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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-31 City Schools Liaison Committee Agenda PacketAMERICANS WITH DISABILITY ACT (ADA) Persons with disabilities who require auxiliary aids or services in using City facilities, services or programs or who would like information on the City’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact (650) 329-2550 (Voice) 24 hours in advance. BIG CREEK ELEMENTARY Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) City of Palo Alto Todd Collins, Vice President Lydia Kou, Council Member, Chair Jennifer DiBrienza, President Alison Cormack, Council Member Staff Don Austin, PAUSD, Superintendent Chantal Cotton Gaines, Assistant to the City Manager, Staff Liaison 1. Oral Communications 2. Approval of the August 15, 2019 Meeting Minutes 3. Superintendent’s Comments and City Manager’s Comments 4. Review of Recent City Council and PAUSD Board Meetings a. CITY: August 19 Council Action on North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan, and Other Updates b. PAUSD: Recent Board Agendas Recap 5. Palo Alto City Library/PAUSD Collaboration: Study Success Library Card 6. Discussion Regarding Vaping in Palo Alto 7. Updates on Ongoing Matters a. Cubberley Master Plan Update b. Grade Separation Update c. Stanford University General Use Permit (GUP) Update 8. Committee Format Discussion (Continued From August 15, 2019 Meeting) 9. Future Meetings and Agendas 10. Adjournment Thursday, October 31, 2019 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM Palo Alto City Hall Community Meeting Room 250 Hamilton Avenue, Ground Floor City/School Liaison Committee Special Meeting Agenda AMERICANS WITH DISABILITY ACT (ADA) Persons with disabilities who require auxiliary aids or services in using City facilities, services or programs or who would like information on the City’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact (650) 329-2550 (Voice) 24 hours in advance. Future Meeting Items: Item Recommended Disposition A. Vaping Invite Santa Clara County Public Health Department to make a presentation- November 2019 B. PAUSD School Safety Presentation Presentation by PAUSD staff in November 2019 C. After school program Update Page 1 of 11 Special Meeting August 15, 2019 Chairperson Kou called the meeting to order at 8:31 A.M. in the Community Meeting Room, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. Present: City of Palo Alto Representatives Alison Cormack, Council Member Lydia Kou, Council Member (Chair) Chantal Gaines, Assistant to the City Manager, Staff Liaison Palo Alto Unified School District Representatives Jennifer DiBrienza, Board President Todd Collins, Board Vice President Jim Novak, District Chief Business Officer, Staff Liaison Absent: Oral Communications None. Minutes Approval 2. Approval of the May 16, 2019 and June 12, 2019 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: Council Member Cormack moved, seconded by Board Member DiBrienza, to approve the minutes as presented. Board Member Collins inquired regarding the date the minutes were posted for review. Kimberly Lunt, Office of the City Clerk, reported the minutes were published August 8 with the packet. Chair Kou asked if the minutes were available on the City's website. Ms. Lunt replied yes. Chair Kou requested the method used to distribute minutes to the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education (Board) members. City/School Liaison Committee Special Meeting Working Minutes DRAFT MINUTES Page 2 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 Board Member Collins advised that Board Members review meeting minutes on the City's website. Monique Ziesenhenne, Interim Assistant City Manager, noted draft minutes were not available on the City website. Chair Kou indicated she received email notifications when documents were posted to the website. Council Member Cormack added that Council Members received paper copies of the packet. Ms. Lunt clarified that draft minutes were available on the City/School Liaison Committee webpage and linked to the Council packet. Chair Kou requested a link to the minutes be sent to Board Members DiBrienza and Collins when meeting packets were distributed. Chantal Gaines, Assistant to the City Manager, agreed to do so. Board Member Collins reported he had obtained the agenda and distributed it to the group, but the minutes were not available at that time. Ms. Ziesenhenne clarified that the agenda contained a hyperlink to the minutes. Board Members should click on the item in the agenda to access the minutes. MOTION PASSED: 3-0 Collins abstaining 3. Superintendent’s Comments and City Manager’s Comments. Monique Ziesenhenne, Interim Assistant City Manager, reported Transportation Staff had traveled through the City looking for ways to improve signage and directions for drivers as the school year