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City Schools Liaison Committee
Staff Report
From: Chantal Gaines, Deputy City Manager
Meeting Date: April 20, 2023
TITLE
City and Schools Collaborations Discussion (continued from March 16, 2023)
ANALYSIS
At the March 16, 2023 City / Schools Liaison Committee, the Committee deferred the last
agenda item related to Collaborations between the City and Palo Alto Unified School District.
The memo that was attached to the March 16, 2023 agenda is attached here. That memo is
from June 2021 when this Committee last discussed this topic. The March 16 memo also
included the purpose statement of the City Schools Liaison Committee. This March 16 memo is
included as Attachment A.
In addition to that memo, there are a few other attachments included with this memo for
awareness only. They generally relate to the topic of collaborations but are not central to the
conversation. This includes the following:
- Letter from PAUSD to the City related to Cubberley (Attachment B)
- Enrollment Trends Report presented to the PAUSD Board of Education which includes a
recommendation related to creating a lottery system for City employees‘ children to be
able enroll into PAUSD (Attachment C and link:
https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/pausd/Board.nsf/files/CQ6MVL5D16D0/$file/20230328En
rollmentTrendsandOptionsAdHocCommitteePresentation.pdf)
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: March 2023 Memo re City and Schools Collaborations
Attachment B: Letter from PAUSD School Board to City of Palo Alto re Cubberley
Attachment C: PAUSD Enrollment Trends Ad Hoc Committee Presentation to the Board
Report #: 2304-1266
To: City School Liaison Committee
From: City Staff
Date: March 16, 2023
Subject: City and Schools Collaborations Discussion
The City Schools Liaison Committee (CSLC) began to discuss the Committee Purpose at the February 16,
2023 meeting. Staff shared that the City Council and PAUSD Board adopted the CSLC Purpose Statement
in November 2019 (Attachment A) and the Committee asked for this information to be brought to the
March 2023 meeting.
In addition to the Purpose Statement, the Committee also requested to bring back the discussion on the
City and Schools Collaborations. The most recent memo on that was from June 2021 is included here as
Attachment B for Committee review.
Purpose Statement - City School Liaison Committee
Agreed Upon at the November 21, 2019 Meeting
November 21, 2019
The City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) have a
shared interest in the health, safety, and welfare of students and families in the Palo
Alto community. The following is the purpose statement for the City School
Liaison Committee, agreed upon by the City School Liaison Committee on
November 21, 2019.
Purpose: The Committee meetings serve as a time for PAUSD Board Members
and City of Palo Alto City Council Members to officially come together on a
regular basis. It provides a unique opportunity for the elected representatives and
associated staff to:
•Establish stronger relations between and among elected and staff across
separate jurisdictions operating in the same community
•Gain understanding of perspectives, opportunities, constraints of
PAUSD, the City, and other schools in the community
•Share current actions and activities
•Explore current and ongoing issues of mutual interest
•Identify issues and/or devise means to prevent issues from arising in the
future
•Work together on relevant community projects
•Regularly communicate to both bodies
Attachment A-March 2023
City-Schools Collaborations Memo June Addition
Page 1
To: City School Liaison Committee
From: City Staff
Date: June 17, 2021
Subject: City and Schools Collaborations Follow Up Discussion
At the March 25, 2021 City School Liaison Committee, the Committee started to review existing
collaborations that exist between the City of Palo Alto (the City) and the Palo Alto Unified School District
(PAUSD) for serving the needs of youth and families. The initial list of categories of collaborations were
included in the memo contained online (https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-
minutes-reports/at-places-memo/03-25-21-cslc-at-places-memo-item-5.pdf). The Committee continued
the conversation at the May 20, 2021 meeting with the City staff providing an updated memo with
additional context about the programs offered by the City. The Committee asked the School District to
fill in programs within applicable categories.
The information below is that additional information in red from the School District for the Committee
to review and provide guidance on future discussion scheduling of these items. This is still not an
exhaustive list but is additional information adding to the initial lists mentioned above.
Transportation and Planning:
-Student travel safety
o Safe Routes to School – 21+ years
City program management, education, contracts
Schools facility use
Ongoing informal support from the District
Ongoing parent engagement – City /School Traffic Safety Liaison Committee
o Crossing Guards – 10-20 years
Warrants and analysis
City contract management
-Shuttle buses (10-20 years – discontinued in FY 2021)
-Railroad grade separations and bike/ped improvements
o Ongoing implementation of pedestrian and bicycle improvements (e.g., South Palo Alto
bikeways project, SRTS CIP).
o Process mapping opportunity
o District and community engagement
Youth Mental Health:
o Project Safety Net youth mental health
o Care Solace (online resource with a live, multilingual Care Concierge meant to assist individuals
in finding local mental health-related programs and counseling services).
o On-site Wellness Centers
o PAUSD Telehealth Services
o Asian American Community Involvement (ACCI) – Individual, group, and family therapy;
Substance Abuse
o Contracted services through three mental health agencies (Cassy/Acknowledg e
Alliance/ Family and Children's Services) at the elementary level and one mental health
agency (CASSY) at the secondary level, to offer free, comprehensive site-based
counseling supports to students.
Attachment B - March 2023
City-Schools Collaborations Memo June Addition
Page 2
Teen Leadership Programs:
-Palo Alto Youth Council and Teen Advisory Board
-Other programming for teens at community centers and libraries
-District programs
Recreation:
-Middle school athletics
-School playing fields after hour rental, management and maintenance
-PAUSD InPlay – comprehensive collaborative community effort to develop a citywide network of
quality summer and after school learning opportunities.
