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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-10-14 City Schools Liaison Committee Summary Minutes City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 1 SCHOOL/CITY LIAISON COMMITTEE PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT CITY OF PALO ALTO DATE: October 14, 2015 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF October 14, 2015 Opening The School/City Committee held a special meeting in the District Conference Room A at 25 Churchill Avenue, Palo Alto. The meeting was called to order at 8:03 a.m. * All handouts can be viewed in the Business Services Office, 25 Churchill Avenue. Palo Alto Unified School District Representatives: Camille Townsend, Board Member, Committee Chair Terry Godfrey, Board Member Cathy Mak, Chief Business Officer City of Palo Alto Representatives: Pat Burt, Council Member (Absent) Tom DuBois, Council Member Khashayar Alaee, Senior Management Analyst Approval of Minutes The September 16, 2015, minutes were approved. Oral Communications There were no requests for public comment. Review of Recent City Council/PAUSD Board Meetings City Update: DuBois reported Council passed a small item on consent on the low resolution cameras used on County bikes, pedestrian and cars. They do not show faces in enough detail to identify people. They added a small clause to ensure all the data is deleted. Townsend asked when it will be deleted. DuBois answered he does not know if that has been defined but believes it will happen relatively quickly. Townsend asked where the cameras are located. The City will email a list of all the cameras with their locations. DuBois reported they also passed a 50,000 square foot office space annual growth limit for a period of two years. They approved the Charleston Arastradero streets plan that will include a lot of permanent changes to crossings and medians. The City had a special meeting on transportation with discussions on sales tax and High Speed Rail. The main outcome was they constituted the Council Train Committee to start working on this more regularly. They would like to use the Contact Sensitive Solutions (CSS) process. District Update: Godfrey reported the Board reviewed the District’s strategic plan survey. They had the first look at the data last night and it gives them a climate check. There was still some frustration expressed on lack of consistency in teacher grading. Also differences in the two high schools such as counseling. As information, the academic regulation around non-gender component student item was removed from last night’s agenda. It will come back on a future agenda. The Board also discussed hiring a general counsel for the District. They had a study session last week with the Enrollment Advisory Committee (EMAC) on the opening of a 13th elementary. The elementary enrollment is down, middle schools have the most growth, and some growth at the high school level. McGee reported EMAC member Todd Collins presented an extraordinary amount of research on the City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 2 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF October 14, 2015 topic of opening a 13th elementary that included two types of scenarios. They had a debriefing with EMAC last Monday and will have a work session with the Board sometime in October 26th - November 13th to discuss the different scenarios. The secondary subcommittee is working on their recommendations that may involve the Cubberley property. Keene asked De Geus to give an update on where they are on the hiring of the Project Safety Net (PSN) Executive Director. De Geus stated the position has been posted for four weeks. They are putting a panel together for interviews. As a final step, McGee and Keene will meet the finalist. They will definitely have someone by the end of the year. Townsend asked about the RFP that was advertised in the newspaper. De Geus answered the position was setup as a contracted position since they are not sure whether PSN will have its own backbone as an organization but some individuals found it hard to apply to it that way so they placed it as an hourly position. PAUSD Property Interests Golton reported EMAC is trying to understand what to do regarding opening a 13th elementary school and possibly doing something with middle and high schools. Golton presented a list of sites the District is interested in which are Cubblerley, Garland, Fremont Hills, and 525 San Antonio; these properties are all owned by the District. The Ventura property is owned by the City of Palo Alto but through the current agreement, the District has the option to purchase the property with a one year notice. It is an uncomfortable situation for the City because if they want to make improvements, there is still this possibility. It has been 35 years so it is probably time to address this issue. Townsend asked Golton about the acreage at each site. Golton answered Cubberley is 27 acres, Garland is 5 acres, Fremont Hills is 7 acres, and 525 San Antonio is 2.5 acres. The 525 San Antonio can be connected to the acres at Greendell to make a good size elementary school along with keeping the present instructional programs already at Greendell. Townsend asked if the District has a spreadsheet or something that identifies all property with the District. Golton stated they do have it for all their operating school sites. Discussion of Ventura School Site City Real Estate Agent Hamid Ghaemmaghami stated the City can make improvements to Ventura but if it is over a certain amount, they will have to notify the District of these improvements and the cost. DuBois asked if doing those improvements triggers the decision on whether the District would like to repurchase the property back. City Chief Fiscal Officer Lalo Perez answered yes; they do not feel they can make major improvements because they do not know where the District is in terms of the need of the facility. The tenant would like to have an extended lease so they can both take care of the facility. They would like to understand what plans the District may have regarding Ventura. Townsend asked who is currently at Ventura. Palo Alto Community Child Care (PACCC) Executive Director Janice Shaul stated they have 100 children on their infant/toddler/preschool program, 50-60 children served by Pampclub and Country Day Middle School, and Keys School uses the field space. DuBois mentioned