began. Staff was also working with the Police Department to ensure regular enforcement of traffic laws. On August 19, the Council would discuss and provide direction regarding formation of a Rail Blue Ribbon Committee. Don Austin, Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Superintendent, advised that two satellite transitional kindergarten (TK) programs were opened in Barron Park and Duveneck. More regionalized TK programs in the future would not be bad. The PAUSD Board of Education's (Board) retreat was scheduled for the following day. The Board would discuss he PAUSD Promise, which had evolved into 2019-20 goals and measurable objectives. PAUSD Staff would provide an enrollment report at the appropriate time. The use of cameras rather than people at the train crossings may need DRAFT MINUTES Page 3 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 discussion. He and the City Manager were meeting regularly, and the meetings were productive. The Police Chief joined the last meeting to discuss school safety and drills. PAUSD did not want the drills to appear too realistic so as not to frighten students. Board Member Collins noted the cameras were installed in the fall of 2018. The City intentionally did not publicize the use of cameras at train crossings. 4. Review of Recent City Council and PAUSD Board Meetings. a. CITY: Recent Council Agendas Recap. b. PAUSD: Recent Board Agendas Recap. Council Member Cormack reported August Council meetings had involved mainly Closed Sessions and Consent Calendars. In June, she had attended the Foothill College commencement ceremony. She encouraged Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education (Board) members to attend the ceremony as 20 percent of Palo Alto students attended Foothill College. The County of Santa Clara (County) was hosting a vaping summit on September 13. The Black and White Ball would be held October 4. The Parent Teacher Association Council (PTAC) was a cosponsor of the ball. An East Palo Alto colleague had suggested PAUSD host a public meeting in East Palo Alto when program and curriculum changes affected East Palo Alto students. She requested the enrollment report include enrollment from 2000 to the present. Board Member DiBrienza reiterated that the Board retreat would include a discussion of goals for 2019-20 as well as review of a safety study. The Board would hold a study session the following week regarding facilities. The next Board meeting was scheduled for the last week of August. 5. PAUSD School Safety Presentation. Don Austin, Palo Alto Unified School District Superintendent, requested the item be continued. Chair Kou asked if the Police Chief would be present for the presentation. Chantal Gaines, Assistant to the City Manager, responded yes. The Office of Emergency Services Director was also interested in attending the presentation. 6. Cubberley Master Plan Next Steps. Kristen O’Kane, Community Services Department Director, reported a draft Cubberley Master Plan was complete and under review by City and Palo Alto DRAFT MINUTES Page 4 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 Unified School District (PAUSD) Staff. Staff would develop a plan to distribute the Master Plan for community comment. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis was underway and hopefully would be complete contemporaneously with the Master Plan. Bob Golton, Strong Schools Bond Manager, advised that a summary version of the draft Master Plan would be discussed at the PAUSD Board of Education (Board) retreat. Council Member Cormack inquired regarding a date for a joint meeting of the Council and Board. Don Austin, Palo Alto Unified School District Superintendent, indicated a joint meeting was tentatively scheduled for October 28. Staff was struggling with preparing an agenda as a clearly defined purpose or starting point for the meeting had not been identified. Staff had discussed forming an ad hoc committee composed of Council Members and Board Members to frame the joint meeting. While the Master Plan and the lease for Cubberley had been separate issues, they had become coupled. Council Member Cormack volunteered to serve on the ad hoc committee. The concern about housing was raised in the last meeting. She anticipated housing would be a topic of the joint meeting. Chair Kou asked if the October meeting would be the joint session with the Council and Board. Council Member Cormack replied that the joint meeting would address the Master Plan specifically. Chair Kou inquired whether the date of the joint meeting was firm. Board Member DiBrienza responded no, the date was tentative. Mr. Austin clarified that Staff had identified October 28 as a tentative date, but neither the City nor PAUSD had confirmed the date. Chair Kou asked if Staff continued to discuss an agenda for the meeting. Mr. Austin answered yes, and the discussion