Finding a Home for BCS

At Monday's Board meeting, we spent a fair bit of time discussing how we'll find a permanent home for BCS. A few weeks ago, we received a report from CACF that boils down the options fairly succinctly:

• Vacate an LASD school and give BCS the campus
• Acquire land and build a campus either directly for BCS, or move BCS to an existing campus and that campus to the new facility
• Share 1 or more campus site(s) with BCS

There's no big revelation in the findings, but it helped to focus this most recent discussion.  The Board spoke at length about what process we might follow, and where that might need to go.

{  I will reiterate that this is my personal blog, and I don't speak for the rest of the Board.  If you're interested in the thoughts of other Board members, you'll need to ask them directly.  }

Most of the options have some serious price tags- ranging from a few million up to $50-$70M.  No matter what we decide to expend, this is really a community decision.  If we decide to build a new campus (either for LASD or for BCS use) that would be at the high end of the cost scale, and it's going to require a substantial bond to finance it.  On the other hand, moving around existing LASD pupils will also have community impact.  If we go that route, we'll want to hear from folks about what options make the most sense and why.

We did identify some steps that need to be clearly included in the process- things like an EIR (Environmental Impact Report), community surveys, etc.  I expect we'll have a number of hearings on the topic, and spend quite a bit of time weighing options.  This process is not one we can rush- while it seems simple to say "just make a decision", we can't just push something through.  Our district enjoys a very close relationship and support from our community.  We will need to weigh the needs of all constituencies- including BCS- as we arrive at the right decision.

I look forward to engaging with you all to develop workable solutions that help all of our students.  As we finalize the schedule, I'll continue to write about it and post it here.