that due to the clause in the agreement of the District having the ability of purchasing back the property creates an uncertainty when making improvements. Townsend asked how major renovations have been handled in the past. Golton answered the Ventura situation is very similar to Fremont Hills, they notify the District of improvements over $100,000 and they agree on a use for life. Most recently Fremont Hills reached out to the District to redo their fields and they both agreed on 10 years. If the District were to turn around and immediately take the property back, they would have to give them 60% of the value. He believes they have also done the same with Ventura and took it to the Board. Keene stated he would like it if they could work on restructuring the agreement as they did with City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 3 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF October 14, 2015 Cubberley so they are not living paycheck to paycheck from the tenant and City side having hesitancy about making improvements and from the District side some concern that those improvements will cost more due to the increased valuation. Godfrey stated their enrollment growth is on the west side and not near Ventura so Ventura is not likely to come up for the next few years. They probably should work together to make changes to the Ventura agreement and they do not have to wait until the District has a decision on the enrollment growth. McGee mentioned he walked through the site with Shaul last year and the need for improvements is clear. Godfrey asked about the teen center that was at Ventura. De Geus answered YMCA and the City had partnered for that teen center but it never really took off, they did not get a lot of traction. Shaul stated YCS uses it for summer, Second Harvest Bank is there year round, and Dreamcatchers has their office there. Perez stated the lease for PACCC is coming up on June 2016 and they would like to extend it for a longer term. Godfrey asked when improvements can be made to Ventura if the site is being used. Shaul said they have magically been able to relocate for the improvements but they would discuss it further with the City. DuBois asked if the next step would be for Keene and McGee to work together on the Ventura agreement. McGee said yes, they worked really well on the Cubberley plan and he is willing to do the same with Ventura. Discussion Regarding Cubberley Community Center McGee stated that a year ago the District and the City collaborated and renegotiated the Cubberley agreement for five years. They met at Cubberley with District and City staff along with other stakeholders to walk the Cubberley site and discussed joint needs. He believes they have a common collective vision to make the site a hug of innovation, not just for school use but for community use. They agreed to meet again and sign a joint commitment moving forward for the good of the City and District. Keene stated they have made a lot of progress recognizing they have individual interests and joint interests. They know they need to redevelop the City’s eight acres to enhance the services and the experience there. It is quite probable that the City‘s timeline would be sooner than the District’s so there was need to jointly plan that so they get the most economy out of it but also discussing what it could be like as an educational community center. They also came up with next steps concepts. De Geus mentioned they have a lot happening at Cubberley, they have dance studios, health and wellness providers and the like. The City is eager to do something that supports both the District and City’s needs. It is really inspiring listening to McGee talk about the future of education and the idea of there being a lab and choice school and the idea and openness of how that might work in synergy with the community. McGee mentioned they now have a d.school fellow and a d.school intern that are eager to get started when the District is ready. Townsend asked if Foothill College is still at Cubberley. Perez answered they have given June 30, 2016 as their exit date. Townsend asked about the funds from the rent the District used to pay and is there a budget set aside just for that purpose. Perez answered yes; it is the Cubberley fund and it is in their budget document. They are committed, as part of the agreement, to give the District an accounting of what City/School Liaison Committee Meeting Page 4 MINUTES FOR MEETING OF October 14, 2015 the funds are spent on and what improvements are being done. They are being strategic and they are distributing the improvements throughout the campus, not just the eight acres. Golton asked how much has been spent to date. Perez not very much since they are focusing on the improvements to the roof for the first year. McGee asked what the plans are for the Junior Museum and how long will they be there. De Gues mentioned it is not confirmed they are moving there but two years from now would be the earliest they would move to Cubberley. DuBois asked if leftover funds can be used to make actual capital improvements. Perez answered yes; they are certainly looking at a four year window in the decision making process. They did a walk through and identified areas that cannot wait four years to be improved so they will try to use any funds leftover to address those issues. Perez mentioned with Foothill College leaving, the agreement calls for an adjustment on the rent for the loss of the revenue and they are very concerned that it would be difficult to get a tenant in there knowing there is a very short window left on the agreement between the City and the District. Golton mentioned Cathy Mak is aware that Foothill will be out soon and they are aware of this provision in the agreement. Dubois stated the five year deadline was a self-imposed deadline and they should make it a real deadline and get things moving with the joint planning. Shaul indicated the people who work with all these community services need an adequate working environment and their staff at Ventura does not have that. Their childcare space is not conducive to quality childcare. Keene stated it has been a delight working with McGee and his team. They are doing a lot of good work together. Future Meetings and Agendas The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 8:00 a.m. at the District office. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 a.m.