was filled with challenges. Ken Horowitz, speaking about Agenda Item 5, suggested the Police Chief work with PAUSD to ensure bikes at schools comply with safety codes. He had observed bicycles without reflectors and bicycles running through stop DRAFT MINUTES Page 5 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 signs. Perhaps the Police Chief could offer a class about bike safety to students. Board Member Collins noted Ms. Recklis was a former Board Member and Board President. Diane Reklis expressed concern that locating housing on the main part of Cubberley could do harm in the future. Housing on 525 San Antonio could be much more dense than envisioned. She opposed building housing on the main Cubberley campus. If a third high school was constructed in the future, it should be equal in size to the two existing high schools. She supported providing housing for teachers, PAUSD Staff, and Police, Fire, and City Staff. She particularly encouraged the development of accessory dwelling units (ADU) and the City to help with design and leasing and to reduce permit fees. Board Member Collins remarked that there were no mechanisms to deal with joint decision-making. An issue of concern was the Cubberley lease as it provided $5 million in revenue for PAUSD. The Board was unclear whether the City was committed to renewing the lease under the current terms. The Board needed clarity on whether the City wanted to renew the lease as soon as possible. He hoped the Board would discuss the lease in an open session. With respect to development of Cubberley, determining what the City and the Board wanted and could do was very important. He did not understand the ask or the options. Having issues hashed out prior to the October meeting would be good so that the Board and Council could drive toward agreement. He was unsure whether the Board and Council would make joint or separate decisions regarding housing. The joint meeting should not be utilized to develop proposals or explore initial positions. He hoped the Board and the Council could clarify their positions in a public and open manner soon. Board Member DiBrienza commented that the Board's decisions could impact the City's decisions, and vice versa. She agreed that a meeting to hash through issues from scratch would not be productive. The Board had not discussed the Cubberley Master Plan except for the one meeting with Concordia. The Board had not discussed the topics of neighbors versus partners and timelines for development. Board Members felt an initial discussion before the joint meeting was important. The Board had not taken a position on any of the issues. Board Member Collins inquired whether anyone knew if the City intended and desired to renew the Cubberley lease before yearend under terms similar to the existing terms. DRAFT MINUTES Page 6 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 Council Member Cormack suggested the Cubberley lease was not an agenda item, and she would not comment on it. Chair Kou concurred with Council Member Cormack. Board Member Collins stated the Board did not know the answer to that question, and that made the Board's discussion more challenging. Chair Kou appreciated the Board scheduling a discussion of Cubberley at its retreat. At some point, the Board and the City needed to align, and the two were working towards an alignment. Chair Kou indicated she hoped to attend the Board retreat. Board Member Collins related that the retreat would be recorded. Board Member DiBrienza added that the retreat began at 1:00 p.m., and the Cubberley discussion was not the first item on the agenda. The retreat would be held at the PAUSD office. 7. Updates on Ongoing Matters. a. Grade Separation Update. b. Stanford University General Use Permit (GUP) Update. Chantal Gaines, Assistant to the City Manager, reported the consultant was preparing the engineering details for the remaining alternatives. The Expanded Community Advisory Panel (XCAP) met in June and would meet again on August 21 with a new traffic consultant. On August 19, Staff would present information about a Rail Blue Ribbon Committee (RBRC) to the City Council. The website for grade separations had been upgraded and should be more user-friendly for the average person. Council Member Cormack requested Staff introduce the new Chief Transportation Official. Ms. Gaines advised that Philip Kamhi had been hired as the City's Chief Transportation Official. Mr. Kamhi previously worked with the City as a Transportation Program Manager. In addition, the City had hired a new Fire Chief. Monique Ziesenhenne, Interim Assistant City Manager, added that the City had hired Meghan Horrigan-Taylor as Chief Communications Officer and Geo Blackshire as Fire Chief. Chair Kou noted the City Manager's Office was recommending formation of the RBRC. She requested additional details about the RBRC. DRAFT MINUTES