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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2015-08-25 SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT CITY LIAISON SUB-COMMITTEE MEETING Minutes of the Meeting on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 South San Francisco Unified School District District Office–Board Room 398 B Street, South San Francisco, California CALL TO ORDER–3:00 p.m. by Vice President Judy Bush PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE–was led by SSF City Manager Mike Futrell Members present: SSFUSD Board President Judy Bush Councilmember Pradeep Gupta SSFUSD Trustee Rick Ochsenhirt Councilmember Liza Normandy SSFUSD Superintendent Shawnterra Moore City Manager Mike Futrell Others Present: SSFUSD Michael Krause, Assoc. Superintendent, Business Services SSFUSD Carmen Stone, Temporary Executive Assistant SSFUSD Board President Judy Bush introduced and welcomed Carmen Stone, who has been working temporarily as Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, and then introduced the new Superintendent, Dr. Shawnterra Moore. Councilmember Normandy led the Pledge of Alliance. 1) Public Comment—None 2) Approval of April 21, 2015 Meeting Minutes—Approved. 3) Genentech Biotech School Project Councilmember Gupta discussed the joint efforts and collaboration to encourage students to participate in biotechnology, and thanked the SSFUSD Board Members, Judy Bush and Maurice Goodman, and Superintendent Moore for their participation. He stated that a team has been working for about a year and a half and there are results. The school District has entered into a formal agreement with our biotech partners and have 25 students going through a special class to get educated and experienced with an internship to possibly enter into a biotechnology career. He stated that 25 students is not enough and that we have to continue to sustain this program by bringing in resources and by keeping the enthusiasm going. He talked about a website that has been created for the biotechnology program, and stated that he wants to be sure that all parties coordinate activities to help, i.e., grants and future activities to bolster the effectiveness, and said that the State, the Industry, Skyline College, and the Legislative Department are all involved, and that Genentech has increased their assistance to the school District. There is also a committee working on this effort that includes Judy Bush, Maurice Goodman, school faculty, along with City administrators. Bush stated that many District administrators sit in on the committee. Bush also talked about pathways to the workforce and stated that there were 100 applicants for the 25 student positions, so the interest and the need is here. Bush thanked Gupta for his vision to develop a committee on biotech. 4) Draft of Multi-Year Agreement Covering Childcare Facilities City Manager Mike Futrell stated that the City has a draft approved by the city attorney and they had provided it to the SSFUSD for review by the school board attorney. He stated that he had not received feedback and mentioned that was probably due to the leadership changes at the school District. He added that the ball was in the District's court. Moore stated that the District has looked at the agreement and will send a proposed second iteration to review and to hopefully bring everyone together on the same page. 5) Possible Development of School Surplus Properties City Manager Mike Futrell stated that moving forward with workforce housing for public employees is a hot topic throughout the Bay Area and said that County supervisors had it on their agenda three weeks ago, and that there have been several news articles about the Oakland School District moving forward with housing for teachers. He stated that he wants to aggressively put together a proposal that can move to City Council, and to the Trustees to build workforce housing for city and school employees, and said that at a recent meeting of about 70 new teachers, only about 3 stated that they live in the City, and stated that many can't afford to live here, which is not a sustainable model for the health of City government, and Page 1 of 9 probably not for the school District either. The City has a small parcel of land downtown and they will propose to council to build housing for firefighters, police officers, and other City employees. While the City has expertise in building housing, they are shy on land. Currently have enough to build 20 or 30 units and would like to explore surplus school property to build on. He stated that this has been on the agenda before and he'd like to see it become a reality. Futrell met with Kevin Mullin who said that he will assist in removing some of the legislative barriers for use of school surplus property for teacher housing. He stated that Mullin is committed to sponsoring legislation on the next ballot that will remove those barriers and will allow the school District to use some of their surplus property without risk or fear of another organization stepping in, if approved, for affordable housing for public employees. He stated that moving this forward would involve a joint MOU between the two organizations, and then hiring a consultant to evaluate and develop scenarios that might work. He stated that he's asked the City Attorney to draft an MOU to present to Moore for consideration by all. Councilmember Gupta asked who would pay for the consulting service. Futrell stated that they can debate that and stated that he has recommended that the City pay for the entire amount. Councilmember Normandy