Highlights – School Board Special Meeting of December 6, 2006, Annual Organization Meeting of December 13, 2006, Regular Meeting of December 13, 2006, Regular Meeting of January 16, 2007, Special Meeting of January 17, 2007, Special Meeting of January 30, 2007 and Regular Meeting of February 15, 2007

Highlights of special and regular meetings of the Menlo Park City School District Board of Education held during December 2006, January 2007 and February 2007 are presented for your information. (The text of Official Minutes is posted to the District Website following Board approval.)

Highlights of the December 6, 2006, Special Board Meeting:

The Special Meeting was the first of a series of three Special Meetings of the Board to receive input regarding issues and challenges related to the development of the Hillview Middle School campus and to determine design criteria for the project.

• The Board conducted a Public Hearing.
• The following Design Criteria for the Development of the Hillview Middle School Campus was unanimously adopted by the Board:

1.     Design will reflect values of the current educational program into the 21^st Century.

2.     Design will accommodate the projected enrollment with flexibility if the current projection changes.

3.     Design will ensure the most effective use of available funds.

4.     Design will assure most cost effective ongoing operations, such as utilities and maintenance.

5.     Design will demonstrate intended use of campus for at least 30 years.

6.     Design will maximize use of a small campus ensuring necessary open space.

7.     Design will address traffic and improve parking.

8.     Design will reasonably mitigate operational impacts on neighbors.

9.     Design will reasonably mitigate impacts of school operations during construction.

10.  Design will promote campus security.

11.  Design will aesthetically reflect the values and perspectives of the community.

12.  Design will reflect modern environmental standards.

13.  Design shall meet the developmental needs of the middle school child promoting a strong sense of community and inclusion.

Highlights of the December 13, 2006, Annual Organization Meeting:

The Board held its Annual Organization Meeting on December 13, 2006. Trustee Terry Thygesen was elected as President of the Board, Trustee Bruce Ives was elected as Clerk of the Board, and Trustee Deborah Fitz was elected as the Board’s Representative to the San Mateo County Committee on School District Organization.

The following Board Committee assignments were made:

The following School Board meeting calendar for 2006-07 was reviewed and unanimously adopted:

Highlights of the December 13, 2006, Regular Board Meeting:

• SummerHill Homes committed to donate $100,000 to the Menlo Park City School District to mitigate operating costs for the SummerHill Community of Distinction. The Donation will be in addition to regular developer impact fees.

