Tonite April 23, 2018, Los Altos School District Trustees are expecting to launch two more acts of political theater in the long-running saga — “Towards the Final BCS Solution.” They will 1) approve their ‘yes-men’ members of a 10th site advisory Task Force for data collection and 2) revive the 2014 Facilities Master Plan Committee so that it can finalize the divisive 2014 draft report. [See our upcoming post for that FMPC news.]
10th Site Advisory Task Force
I’ve written before about this new 2018 committee here and here.
What’s new is we now can see that only 4 applications were submitted to the Trustees for 5 openings that the Trustees can name. So it becomes easy to see they are all going to be “accepted.” Three of the four applicants are known to Lalahpolitico — Joe Seither, James Reilly, Tom McGovern. IMHO they all hold the view “There should never ever be any attendance area redistricting ever again, and impacts on the Charter school and its families don’t matter. Charter attendees are traitors. If it’s not illegal…it’s ok.”
One slot seems to be unfilled. There are only two voices that are not “members of the choir.” Mountain View council person Abe Koga is known for her view that the 10th site at Safeway/Old Mill should be for a LASD run school, perhaps a neighborhood type, perhaps a magnet type. Jill Jene, a BCS parent, is known for her view that LASD with its 116 acres does not need more land. But if the Trustees want to acquire this Mountain View site, it should be for a 500 student District-run school, not for the 900 student Bullis Charter School. Both of these women care deeply about the traffic impact of a commuter school at this location…a concern that apparently is of the lowest priority to the Board of Trustees.
10th Site Advisory Task Force Mission
The members are supposed to gather data that can allow the Trustees to decides among 4 school types…for the Safeway/Old Mill site. Members are asked to gather data around 9 topics, but IMHO only 6 topics are really feasible. Without knowing what kind of construction/remodels the 4 school types might require, it seems IMPOSSIBLE to estimate the capital and operating costs, and the timing of when a school could open. Or are they just going to assume the old $75M for a 900 student school?
Why was “diverse” crossed out by me? Because in the document it says that applicants with LASD “affiliations” were most sought. The members selected by the Trustees are “members of the choir” with the same bias.
Notice the “top” priority for the Trustees is “LASD academic excellence and LASD equity”as defined in its Local Control Accountability Plan or LCAP as its fondly known. Traffic and Safety are the lowest and were initially not even on the list. Do ya think it’s a stacked deck?
Marathon Meeting Sessions Ahead
The 10th Site Advisory Task Force will be putting in four very long days — 4 meetings of 6 – 7 hours — compressed within the month of May. The hired gun facilitator will control who has the talking stick. The hired gun facilitator will also write the report that goes to the board…for a June meeting to be blessed.
The meetings are open to the public and will operate on a Brown Act basis. That means only 4 of the 9 members can conspire with each other between meetings.
Apparently, public comments can be taken. I hope it is announced whether that is at the beginning or at the end of a meeting!?
What members of the public have the endurance to attend?! If you go please make an audio tape. Perhaps we can all share? A dropbox folder? If you’ve got a smart phone, you have a recorder!
Resources:
Item I.2 10th Advisory Task Force
B. City of Mountain View Letter
