encouragement they need because it is difficult. Review of Recent City Council/PAUSD Board Meetings City Council: Filseth reported Council approved a new ADU ordinance in relevance to the School District essentially reducing requirements for the lot sizes and eliminated the need for parking for accessory dwelling units. City staff estimates that there are about 8,600 residential lots that would be eligible for ADUs under the proposed ordinance, and about 2,400 that are eligible today, hence an increase of about 6,200 eligible lots. In recent years, the City has only approved building about four units a year. Caswell asked if the rule for Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) is to have the room but not zone them. Filseth said correct, but it is unclear whether they will receive credit for this. In the past, ABAG has given them credit for the number that was actually built and not for the number that were zoned. Filseth said items coming to Council are the Comprehensive Plan Scenario Analysis and the Compadres project. Council asked staff to evaluate scenarios five and six for the Comp Plan; they differ in the amount of population and job growth they anticipate. The population growth by the year 2030 is between 4,420-6,000 units depending on the scenario, this is between 17-23% growth in housing stock by 2030 which is 1.3-1.8% per year. Over the last 30 years, growth has been at 0.06% per year so it would double or triple. The two scenarios contain the same job growth, 8,868 new jobs by 2030. They will also review a draft environmental impact report that states they will have worse traffic with both scenarios. Caswell asked why they are not requiring parking for the AD use. Filseth said the reason is to spur the growth of AD use. The State restrictions limit how much parking is required for AD use if they are within a half a mile of public transit. Filseth reported the Compadres project will replace the restaurant with about 17 housing units. Council also had discussions on the Stanford GUP. Dauber asked if they attach probability to the scenarios. Filseth said they have never attempted to City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 2 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF March 16, 2017 project or manage population growth in the City on a long term basis. Caswell remembers these conversations during the housing element discussions; her experience then was they made decisions on what type of housing would be encouraged. There was a discussion with the District on whether it should be family, senior or young people housing. Filseth said the discussion was not coalescent on anything, what has emerged is more all of the above with some people saying more senior housing, some saying more public employee housing, and some saying more young people housing. Caswell would like to figure out a way to have these conversations with the City. Filseth said they are allowed to place these recommendations on the general plan as far as zoning. Caswell said they have done that in the past and would like to ensure this takes place moving forward. Dauber said from a policy perspective, the impact on the District should be a marginal consideration and City planning on housing should be more about the character of the community rather than the school impact. Caswell stated they need to have these conversations and whether it changes anything, is a different question but if the City does not have this information, it is a problem. Filseth said the District should keep an eye on what happens. Caswell said a more efficient way would be for the City to report out to the District rather than participation; she hopes staff is participating. Alaee mentioned the City officially needs comments on the Comp Plan by March 31st from the District. Mak said she would check in with Bob Golton on this. Alaee would like the District’s assistance in sending this notice out to PTA and other residents. The District has an electronic copy. Caswell asked if the Addison parking issues have been resolved. Mak said they continue to purchase parking permits for Addison staff. Caswell mentioned they were told by the City Manager James Keene at one time that they would work this out since it does not make sense to have one government agency paying another government agency. Caswell asked they check back in on this issue. District: Caswell presented a copy of the budget book to the Committee. Caswell reported they had 50 people at the last Board meeting to provide their input on renaming Jordan and Terman middle schools; they will be voting on it on Friday, March 17th. Also, Stanford has offered to pay for the childcare modular building for PACCC at Escondido and they are happy to further partner with PACCC. The Stanford GUP was also discussed. The Board signed the Office of Civil Rights agreement and they are now moving on to what was agreed to. They are in the middle of a mathematics adoption at the middle schools and the recommended books are approved by the State. They will vote on this at the next Board meeting. Dauber mentioned the Gunn Central Building project will be voted on at the next Board meeting so that construction can continue. Caswell asked where summer school will be held this year. Mak informed elementary will be at Nixon and Barron Park, middle will be at JLS, and high school will be at Jordan. Dauber mentioned one of the budget reduction recommendations is to reduce the landscaping so they might see some complaints on that. Stanford General Use Permit (GUP) Alaee reported their goal was to ensure both letters to Stanford were transmitted to the respective Board members and Council members. If there are any questions or comments, he will circle back to the City’s Planning Director. Caswell mentioned she asked that Stanford provide how many professors and staff will be hired