said they are looking at Foxridge, but there are safety concerns there. She talked about atrocious rents in South San Francisco. Bush stated that she is not opposed and is very sensitive to the needs for affordable housing for the community. She talked about Foxridge and the S Zone with regards to anything the school District does with school property and talked about the District being under obligation under the Ed Code to establish a District Advisory Committee and include a cross-section of the community. We would have to do the same for Foxridge, which has a tenant and is also being used for Measure J as a staging area for equipment. Bush added that on the District side they would have to look at all of these areas before moving forward. Trustee Rick Ochsenhirt stated that the City and the school District are two separate governing boards and said that the SSFUSD surplus property is low, that the District just went through a total reorganization, school has just started, the Big Lift is coming on, and there is much on the District's plates right now. He stated that all surplus property is being used right now, and that the District looks at their property for the District's use and that the idea of doing something with surplus property should come from the District, not the City. He added that he doesn't want the City or the City Attorney to waste their time as he doesn't think it will go forward at this time, and that he doesn't believe that they have the votes. Gupta pointed out that this is not a new topic, and clarified that the City Manager talked about initiating a draft MOU for review by the superintendent that would be a piece to discuss. The final piece, if approved, would be a jointly approved MOU draft for consideration by the Trustee Board and the City Council that can be accepted or rejected and that he doesn't want to pre-judge how everyone will vote. He stated that he wants the record to reflect that the City is not doing something out of the blue and are not trying to undercut the powers of the school Board, and added that he would like to see this subcommittee of the Trustee Board and the City Council work together in a new environment of trust and cooperation as we are all working for the kids and the residents of the City. Ochsenhirt clarified that he is speaking for himself, and that he has spoken with other Trustees, and while this may be on the lower end of goals for this year, it's not to say that it isn't number one on our"want" list to have teacher housing. Superintendent Moore stated that conceptually she thinks it's a great idea and asked what can we do in partnership to make this work. She stated that this conversation was taken back to a Board meeting after the last City Subcommittee meeting and was presented as a topic to discuss and there was no further discussion at that point. She stated that she is open to engaging in a dialogue about it, and stated what she's hearing from her Board of Trustees is that right now there are a lot of projects happening in the District, and there are processes that we have to go through, and that while she senses the urgency by Futrell, the District has many other projects that they are trying to get through successfully prior to jumping on this. Bush confirmed what Moore stated and said that she and Trustee Ochsenhirt would report out at the next Board Meeting that this conversation took place on this agenda item and that she will let the Board members know that this has come forward. Bush reiterated that with school reopening this week we have many things and projects to take care of now, therefore the housing cannot be on the top of the list right now. Councilmember Normandy stated that Ochsenhirt's tone was abrupt and asked that he be open to conversation without being abrupt. Ochsenhirt stated maybe he was abrupt because he doesn't want anyone to waste their time as he doesn't see the Board or the leadership doing anything with the surplus property right now. Futrell stated that there's been a lot said about what he said or didn't say, and said he's had no communication from anyone at the school system about what has happened in the District's meetings or as a result of prior subcommittee meetings. He stated that this has been on prior agendas. He stated that he was shocked by the tone and demeanor of the meeting. He added that there is a housing agency, a housing fund designed to build affordable housing, and S Zoning and procedure on how to build affordable housing and they all go through the City and City Council, and stated that it's impossible for the school District to build affordable housing without the City Council. He stated that moving forward Page 2 of 9 with an MOU made sense. He then said to Moore that from their discussions where they previewed the agenda to forecast any conflicts to resolve ahead of time it would have been helpful had she raised this as an objection at that time. Bush confirmed that the item has been on the agenda and stated that in fairness to Moore she was not present at all meetings to know exactly where we were and from a leadership standpoint and that Moore is getting up to speed on a lot of these issues. Moore stated, for the record, that in her meeting with Futrell she stated that she first wanted to have the dialogue before drafting the MOU. 6) Traffic Concerns at Hillside School Judy Bush said she was looking to the City for assistance and stated that now with the Big Lift going to Hillside School she assumes that traffic is going to be increased, and that in looking at the street going into Hillside, coming from Chestnut, there