Highlights – School Board Regular meeting of October 11, 2005

The Menlo Park City School District Board of Education held a regular and a special meeting in October. Highlights of the August 24, 2005, and September 14, 2005, are presented for your information. The next School Board meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 9, in the Board Room at the District Office, 181 Encinal Avenue, Atherton. (The text of Official Minutes is posted to the District Website following Board approval.)

Highlights of the October 11, 2005, Regular Board Meeting:

• The Board voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 05.06.8 authorizing the refunding of the 1998 Series B Facility Bond which will result in a savings of approximately $400,000 for interest payments by the citizens of the Menlo Park City School District.
  
  
• A demonstration of the capabilities and potential uses of SChool Plan, data warehousing system, was presented by Technology Director Jim Bowlby.
  
  
• Assistant Superintendent Jo Sauer Mitchell announced that the 21^st Century Classroom Project, funded by the Menlo-Atherton Education Foundation through the Excellence in Teaching Initiative, was successfully launched the week of September 19. Laurel, Encinal, Oak Knoll and Hillview are represented by the first cohort of fourteen teachers. Tami Girsky is the Facilitator/Leader/Coach of the Project.
  
  
• The annual CBEDS (California Basic Education Data System) report was presented for the Board. The District’s enrollment as of October 5 was 2,133 students.
  
  
• The Board had a first reading and discussion of Board Policies 5116.2, Class Size and School Assignments, 5116.1, Intradistrict Open Enrollment, and 5022, Student and Family Privacy Rights. A second reading is scheduled for the November 9 regular meeting of the Board.
  
  
• The District Emergency Preparedness Plan was unanimously approved by the Board.
  
  
• A Public Hearing on the Adequacy of Pupil Textbook and Instructional Materials for 2005-06 was held. The Board unanimously adopted Resolution 05.06.9 Assurance of Compliance: 2005-06 Pupil Textbook and Instructional Materials Incentive Programs – Adequacy of Pupil Textbooks and Instructional Materials.
  
  
• A Public Hearing was held on the Initial Proposal for Reopeners to the 2003-06 Contract for the Menlo Park Education Association (MPEA).
  
  
• A Public Hearing was held on the District’s Response to MPEA’s Initial Reopeners to the 2003-06 Contract. The Board unanimously voted to adopt the District’s Response.
  
  
• The Facility Planning and Decision Making Guidelines to steer deliberations regarding planning, discussion and decisions of actual design options for District facilities were unanimously approved by the Board.

Highlights of the October 25, 2005 Special Board Meeting:

• Information compiled over the past year concerning facility issues, including conditions and needs of the school campuses, options for facility development related to identified program needs, financial options for funding facility projects, and a demographic study to project the challenges of anticipated growth in student enrollment was presented for the Board’s consideration. Demographer Tom Williams of Enrollment Projection Consultants, Architect Erwin Lee of Deems, Lewis and McKinley, and Project Manager Ralph Caputo each presented information and answered questions from the Board. Information presented represents best conceptual thinking and is a step in the District’s facility planning process. Superintendent Ranella said the next step will be to have discussions with parents, the Menlo Park Atherton Education Foundation, the City of Menlo Park and the Town of Atherton, and the Community at large to receive input.