Coming Events: Monday Meeting

This Monday's Board meeting should prove interesting for a couple of reasons:

1) BCS is presenting to our Board.
By far the most difficult part of our relationship with BCS is predicting their facilities needs. When they originally filed their charter 6 years ago, they told everyone they were aiming to be a "small school" of fewer than 300 students. They are now 381 students, and their recent facilities request for 2011-12 asks for space for >450 students. The LASD Board is required t provide facilities each year, but it's difficult to do this without an understanding of what their plans look like. A few weeks ago, we approached the BCS Board and invited them to come share their longer term plans with us so that we can make better decisions about how we'll meet our Prop 39 obligations.

I'm excited about this discussion, because it's the first time we've done something like this. I hope it is another step on a journey of working well together, and I look forward to ths discussion.

2) The Blach Water District project is on the docket.
We'll be hearing from the Santa Clara Water District about their request to use the Blach athletic fields as a flood basin to provide protection in the event of a 100-year flood. Their "pitch" is that we provide access to the land, and in the process, they'll be providing substantial improvements to the fields (new synthetic turf, etc.)

Along with the Water Board, we'll also be hearing from some neighbors who are opposed to the project. I'm glad to have the chance to have both groups in one place, and have the chance to hear both sides together. Weighing a project like this involves measuring the benefit to the community and weighing the impact that has on a different group. It's not an easy discussion, but it'll certainly be interesting.


I look forward to seeing many of you on Monday! Also, feel free to drop me a line with your thoughts on either of these issues.