Facilities at Santa Clara Unified School District are getting some attention thanks to Measure BB funds. At the Board of Trustees special meeting on Tuesday, May 3, they discussed plans for Briarwood, Bracher, Westwood, and Laurelwood elementary schools.
Elementary Schools’ Draft Master Plans
Briarwood, Bracher and Westwood elementary schools are due for some TLC. Director of Facility Development and Planning Michal Healy and her team have been meeting with the schools’ communities to make sure they’re building a campus that meets their needs.
At Bracher, the two proposed options aim to solve the main concerns of the community including parking and traffic, space constraints in the multipurpose rooms and administration, removing portables, more restrooms, and more ideas from the community. Both options are similar, but, for example, the library in Option 1 has it to the south while Option 2 has it at the front of the school.
At Briarwood, they are similarly concerned about parking and drop-off but also want to beautify the front of campus, utilize administration and the multipurpose room, and add more shade to name a few from their wish list. Facilities want to elongate the drop-off lane as well as create an early childhood cluster. Option 1 would modernize the multipurpose room and build a new kitchen. Option 2 repurposes the current multipurpose room into a library and then creates a new one with a kitchen. In addition, the community said they wanted separate play areas for upper and lower grades. Maria Madrigal from LPA Architects said they’re already addressing this.
Board Vice President Vickie Fairchild wanted to know more about the fencing in the area to separate what is school property and what is the park. Healy said they plan on installing fencing and a gate, but the neighbors will still be able to access the park.
The Westwood community was worried about parking and drop-off because of the adjacency to Saratoga Avenue. They also want to update Westwood’s aesthetics and utilize the beautiful trees that already exist on campus. The flow of the campus needs work and they want bigger administration and student support spaces. Healy and her team were thinking of extending the parking and drop-off to hopefully rework the flow of drop-off. In Option 1, they propose a two-story building for classrooms. In Option 2, they create a new library and STEM space to the south. The options also have different locations for the multipurpose rooms. They are already hearing feedback that the community wants to see a combination of Options 1 and 2 with their favorite bits from each plan.
These plans are in constant motion after more feedback comes in. They will work on costs and prioritization and bring this back to the Board.
Master Plan Schedule
On a similar note, Healy asked the Board to consider slowing down facilities planning a bit to make sure they have the best plans in place for the Briarwood, Bracher and Westwood communities.
There are some big decisions they have to make. One is Early Education. Healy asked if the Board favors Early Education being disbursed throughout the District at every site or having it condensed to two or more larger sites?
Another decision is about Special Education. What kind of quantity and type of special education facilities do the sites need to be equipped for? Will there be more integration at all sites or just some? There are considerations like sensory play areas, more bathrooms, changing areas, bigger classrooms, etc.
When it comes to elementary school planning, they need more discussions. What facilities do they want on every campus? What would an outdoor learning space look like?
With these and other decisions still needing more feedback from school communities, Healy asked the Board if they should power ahead or slow down and adjust their course? Slowing down wouldn’t impact projects that still could be done like security upgrades.
“We would have some of these discussions over the next six months and then we would have to a conclusion and pick back up these Master Plans,” said Healy. “Once those decisions have been made, we’ll be able to really get in and make the Master Plan more meaningful for these campuses and figure out how to move forward with the projects that are in Measure BB.”
The Board agreed to delay a bit to adjust the course.
Laurelwood Size
How big should the new Laurelwood Elementary School at the Patrick Henry site be? It feels like the Board and community have talked about this more times than they can remember, but with declining enrollment and other schools also needing Measure BB funds, Healy asked the question again.
Healy presented updated data with more information, but the Laurelwood community dismissed it. Saying that birth rates and enrollment history weren’t reliable when deciding how big the school should be.
Construction costs were estimated using assumptions about the cost per square footage and the average square footage needed per student as well as inflation. Healy said Measure BB set aside $98,865,000 for a 600-student Laurelwood. Using the same options as the previous meeting, Scenario 1, a 650 student school (600 plus Special Education), would now be $199,533,045, so over $20 million would be needed from the Measure BB reserves on top of the $98 million planned. Scenario 2, a 650-student school with facilities built for 800 and classrooms planned for the additional 200 students would be $140,200,720, requiring about $41 million in reserves. Scenario 3, an 800-student school would be $148,737,368 and would require about $49 million in reserves. Healy stated that scope reserves and escalation reserves are built into Measure BB.
To provide a bigger picture, Healy listed out projects at other school sites that Measure BB funds could be used for. The community members were frustrated that the District was pitting school communities against each other. President Jodi Muirhead said she received similar comments and reassured the community that it wasn’t their intention and that they’re trying to make sure the budgets for all the Measure BB projects make sense.
“The fact is, we have a limited pot of money that has to serve the whole district and we have to make choices,” said Board Member Dr. Michele Ryan.
