10th Site Progress: Another Step Towards Resolving School Overcrowding
June 27, 2018
Last night the Mountain View City Council voted to continue its collaboration with the Los Altos School District to create a public school and park in the San Antonio Precise Plan Area, an area of the City where there is a great need for both. The Council vote allows the district to pursue a new school site at California and Showers Drive, which is currently owned by Federal Realty, while keeping in place a collaborative agreement that will reduce the cost of the property by ten of millions of dollars.
The Los Altos School District’s acquisition of a 10th site is first and foremost about protecting excellent educational opportunities for all current and future local students. We at the Los Altos School district are working side-by-side with the property owners to reach an agreement to secure the site as soon as possible to protect our small-school model, which we believe is key to student success. This would be a huge victory and win-win solution for LASD and the City of Mountain View.
Since 2012, LASD has been engaged in a community process to find a solution to address school overcrowding. The district houses 10 schools on nine sites. Current enrollment exceeds 5,000 students—including Bullis Charter School—a level last reached in the 1970s when the district had 12 schools. Community task forces, committees and public forums have consistently urged the district to seek a new school site.
LASD previously identified the Old Mill/Safeway site as its preference, but attempts to negotiate with the landowner proved fruitless. While both sites meet the district’s criteria for a new school and were among the sites recommended by the community-led LASD 10th Site Committee, the Federal site is the most viable option for a negotiated sale.
The Federal site would provide a larger school and park for students and residents than Safeway/Old Mill. At 9.65 acres, the Federal site would accommodate the district’s needs to reduce overcrowding and prepare for future enrollment. Due to a requirement to provide parkland in the City of Mountain View for its development project on another site, Greystar developers will also purchase an additional 2 acres from Federal Realty to create a park for the City of Mountain View. By locating these 2 acres adjacent to the new school’s playfields, the city would gain a large park in the neighborhood, where open space is scarce.
A negotiated sale will save both time and money by avoiding a formal eminent domain process to the benefit all local students, taxpayers and community members. We are working alongside Federal Realty, Greystar and the City of Mountain View through a constructive negotiation to purchase the site at a fair and reasonable price. The savings on the purchase of land will mean more of our Measure N bond funds can be used for school construction and projects at existing school sites.