• Board Resolution 06.07.12 requesting the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to issue and sell $35 million of bonds in accordance with the successful passage of the Bond on June 6, 2006, was unanimously adopted by the Board.
• In an emergency action by the Board, the Superintendent was authorized to submit a letter of opposition to the San Mateo County Committee on School District Organization in the matter of a request for annexation of a property from the Ravenswood City School District into the Menlo Park City School District.
• Superintendent Ranella reported that contractual services are being considered to look into nutritional standards to support the food program provided by the PTO.
• Architectural plans for the Education Resource Center to be built on the Encinal School property were presented for review. Intended purposes for the Resource Center include: providing a permanent facility for the Technology Department as well as a facility for storage and distribution of elementary science materials and kits; storage centralization; providing a permanent office for the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation; providing permanent offices for certificated staff serving multiple schools (i.e., BTSA Coordinator, Language Arts Lead Teacher and EL support person). Additional purposes include: additional meeting/training/conference facility; work space for curriculum/instructional leadership staff; an interim facility for management of facility development projects; and in the future the opportunity to house maintenance, transportation and operations programs.
• Facility Planner/Program Manager Ahmad Sheikholeslami reported on the development of summer 2007 construction projects that included interim housing at Encinal School; infrastructure and site work at Encinal; Pre-school at Laurel; infrastructure and site work at Laurel; beginning of remodeling of four primary classrooms for Kindergarten/Kindergarten Playground; Development of Encinal School Athletic Field.
• A report on the development of the District’s Environmental Guidelines was presented for the Board, with the goal being to build schools that are healthy, comfortable, efficient, environmentally responsive and easy to maintain and operate. CHPS (Collaborative High Performance Schools) sustainable environmental guidelines of the Division of the State Architect are being considered.
• Site Design Standards for the Elementary School Campuses, reflecting the reconfiguration of the elementary schools as adopted by the Board, were unanimously approved by the Board.
• The Superintendent was authorized by the Board to enter into the following contracts with consultants: Benson Lee Consulting (CEQA Documentation and Associated Services) – not to exceed $13,500; Mike Slater (Bond Budget Accounting and Controls Systems) – not to exceed $10,000; Sandis (Topographical Surveys) – not to exceed $154,000; North Tower Environmental (Asbestos and Lead Consulting Services) – not to exceed $134,000; Murray Engineers Inc. (Geotechnical Services) – not to exceed $150,000; RGM and Associates (Program Management) – hourly rate per mutually agreeable schedule.
• The revised District Emergency Plan was unanimously adopted by the Board. Assistant Vice Principal Linda Creighton facilitated the review and revision of the Plan.
• The First Interim Budget for 2006-07 and certification that the District will be able to meet its financial obligations was unanimously approved by the Board.
• The Board unanimously approved authorization of an additional Occupational Therapist position (44 days for 2006-07 fiscal year) and the employment of Jennifer Devich in that position.
• The Board unanimously approved adoption of Resolution 06.07.13 which provided for the addition of the County Superintendent of Schools to the membership of the SELPA Governing Board.
• Resolution 06.07.14, authorizing funding the unfunded liabilities of the Retiree Health Benefit Program, was unanimously adopted by the Board.
• The Board unanimously approved adoption of Resolution 06.07.15 establishing a special fund in the District Budget (Fund 20) to hold the District contribution of the unfunded liabilities of the District Retiree Health Benefit Program.
• Resolution 06.07.16, transferring $94,325 from Fund 01 to Fund 20, was unanimously adopted by the Board.

       The Board unanimously approved placing the name of Carrie Du Bois, San Carlos School District Trustee, in nomination for the CSBA Delegate Assembly.

Highlights of the January 16, 2007, Regular Board Meeting: 

• In response to substantial Community interest regarding a District Transportation Program, a Feasibility Study prepared by Mike Rea, Director of the Sonoma West County Transportation Agency, and FCMAT Representative Barbara Dean was conducted. Mr. Rea and Ms Dean were present for questions from the Board regarding their study.
• The District’s Audit Report for 2005-06, prepared by C. G. Uhlenberg, was accepted and unanimously approved by the Board.
• A presentation and draft resolution was made regarding CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools).
• The Board unanimously authorized the implementation and costs associated with the Summer School Instructional Program for 2007.
• The Board unanimously approved authorization to move to the design development phase for the Teacher Education Resource Center to be built at Encinal School.
• Authorization to proceed on summer facility projects was unanimously approved by the Board.
• Superintendent Ranella reported on the first meeting of the Bond Oversight Committee, held on January 9, 2007. Mr. Les Koonce was selected by the Committee to serve as Chair and Mark Box was selected to serve as Vice Chair. The Committee’s Bylaws were revised to reflect the term for Chair and Vice Chair as a one-year term rather than a two-year term, and that the Vice Chair would normally succeed the Chair annually.

Highlights of the January 17, 2007, Special Board Meeting:

Three separate Interdistrict Attendance Appeals filed on behalf of families currently not residing in the Menlo Park City School District and wishing to attend school in the District were each considered in a Closed Session with the Board. It was the unanimous decision of the Board to uphold the administrative decision to deny each of the three Interdistrict Transfers.

Highlights of the January 30, 2007, Special Board Meeting:

District Music Teacher Richard Vaughan was honored with a Board Resolution for attaining teaching’s highest honor, National Board Certification.

This Special Meeting was the second of a series of three Special Meetings of the Board to receive public input regarding issues and challenges related to the development of the Hillview Middle School campus and to receive direction from the Board in determining design options for the project.

