Mental Health, Bonds, Egan Presentation, 10th Site, and More!

---

---

The Monday, May 6, 2024, LASD Board meeting will start its open session at 7:00pm and contemporaneous public comments may only be made in person in the LASD Board Room. We use the Zoom webinar platform for community members to follow our meetings at home. If you cannot attend in person, and have a comment that you would like the LASD Board to consider in its decision making, please email all of us at [email protected].  To register to watch the board meeting from the comfort of your home, click here.  The entire agenda and supporting documentation for this week's meeting can be found here.

Before we get started with regular business, we will hear from Egan Junior High.  Representatives will share information both about their visit by a Taiwanese delegation and about the AVID program.

We will start regular business with a Mental Health Update given by Claire Crane.  This is a discussion item and her presentation can be found under agenda item I.1.  In her report, Claire outlines the social emotional learning all our students receive, the support some students received from therapists, and that others receive from a more specialized school psychologists.  Historically, and through this last year, LASD contracted with CHAC for therapy services at all our elementary schools and received grants from El Camino Hospital for services at our Junior Highs. CHAC has been subsumed by Pacific Clinics and their pricing is considerably more than prior years.  LASD is considering contracting with Adolescent Counseling Services to replace the services provided by CHAC because of pricing and breadth of services they can offer our students (including 2 bilingual therapists).   

Next, Jeremy Hauser of Team CivX and Jessica Polsky-Sanchez of EMC Research will present Bond Survey Results. This is a discussion item and their presentation can be found under agenda item I.2. In March 2024, EMC Research conducted a mixed mode (telephone, texting, email) poll of LASD likely voters for the November 2024 election about placing a possible facilities bond on the ballot for aging facilities and over crowded junior highs.  The key findings included that the economic outlook of voters is more positive than last year at the same time, support for a bond is right around threshold for passing, with some minimal fluctuation when presented with more information on the benefits of a bond. Repairing aging facilities and replacing and/or removing old portables, along with providing 10 schools for 10 sites polled well.     

Then, Superintendent Sandra McGonagle, along with Trustee Shali Sirkay, and myself will give an update on LASD/BCS Discussions.  LASD representatives met with BCS representatives on April 23rd to continue discussions and have another meeting schedule for May 14th.    

Erik Walukiewicz will next present a Resolution for Award of Alternative Design Build Contract for 10th Site.  This is an action item and the resolution and contracts can be found under agenda item I.4 and I.5.  The District issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to identify prequalified design-build entities that could construct the 10th Site and then subsequently issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to those prequalified entities.  Blach Construction scored the highest and was the firm chosen by the District.  The Board is asked to approve the contract with Blach that contains contingencies if the District does not pass a bond and cannot build out the 10th site.   

Sandra will then present a Board Governance Handbook.  This is a discussion item and the draft can be found under agenda item I.6.  A couple of months ago, the Board had a study session to start the process of memorializing our Board norms, expectations, and practices.  Staff took our guidance/direction and poured it into this draft Board Governance Handbook.  

Next, Erik will present a Resolution Authorizing the Issuance of Ta and Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRAN).  This is an action item and the resolution can be found under agenda item I.7.  Every Spring the Board is asked to authorize these notes because we incur expenses over the summer before we receive our portion of the property tax revenue from Santa Clara County.  This year we are being asked to borrow $8,000,000.  

Then, Erik will present a Contract for Food Service Vendor.  This is an action item and the contract with The LunchMaster can be found under agenda item I.8.  LASD does not have a central kitchen.  In order to supply the Universal Meals (breakfast and lunch) mandated (and partially funded) by the state, LASD has to outsource the procurement of the meals.  For the past couple of years LASD contracted with Revolution Foods to supply these meals, but there were plenty of student and parent complaints.  The District considered a bunch of vendors, with taste tests involving staff, students and parents and The LunchMaster rose to the top. 

Erik will next present Resolutions Authorizing the Issuance of General Obligation Bonds and  Requesting the Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County to Establish Tax Rate for Bonds of the Los Altos School District Expected to be Sold During Fiscal Year 24-25. This is an action item and the resolutions and supporting documents can be found under agenda items I.9 and I.10.  In late 2019 LASD issued $65,000,000 of the $150,000,000 in bonds allowed by the Measure N bond election in November 2014.  Also in 2019, LASD issued bond anticipation notes to cover the cost of the development rights that came with 10th site that the District was selling.  The Board is asked to approve the issuance of General Obligation bonds in an amount up to $85,000,000 to be used to repay the bond anticipation notes and for capital projects approved by the voters in 2014.  The Board is also asked to approve the resolution asking the Board of Supervisors to effectuate the tax collection that comes along with issuing the bonds (approved by the voters in 2014). 

Last, but definitely not least, Sandra has a bunch of Board Policy Updates and Deletions for the Board to review.  This is a discussion item and all of the Board Policies Updates can be found under agenda items I.11 and I.12.  The California School Boards Association (CSBA) frequently advises local school districts on updates and deletions to board policies, bylaws and regulations based on recent changes to California state law and regulations and our Board gradually updates our policies based on CSBA's recommendations. 

Please note, this is just the highlights of what is on the agenda for the 5/6/24 meeting.  You can inform yourself about the rest of the agenda at the link provided above.  As always, feel free to email me with any questions.