Los Altos School District to Innovate in Library and Classroom Spaces

Thanks to generous donations from local community members, Los Altos School District has been presented with two incredible opportunities to test innovative learning spaces for improved student learning experiences that will ultimately benefit students in the entire district.  The opportunity to create these innovative classrooms and test their efficacy in two of the local schools - Gardner Bullis and Loyola Schools - will help inform future classrooms designs for all students.

Click here to read the full press release.

Two Los Altos School District Schools Receive National Blue Ribbon Nominations

The California Department of Education has nominated two Los Altos School District schools to receive a prestigious National Blue Ribbon from the United States Department of Education: Blach and Egan Junior High Schools.  There are more than 12,000 public, charter and private schools in California, and only 35 were nominated for this highly-esteemed award.  Los Altos School District is honored to have both of our junior high schools nominated for the sustained exemplary achievement of their students and school communities.

Read the full press release here.

Effective December 11, 2013, the Santa Clara County Department of Health has revised its requirements for TB screening of students entering schools.  Click here for more information.

LASD board sends notice of Facilities Use Agreement (FUA) violations and invites BCS representatives to its November 12 board meeting where it will consider potential remedies.

Click here for the agenda of the LASD-BCS Sub-Committee Joint Meeting on 2013-2014 FUA and Long Term Agreements.  The meeting is Wednesday, November 6 at 7:00 pm, Town Hall Council Chambers, Los Altos Hills.

Bullis Charter School (BCS) has submitted its facilities request for the  2014-15 school year.  The school projects an enrollment of 678 in-district students (711 total students)—95 more in-district students than currently enrolled (a 16.3% increase).  As part of the facilities request BCS states that its location preference is the Covington School site.  Details are contained in the request letter submitted to the district.

Here is the draft agreement LASD presented to BCS at the joint meeting on Monday.  It is important to note that this document is the beginning of a process of capturing a possible agreement between the parties.  It does not reflect agreed terms, and in fact hasn't been vetted by either board.  It simply represents a starting point.  Mayor Waldeck invited both parties to draft a document, so that is what we have done.  We have our next meeting Wednesday, September 18, at 7pm in the Los Altos Hills town hall again.  We look forward to continuing this discussion with BCS and developing a set of mutually agreeable points to include, and evolving that into the working language in a final document.

This document also contains my personal "talking points" - thoughts I prepared in advance of the meeting.  I've included them so that folks who may read this document without the context of the broader discussion will also have visibility into the District's thinking.  None of this replaces formal Board action, but it is a way for folks to understand what is driving the positions we've laid out.

- Doug Smith

President, LASD Board of Trustees

The long-term facilities subcommittees from the Los Altos School District and Bullis Charter School met on September 12, September 16, September 18, October 30 and November 6.  The videos from these meetings are available below:

• September 12 -  Video Link
• September 16 (Part One) -  Video Link
• September 16 (Part Two) -  Video Link
• September 18 (Part One) -  Video Link
• September 18 (Part Two) -  Video Link
• October 30 - Video Link
• November 6 (Part One) - Video Link
• November 6 (Part Two) - Video Link

The short-term facilities subcommittees from the Los Altos School District and Bullis Charter School met on August 27 and August 29.  Links to the videos and flip chart notes from these meetings are available below:

• August 27 -  Video Link ;  Flip Chart Notes
• August 29 -  Video Link ;  Flip Chart Notes