CC MIN 1978 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

, 354'. "6. Walkway at Ford School "7. What are the impacts on the City's neighborhood goals and ob�ectives in neighborhoods affected by Board decision? "8. Ethnic balance "9. Will the City be expected to provide support services to ease , the burdens associated with dislocation resulting from school closuresT "10. City/School Liaison Committee "11, Community concept at Hoover School") Council and Board members and City Manager Fales and Superintendent Wilson then commented and replied to questions relating to the anticipated closing of Washington School, the proposed redistribution of students, the need to close an intermediate school soon, either McKinley or Hoover, and the various ramificattons of the final decision depending upon which is closed; the impact on the District of declining school enrollment, deterioration of facilities, required integratton of Spanish surname students, and re- duced income in the face of increased costs and the expectations of students and parents, the difficulty in choosing between neighborhood schools and quality education; and the social and economic aspects related to difficult decisions dictated by the desire of the Board to meet educational needs of students. Discussion continued concerning the proposed voucher system of education and the "can of worms" its adoption would represent, whether or not tncreased ' school enrollment may be expected by 1990, the impossibility of developing necessary long range school planning in view of limited budgets and rigid, sometimes conflicting, requirements for school districts, the possible in- crease in private and parochial school enrollments if parents are not satisfied with public schools, the limited uses which are permitted of funds derived by school districts from sale of surplus property, the re- quirement that surplus property must be sold if it cannot be leased or otherwise used, eliminating the possibility of the "land banking" which might be desirable In response to request, Board members and Mr. Wilson described the required procedures relating to sale of surplus school property or closing of a school, noting that the basic steps are. 1) appointment of an advisory committee involving affected groups who will conduct public meetings and make a recommendation to the Board, 2) final decision by the Board, and 3) closing or appraisal of the property and sale Discussion continued concerning the latitude allowed the Board with regard to disposition of surplus property and the fact that additional steps could be added to the basic procedure such as retaining an economic consultant. It was pointed out that because each �urisdiction operates by itself under present law, it is not possible to calculate actual costs to taxpayers of various alternatives. For example, a decision which might be most economi- cal for the school district might easily increase other costs to the City, SamTrans, etc. The District was forced to discontinue bussing of students ' because of the higher priority for use of the funds to provide education with the result that the City is faced with the need for more crossing guards and SamTrans must increase available transportation to accorrnnodate the students, resulting in greater net cost to the taxpayer than the cost of operating the school buses. Jt.Mtg 10/23/78 Page 2 /5 �'