as a result, where they expect they will be living, if there will be enrollment impact in PAUSD, and what is the possible traffic impact of additional professors and staff coming in to campus. Mak will get that additional paragraph to City staff. Filseth pointed out someone brought up in the context of traffic that all those people live somewhere now so some percentage will move out of the local area as Stanford moves them onto campus; they will be replaced by people that City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 3 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF March 16, 2017 probably do not have the student lifestyle. Caswell said they did discuss the same and referred to it as displacement. County Supervisor Joe Simitian shared with them that he had seen this happen before when he was on the Board of Education. Filseth stated their letter consisted of questions on environmental issues, impact on City services, a lot on traffic, impact on routes to schools, housing, and a few other things. Caswell mentioned Penny Ellson assisted the District with their letter to Stanford. She is most concerned with safe routes to school and traffic around specific schools, particularly during commute times. It was also included that drivers are gaming the system by parking in some neighborhoods in order to get on the Marguerite Shuttle which could potentially create school issues. School Resource Officers (SRO) Captain Zac Perron with the Palo Alto Police Department (PAPD) manages the detective division which the School Resource Officers (SRO) are a part of. They had a lot of change within the police department with both their chief and service chief having service retirements in 2016. Ron Watson is their Interim Chief. They had one SRO with a service retirement and the other SRO opting to go back to patrol so they have two new SROs and they will be in this position through 2020. Perron introduced SRO Supervisor Sergeant Tony Becker, Officer Brad Young, and Officer Chris Moore. At the end of January, Chief Watson and command staff initiated a meeting with Superintendent Dr. McGee and District officials to discuss what the new SROs would be doing, the relationships with the schools and police department, and reaffirm the police department’s commitment to doing anything possible to help the schools out. On March 7th, they had a meet and great with school administrators. They are getting great feedback from the schools, students, and teachers. It is a 24/7 job and it takes a special person to be an SRO, at times they have to be counselors, surrogate parents, friends, they have to laugh and cry with students and occasionally they have to be disciplinarians. They have enjoyed a great working relationship with Jorge Quintana the District’s Communications and Community Engagement Coordinator. Becker mentioned the SROs are available 24/7, and if they cannot get a hold of one of the SROs, they can reach out to him; he is also available 24/7. Caswell asked if Becker has been in this position historically or is it a new position. Becker stated he was the interim for one year and was recently selected to stay for the full term so he will be in this position for several more years. Dauber cited there has been some ambiguity on the role of the SROs at the schools. Clearly the SROs are in a sensitive role providing the support that is needed at the schools but there is certainly tensions and role conflicts that arise with police officers at the schools so they have District and Board policies regulating how that works. There was an incident about a year and half ago, where it seemed those policies were not completely complied with around contact between officers and administrators when they come on campus. He has not heard an update on the situation. Guerrero stated that in the aftermath of that situation, Chief Burns met with Dr. McGee and there were many communications that took place between the District and the police department on this situation. He has confidence this situation will not repeat itself. This occurred with prior SROs, prior supervisors, prior detective managers, and a prior police chief. It was an isolated incident with an SRO that was very well respected within the community and it was the perfect storm in a pretty unusual circumstance. He believes it comes down to communication and relationships; the fact the new SROs were out meeting with everybody for the first couple of weeks of their assignment back in January, that is how those situations are prevented. Caswell asked if there is flow chart that District administrators would get as to when the SROs would be involved and what is each sites role. Becker stated there is not a set of rules of when the SRO should get involved. The SROs are involved in so many situations from criminal aspect to non- criminal, mental health concerns, being role models, being mentors that their involvement at the schools is really dependent on them and school staff. Caswell clarified that is up to the discretion of City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 4 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF March 16, 2017 school staff to call the SRO if they feel they are needed. The District’s Chief Student Services Officer Holly Wade stated the relationship piece is what is critical and the schools use the SROs as resources. When school staff reaches out, most likely there is a dialogue on the phone on whether it is appropriate for them to come out. They are also in the process of redesigning their notice of suspension form which has a tiny asterisk indicating whether law enforcement should be involved if the incident has an Ed Code violation. Caswell mentioned parents do not understand whether school staff calls the SROs or if the SROs are patrolling campus and if they see something, they get involved. Becker explained