Design Options and an analysis of the options for the Hillview campus were presented by Superintendent Ranella, District Facility Planner/Program Manager Ahmad Sheikholeslami, and District Consultants Erwin Lee (Architect) and Ralph Caputo (Project Manager).

Principal Directions for consideration, established by the Board, follow:

1. Add buildings/facilities to the current campus
2. Rebuild all or part of the existing campus, introducing new 2-story facilities
3. Build new buildings/facilities on the current athletic field, replacing the existing building/facilities with a new field

The Board received input during the Public Hearing.

Following is the Board’s direction to staff and the District Facilities Subcommittee Consultants:

• Within the general framework of Option D, 1) evaluate other footprint options, particularly as related to the aesthetics and placement of the basketball courts and with the goal of further optimizing playing field and open space; 2) investigate the potential of sinking some buildings below grade; and 3) provide elevation renderings of potential designs under consideration.
• Evaluate the potential of phasing construction as a way to overcome the logistics of Option E (Replacement of Campus on Existing Site).
• Provide more detailed analysis on the timing, cost and logistics.
• Present more detail on operational cost savings.

• The Board unanimously authorized the Superintendent to enter into the Joint Use Agreement with the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation.
• The following facility-related Resolutions were unanimously approved by the Board: Resolution 06.07.22 allowing for the application for Joint-Use Funding through the OPSC and the State Allocation Board’s 2006-07 competitive process for the construction and operation of a Teacher Education Resource Facility (eligible for $1 million in State funding to be matched by the District’s bond funds); Resolution 06.07.23 authorizing the District to file applications with the OPSC as required to obtain new construction funding (based on 2006-07 CBEDS, the District’s total current new construction eligibility is $7,021,231.00); Resolution 06.07.24 authorizing the District to file applications with the OPSC to obtain modernization funding for Laurel Elementary School (as of January 2007, the State allowance for modernization is $3,262.00 per student for a total base grant of $1,223,250.00 with the District contributing an additional $489,300.00 as its share of the base grant).
• Superintendent Ranella reported that Public Hearings were conducted by the San Mateo County Committee on School District Organization in the matter of a request for annexation of a property from the Ravenswood City School District into the Menlo Park City School District on February 6 (in Ravenswood) and February 13 (in Menlo Park).
• Superintendent Ranella and Chief Business Official Diane White presented a report to the Board on the development of the preliminary budget for 2007-08 and potential increases to the expenditure budget.
• Special Meetings of the Board to provide neighbors, parents and other Community members an opportunity to review facility plans and provide comments were scheduled as follows:
• Special Meeting to review plans for the Laurel and Encinal School campuses on March 13, 7:00 p.m. (to follow Regular Board Meeting at 6:00 p.m.), in the Encinal School Library
• Special Meeting to review plans for Oak Knoll School on March 19, 7:00 p.m., in the Oak Knoll Library
• Superintendent Ranella reported that on February 6^th Morgan Stanley had the winning bid for the sale of the Bond with a True Interest Cost of 4.397719%.
• In accordance with AB 1482, actual costs of $17,318,981.01 and total costs as a percent of principal amount of bonds of 49.48% was reported to the Board.
• The Board unanimously approved adoption of amended Resolution 06.07.21 CHPS Environmental Guidelines.
• The 2007-08 Student Calendar was unanimously approved by the Board

• The Board unanimously voted to nominate David Mineta (Jefferson Union HSD), Carrie Du Bois (San Carlos ESD), Maria Diaz-Slocum (Redwood City ESD), and Laura Rich (Menlo Park City School District) for the CSBA Delegate Assembly.

A special meeting of the Board regarding Hillview Middle School is scheduled for March 6, 2007, 7:00 p.m. at Hillview Middle School. The next regular meeting of the Board is scheduled for March 13 at 6:00 p.m., with a Special Meeting to follow at 7:00 p.m. regarding Laurel and Encinal Schools. The Special meeting will be held in the Encinal School Library. A special meeting regarding Oak Knoll School is scheduled for March 19 at 7:00 p.m. at Oak Knoll School.

(The text of official Minutes is posted to the District Web Site following Board approval.)