Libraries and Community Services:
-Libraries
o Partnership between school and City librarians (e.g., sharing Summer Reading Program
materials at schools)
o Career services – 2 years
o Student Library ID as City Library Card partnership – 4-6 years
-Community Centers
o Cubberley (MakeX maker space)
o Mitchell (the Drop-in Teen Center)
-Art Programs – 10-21+ years
o Youth Art Exhibit at Art Center
o Project Look – Partnership for Art Center School Tour Program
o Cultural Kaleidoscope Program – Art Center artists in classroom art instruction
o Dance in Schools – dance programming in schools
o Teen Arts
o Children’s Theatre – Outreach and Theatre in elementary schools
-Junior Museum and Zoo – science education (10-21+ years)
-Childcare
o Palo Alto Community Child Care
o Right At School
Safety:
-School Resource Officers (onsite officers, safety trainings, etc.) – 30 years; discontinued FY 2021
-Ongoing communication with schools and District (special events, investigations, major case
support, etc.)
-Emergency Services support
-School site emergency plans
BOARD OF EDUCATION
March 13, 2023
Palo Alto City Council
250 Hamilton Ave
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Re: Invitation for Cubberley Development Proposals
Dear Colleagues,
What’s happening with Cubberley?
Within the shared canon of our two governmental bodies, few questions evoke the
same wearied engagement as this one. It’s a perennial topic at City/School Liaison
Committee meetings (where it is given a light touch) and during election-season
candidate forums (where the response is a touch heavy-handed). It has been the
subject of meetings, workshops, listening sessions, town halls, and a master plan, all
while the site has remained relatively unchanged since the school was closed on
February 6, 1979. As the crumbling infrastructure belies the rich panoply of community-
oriented programs that now inhabit the site, there is general agreement that Cubberley’s
current use is unsustainable without significant capital improvements.
We, the PAUSD Board of Education, shoulder some of the responsibility for the
restrained pace of Cubberley’s redevelopment plan. But our caution is well-founded. As
fiduciaries of the school district and trustees of students present and future, we have a
fundamental duty to ensure we do not prejudice their interests by repeating the
mistakes of our past selves—when we gave up land during a period of declining
enrollment only to find ourselves in financial dire straits once the need for a new
campus inevitably arose years later.
Indeed, we found ourselves with a student-driven need for the site just this past year.
Two of our elementary schools, Palo Verde and Hoover, are undergoing sitewide
redevelopment. Accordingly, we designated a temporary school campus on the
Cubberley site that will be in use through 2025 to serve those students for the duration
of the construction.
Nevertheless, we understand and fully support the City’s desire to move forward on
development of a portion of the site to realize the vision of a fully-fledged Cubberley
Community Center. The polished incarnation of this community gem will surely benefit
our joint stakeholders and serve as a resource for the District’s students and families.
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Our enthusiasm to support the City’s endeavor is caveated by two constraints: (1) we
have a desire to retain ownership over roughly 20 of the 35 acres for future school use,
the exact nature of which cannot be determined until the need for such a school arises;
and (2) we cannot ask the voters to pass a school bond to fund a community center
development, as such a bond may only be used to fund school construction as
specifically enumerated in Education Code section 15100.
Enrollment Trends and Options Ad Hoc Committee
March 28, 2023
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Enrollment Trends and Options Ad Hoc Committee
●Charge: Prepare a series of options to address declining enrollment through open
discussion and thoughtful debate that honors diverse perspectives for
consideration by the Board. Everything is up for consideration and thoughtful
debate.
●The committee was charged with preparing a series of “proposed options” to be
considered by the Board in 2024-25. Proposed options are NOT recommendations.
●Considerations: Declining enrollment is an issue that requires our attention. We
will either creatively address things like combination classes or embrace their
reality. School closures are a last resort, but are on the table without a sustainable
plan.
Ad Hoc -Enrollment Trend and Options March 28, 2023 | 3
Enrollment Trends and Options Ad Hoc Committee
Members
●Parents, including PTAC
●Administrators: Elementary School Principals
and District Director
●Classified and Certificated Union Members
●City of Palo Alto Representative
●PAUSD Board Members
Ad Hoc -Enrollment Trend and Options March 28, 2023 | 3
Committee Process
●Met five times from September 2022 to January 2023.
●Conducted bias check, reviewed historical background, and data regarding
declining enrollment.
●Brainstormed options and developed criteria through which to vet the options.
●Site leaders on the committee put forth some options to their staff for additional
feedback.
●The strengths and challenges of the options were discussed, leveraging the
vetting criteria developed by the committee. Through this process, the committee
reached consensus on selecting options to be considered by the Board.
September 11, 2019 | 4
Proposed Options for Board Consideration:
The committee was charged with preparing a series of “proposed options” to be considered by the Board
in 2024-25. Proposed options are NOT recommendations.
●Consider adjusting/expanding residential boundaries
●Consider both embracing and eliminating combination classes
●Consider creating an early enrollment deadline and moving any new or late registrants to
schools with space
●Consider expanding language immersion programs
●Consider themed school model for Ohlone and Hoover where they would become
neighborhood schools with themes and hold a percentage of lottery seats
●Invite full-time Palo Alto City employees to bring their children to PAUSD through a lottery
system
●Barron Park and Briones function as one school with two campuses where one of the campuses
is the upper grades (3-5) and the other campus is the lower (TK-2) grades
●Reduce the FTE percentage required for PAUSD employees to bring their children to PAUSD
Ad Hoc -Enrollment Trend and Options March 28, 2023 | 5
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