they are not campus security; if there is not much activity, the SROs might check in with administrators at the schools and make sure all is good. If they have a reason to go out there, they will. Caswell said it would be useful to have a communication to parents on the role of the SROs because there is some confusion and it is making some parents upset. Dauber stated they recently passed a resolution regarding immigration enforcement which is a topic of increased anxiety amongst our families and students; the District instructed staff not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and defer any inquiry to the Superintendent. Dauber asked how they handle these situations at the schools. Guerrero pointed out Chief Watson has never once been aware of any immigration raid or operation in Palo Alto in his 27 years with the police department and he cannot remember this happening either in his 19 years. They have not changed their immigration enforcement procedures since January 20th at all. Immigration is a federal law; it is not something local law enforcement gets involved with and they do not ask for people’s citizenship. Caswell asked how they would they handle an immigration officer on a school campus. Guerrero indicated it has never occurred but would it to occur he would encourage the school administrators to contact Palo Alto Police if they have any questions and they would be happy to see if there were something they could do. They have a new immigration policy that directs PAPD to report any immigration action immediately to their Chief, City Manager, and if the schools were involved, immediate notification to the District. Caswell asked Wade if they could establish an agreement with PAPD and provide the school administrators with clear instructions on what they should do in the event an incident like this were to happen. Guerrero mentioned on their website PAPD.org, they can find an explanation of their relationship with the Federal Government in relation to immigration matters, it also has their policy, the City Council resolution, and a letter from the Santa Clara County Police Chief that was also signed by Chief Watson expressing their support with not cooperating with immigration violations. Caswell will provide PAPD with a copy of the District’s resolution. Dauber asked how PAPD would respond to an immigration officer on a school campus with a list of kids they are looking for. Guerrero stated the SRO would contact him, he would contact the Police Chief and they are not getting involved in any immigration matter. Becker added that if there would be an immigration incident involving the schools, their Chief would contact the Superintendent. Caswell mentioned the viral video of the incidents in Pasadena, CA really placed people on heightened panic here. Guerrero said he is aware and hopes that all the efforts they have made reaching out to various folks, including the American Civil Rights Liberties Union (ACLU) about their model policy, taking inquiries from community members, and now that they have this webpage up and directing people there, he believes that shines some light on what their procedures are now and what they have always been and hopefully that helps tone down some of the fear that exists in the community. Caswell mentioned they had an extraordinary relationship over the years with former Chief Burns and believes it would be helpful that the entire Board meet Chief Watson. They need to make sure the Board knows them by site and not only by name. Guerrero said he will pass along the message. City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 5 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF March 16, 2017 Caswell asked if there is a division of schools within the two SROs. Becker said not necessarily, most of their time is spent at the high schools; Young is the primary Gunn SRO and Moore is the primary Paly SRO and the elementary and middle schools are divided up based on need. They are not assigned specific schools and will go where they are needed. Young works Monday through Thursday and Moore works Tuesday through Friday. Caswell asked about their attire. Guerrero stated they wear uniforms. They made them a quasi-uniform of khaki pants and a polo shirt with a star stating SRO. Caswell asked if they are armed when on campus. Guerrero said because of the nature of their jobs, they are always armed. Dauber asked if they have school requests they feel is not SRO appropriate. Becker said not really, it is really up to the school administrator. If it is something that could be a teachable moment, they will turn it into a teachable moment; their goal is to facilitate a safe environment for students and staff. Alaee mentioned they have to be cognizant of the fact they have this program and provide this service to the District and as they know the City’s general fund is looking at a $4-$6 million funding gap. The police department right now has many vacancies and for them to allocate police officers to the schools it is taking resources away from other needs that the City has and it is not an easy. Caswell said sometimes vitamins are hard to explain to people and honestly, as long as they continue having a great relationship, the SROs are the vitamins that are showing good behavior and mentoring, not just to our kids but to the community and hopefully they end up saving money in the long term. 2017 Agenda Items The Committee reviewed the agenda items for 2017. Dauber asked if Dr. McGee and Keene will be at the April 20th meeting. Alaee said that is the plan. The only challenge will be to have Dr. McGee and Keene meet before April 20th as well as the staff working on the master plan. Future Meetings and Agendas The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. at the District office. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:27 a.m.