September 10 Board of Trustees Meeting Focuses on
Community Feedback Regarding the 10th School Site
 

At its September 10 meeting, the Los Altos Board of Trustees heard two presentations regarding community input for the proposed new 10th school site.  The district houses 10 schools on 9 sites and thousands of new homes are slated for construction in the next 10 years in the area.
 
Since 2012, LASD has engaged with its community to obtain feedback on how best to allocate LASD’s school facilities to meet the needs of all students who enroll in a public school within the LASD.  Community task forces, committees and public forums have consistently urged the district to seek a new school site to help meet those needs.  For a complete history of the process and community feedback, please click here.
 
LASD now has a strong prospect of obtaining a school site in the North of El Camino area through a unique collaboration with the City of Mountain View.  The district thus invited community feedback on how best to utilize this potential 10th school site.
 
ThoughtExchange Report
The district hosted an online community forum with ThoughtExchange in June 2018, in which over 1,000 local residents provided their perspectives regarding the 10th site.  To boost participation, the district advertised the ThoughtExchange forum to the community through local newspapers, social media and a mailer.  Additionally, the district invited parents and staff to participate through emails.  ThoughtExchange provided its analysis of the community’s feedback in a presentation to the board.
 
Site Advisory Task Force Report
Manny Barbara from the Silicon Valley Leadership Group--the Site Advisory Task Force Facilitator--presented a summary report of the Site Advisory Task Force’s work. The Task Force comprised a diverse group of residents and school district staff volunteers who thoroughly analyzed issues and community perspectives regarding the new school site.  After months of deliberation, the majority members of the Task Force recommended placing the Bullis Charter School at the new 10th site.  The second-choice option was to place a neighborhood LASD school on the 10th site.  View the presentation and the report here.
 
“With varying perspectives and interests in our community, the educational program and student attendance for the 10th site is an exciting, but complex issue.  We thank the community for providing us valuable insight and feedback through the Task Force, ThoughtExchange and all of the committees, task forces and community forums over the past six years.  The Board of Trustees now has the difficult job of taking years of community input on this issue and determining a solution that prioritizes top-quality education for local public school students,” stated Superintendent Jeffrey Baier.
 
Please join us at our upcoming Board meetings on September 24 and October 8, when we will continue to discuss the 10th site.  If you have questions or comments, please email trustees@lasdschools.org.