The Board debated the best course of action. They narrowed the choices down to Scenario 1 or 3 – so a 650 or 800-student school. Muirhead said she was concerned about overbuilding a school they may not be able to fill. Fairchild said there was too much new information and she was getting “whiplash.”
Board Member Albert Gonzalez made a motion for Scenario 1, a 650-student school. “This is a difficult decision for most of us… This is an opportunity for us to look towards the future and keep the community together,” said Gonzalez. However, the motion failed with Gonzalez and Dr. Ryan voting ‘yes,’ and Andy Ratermann, Jim Canova, Bonnie Lieberman and Muirhead voting ‘no,’ Fairchild abstained.
Canova motioned to go with Scenario 3, the 800-student school, and that passed with the same split. Fairchild apologized and said she couldn’t decide.
Laurelwood Principal
The Board unanimously approved Paul Fuller as the new Principal at Laurelwood Elementary. For the past seven years, he has served as Assistant Principal. Fuller has been a popular candidate for the role and this appointment has been a passionate topic for the community. For more on the appointment, please read Erika Towne’s in-depth coverage: https://www.svvoice.com/new-laurelwood-principal-named/
The Board also publicly announced that they are terminating the investigation involving Laurelwood.
The Board meets next on Thursday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m.
Great presentations by Michal Healy last night! I am very excited about all of the much needed renovations we will be doing at schools across the district.
The Board was successfully bullied by a few vocal community members from Laurelwood to build a school in a size the District does not need. The extra $30million could have been used at other schools sites but because the Board’s priority is appeasing the loudest, we are building a school for 300 students that do not exist. Apparently the “Santa Clara way” is bullying and whining until you get what YOU want, not what is best for our community as a whole. Trustee Fairchild and Lieberman are fully embedded in the pockets of the loudest, not what is right and fair.
I am not sure that you read the article or watched the board meeting. It takes four vote to pass not two. Fairchild abstained, which is as good as a no vote. The four who voted in favor were Muirhead, Raterman, Canova, and Liebermann. Get your facts straight before slinging accusations.
So…who was Fairchild pandering to when she advocated for special education facilities at SCHS?
And think of what could have been done for the Special Ed facilities at SCHS with only a fraction of the additional $30 million dollars going to the Laurelwood project…
It woudn’t be spent on Special Ed. Equity doesn’t exist for our sped students.
Sadly this is true, but we’ve now learned that the loud and persistent get their way with this Board.
Maybe it’s time for staff and parents to go to the Board every meeting to advocate for SCHS students.
Yes! You have to go to board meetings and pay attention to what the DO is NOT DOING and advocate for our students. It is the DO and the embarrassing leadership they have. Special Ed does nothing for Stella’s image so she won’t pay attention to that.
The board is not the obstacle. It’s the d.o. Have you watched any meetings? The d.o. undermines every attempt by the board to do something positive for sped students.
I fully support Special Ed and the facility. I was solely speaking to the size of the school they want to build. There is not 800 students at Laurelwood, or that want to attend Laurelwood at this time.
Fairchild and Lieberman pander to the their friends and customers(Lieberman) and the staff.
We thought the Board was dysfunctional because of Stampolis. THIS Board is way more dysfunctional and only care about their own special agendas.
I watch every single Board meeting.
Disappointed we didn’t get the new principal originally selected. They would’ve been a great asset to the District. With that, I’m looking forward to the new principal, as long as he can keep relationships with teachers fair and appropriate.0
Outtie 2000
Board, DO they all have no idea…building an elementary school for 800! Absolutely clueless and definitely not best for students.
Agreed. An elementary school should not have 800 students! Especially when other District schools have 200-300 students.
The Board made a bad decision and caved to the few that complained. We moved into the neighborhood for Laurelwood but are now looking at charter or private.
100% – get out if you have the option, Kemp is going nowhere and SCUSD is not good
Just an idea
Just an idea. I’ve noticed assistant principal Aaron Schomberg seems both competent and faithful and persevering over the years serving the Don Callejon community—in contrast to leaving after a very short time.
Here’s a crazy idea: How about reward the years of very competent and faithful service by assistant VP Schomberg at Don Callejon with the role of Principal of Don Callejon just as Laurelwood rewarded Paul Fuller’s years of competent and faithful service with the role as Principal?
Mr. Schomberg being named interim principal would provide a sense of continuity for the students of Don Callejon K-8 school. The social and emotional health of students as young as kindergarten and as old as 8th grade should not be neglected any longer.
Even captain Kirk let Spock fly the Enterprise when he was away visiting strange planets. Why not provide Mr. Schomberg the same courtesy Kirk provided Spock? Later the Federation of parents, staff, and other local stakeholders can choose the permanent new captain of the S.S. Don Callejon.
Just an idea.