Page 7 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 Ms. Gaines indicated in concept the RBRC would supplement community engagement efforts and develop recommendations to the City Council regarding the selection, funding plan, and strategies for grade separations. XCAP had been focused on community engagement and engineering details and would focus more on engineering. Board Member Collins stated a PAUSD representative was participating in the XCAP. Ms. Gaines related that Barbara Best was serving as the PAUSD representative. Board Member Collins suggested a role for PAUSD on the RBRC could be helpful. Rail crossings impacted students traveling to school, staff to work, and buses to and from the corporate yard. Chair Kou clarified that the Council would discuss forming the RBRC. If the RBRC was formed, PAUSD would be considered for participation. Council Member Cormack recalled Vice Mayor Fine's report of a meeting with the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and the City Manager to discuss Measure B funding. VTA would create a methodology to distribute funds. Apparently, Measure B funds would not be bonded. Board Member Collins asked if funds would be distributed as they were received. Council Member Cormack responded yes. Not bonding Measure B funding would affect funding strategies for grade separations. Ms. Gaines advised that a discussion of funding was very different from a discussion of the technical aspects of grade separations. Forming a committee to report to the Council and to converse about the key pieces was a growing interest for grade separations. Chair Kou indicated the Council would also address a response to the Grand Jury report about VTA governance. Council Member Cormack related that the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan (NVCAP) was on the Council's agenda for August 19. Board Member DiBrienza reported the situation with the Stanford University General Use Permit (GUP) had not changed. DRAFT MINUTES Page 8 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 8. Committee Format Discussion (Continued From June 12, 2019 Meeting). Council Member Cormack suggested replacing "raise and share" with "explore" in the fourth bullet of Chair Kou's proposed language. In the next bullet, "have potential to solve" could be replaced with "identify." The examples are helpful but should be contained in a separate document. Chair Kou asked if the examples should be moved into footnotes. Council Member Cormack indicated either would be fine. Board Member Collins suggested the fifth bullet be revised to two statements, raise issues of current interest and identify issues and opportunities for joint effort or cooperation. Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education (Board) members were providing summaries of the City/School Liaison Committee (Committee) meetings to the Board. He inquired whether Council Members communicated with the Council about the Committee meetings. Chair Kou explained that Council Members reported about meetings during the Council Member Questions, Comments, and Announcements section of the agenda. That section of the agenda was typically late in the evening, and reports were abbreviated. Board Member Collins added that Board Members were providing written reports through the meeting packets. Board Member DiBrienza suggested reports be included in the Board packet to elevate the reports to the community. Don Austin, Palo Alto Unified School District Superintendent, agreed to do so. Board Member Collins suggested adding language of communicate the discussions and perspectives from the Committee meeting to the Council and Board. Council Member Cormack felt the Committee was unique among Council committees in that Staff did not make recommendations to the Committee. Perhaps a summary of Committee meetings could be included in the City Manager's new method of communications. Monique Ziesenhenne, Interim Assistant City Manager, suggested attaching the minutes of Committee meetings. DRAFT MINUTES Page 9 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 Board Member Collins advised that the Board considered sharing the minutes, but it felt most people would not read them in their entirety. Board Member DiBrienza suggested the purpose statement contain a component of ensuring Committee members communicate to the Board, Council, and the community. That communication could be accomplished with a summary or minutes. Kimberly Lunt, Office of the City Clerk, explained that the Council webpage contained a table of meeting date, agenda and packet, and draft minutes to be approved. Perhaps the Committee's draft minutes and approved minutes could be shown on the Committee webpage so that Committee members had a direct link to the minutes. Council Member Cormack requested presentations be shown on the Committee webpage. Chair Kou noted the City Manager provided written updates to the City Council and verbally repeated the updates during Council meetings. Board Member Collins agreed that capturing the intent to communicate with the Council and Board was important. Chair Kou concurred. Board Member Collins stated the Committee was unusual in that it made no decisions, had no authority, and only shared information. The Committee could form an ad hoc committee or alter the Committee so that it had some authority or responsibility to handle issues and make proposals. Altering the nature of the Committee was probably not possible as it would be a drastic change and raise issues. The Committee could do more. Chair Kou noted the Council and Board would have to approve a change to the Committee. Board Member DiBrienza explained that the Committee could not make decisions because the Board Members and Council Members represented a minority of the Board and Council. She failed to see how changing the nature of the Committee would be advantageous. The Committee could hold more substantive conversations, but that was not appropriate for inclusion in the purpose statement. Council Member Cormack was unsure how the Committee could make decisions given that Committee members were elected by different constituents. The interests of the Board and the City overlapped, but the DRAFT MINUTES Page 10 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 overlap was not complete. Restructuring the Committee may or may not enhance the working relationship of the Board and the City. The Committee had surfaced the issue of the Board and City working together. Participating in an exploratory committee may not be satisfying, but the exploratory nature provided Committee members with more flexibility to discuss topics. Chair Kou suggested the purpose statement contain points of interest for both the Board and the City such as student safety and health and airplane noise. She requested Committee members submit their comments and revisions for the purpose statement to Ms. Gaines. Board Member DiBrienza recalled a previous discussion of inviting private schools to participate in certain topics before the Committee. She proposed compiling a list of private schools and their contact information. Council Member Cormack suggested the City Manager's Office compile a list and send the email about the Committee meetings to the private schools. Ms. Gaines reported she had obtained a list of school contact people from the Office of Emergency Services. She would review the list with other departments in the City to prepare a comprehensive list. 9. Future Meetings and Agendas. Council Member Cormack advised that she would not be available for a meeting on October 17. She suggested members of the City/School Liaison Committee (Committee) notify Ms. Gaines of planned absences so that Ms. Gaines could identify whether a quorum would be present for meetings. Chantal Gaines, Assistant to the City Manager, requested Committee members notify her of any absences planned through the end of the year so that alternative meeting dates could be determined, if necessary. Chair Kou asked Ms. Gaines to determine an alternative meeting date in October. Council Member Cormack recalled that Dr. Austin indicated an enrollment report would be provided. Ms. Gaines inquired whether the enrollment report should be a future agenda item. Council Member Cormack indicated the enrollment data would determine whether she wished to discuss the data. DRAFT MINUTES Page 11 of 11 Sp. City School Liaison Committee Meeting Draft Minutes: 08/15/2019 Chair Kou requested an item for the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan. She inquired whether Staff provided a report of middle school recreation to Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD). Board Member DiBrienza did not believe the PAUSD Board of Education (Board) had received such a report, but she would like a presentation about middle school recreation activities. Chair Kou asked if Library activities overlapped with PAUSD interests. Monique Ziesenhenne, Interim Assistant City Manager, advised that the Library had implemented a program in which student identification cards were also Library cards. Students could utilize Library resources while at school. Chair Kou requested a presentation of the program and a presentation of PAUSD programs or services for developmentally disabled students. Board Member Collins remarked that developmentally disabled students presented a wide range of challenges, and services were not always available for them. Housing and services for developmentally disabled adults were primary concerns. Council Member Cormack reported the City had offered a few inclusive summer camps in 2019 for the first time. Chair Kou suggested ideas for agenda items could be sent to Ms. Gaines. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:53 A.M.