is no pedestrian walkway, that she doesn't believe there's a painted crosswalk, and that there's no sidewalk on the Hillside side, and this could be hazardous. She asked if this could be something that the Board can work on with the City, or is it a State property. Gupta and Bush discussed a bridge that was there at one time, but was demolished for being unsafe. Bush said her main concern is with the walking traffic. Futrell stated that from a City perspective it's a four-lane, 40 mph road, and per the code they are not allowed to have crosswalks and the idea of modifying the streets, the sidewalks, and the necessary safety zone in the middle is a very expensive proposition that currently the City does not have the funds to address. Brian, a City employee, said this is not as simple as stripes and signs and that it would be a larger capital project. Bush discussed the option of a traffic light and Futrell said that would be regulated by national standards. Brian said this would have to be studied. Gupta said he lives close by and sees fast traffic, and higher activity with the Big Lift coming and said we have to figure out how we can make it safer and said it's better to be proactive than wait for things to fall apart. Bush said she's on the Safe Rides to School email list and often gets updates, and stated that is an agency that was possibly looking at providing some grant assistance with regards to that area. She asked for clarification on the area and asked if it was controlled by the City or State. Brian confirmed that in that location the right of way is with the City. Normandy asked Brian if the school District was open to putting up another pedestrian walkway, would they be able to present to the City on opportunities to reduce fees or permits to expedite a pedestrian bridge for safety. Brian confirmed and said if the school District wanted to take the lead to build the pedestrian bridge, they would certainly partner with that, and he's sure there would be some relief the Council could approve on fees. Bush confirmed that a pedestrian passage is her main concern. Ochsenhirt asked Bush and Normandy, who were both on the school board when the old bridge was torn down, if they had looked to repair and keep the bridge. Normandy said that, yes, they looked at that, but for safety it was better to tear it down and rebuild it. Bush added that it wasn't worth the cost because of safety issues. 7) Update on Measure J Projects and Timeline Mr. Michael Krause gave an update on Measure J construction projects and stated that Junipero Serra Elementary School is the smallest project that they had over the summer and while there was an issue with the delivery of roofing materials, which caused a delay, the project is almost complete. He then discussed Parkway Heights Middle School and said the project is ongoing, there have been lots of construction, and they opened three buildings by the August school opening, and should have a few more completed by September 30th. He stated that one of the issues is the elevators, which are managed by Otis Elevator who works on their own timeline. He stated that October 2016 is the expected time for completion of construction at Parkway Heights. Krause then reported that Buri Buri Elementary School is one of the most active sites and is one of the largest construction projects as it is mainly a new school site with new buildings. It is in phases and they opened up several new buildings for school and are currently working on demolition. He pointed to recent news articles about concerned neighbors, and talked about a giant mound of dirt one as one concern, and said that eventually the mound will be leveled and that will eliminate the issue of dust. He stated that the District has covered the mound at the inactive site, but they can't do that with the active site, which is under the control of the contractor, and stated that while the District can make recommendations, the contractor has the final say. Krause stated that District staff, along with fire and safety departments, go up to give suggestions about what can be done to mitigate concerns of the residents. The District is offering two car wash vouchers for the residents, and will do the same when the project is completed—estimated completion time is spring 2016. They also have a street sweeper that waters down and sweeps to mitigate the dust and dirt. Krause stated that the District is working on resolving several other issues. Krause then reported on two small projects at Los Cerritos Elementary School and Sunshine Gardens Elementary School that will start in the summer and winter break and will start in full force when students get out of school in late spring. He then talked about Martin Elementary School, which the District will be working on, and stated that these three projects are all scheduled for 2016 and they are the last projects Page 3 of 9 the District will be working on under Measure J. Krause then talked about the grand openings coming up at South San Francisco High and Junipero Serra Elementary School and said they will be nice events and that information will be sent out soon. He then mentioned the District website where they are keeping information available for the community/residents. Normandy complimented Krause on his presentation and asked if there was a number she could give residents if they have questions. Krause provided his business cell number, 650-784-1720, and reassured Normandy that anyone is welcomed to use that number. Gupta asked about the sequence for the projects. Krause stated that Los Cerritos and Sunshine Gardens will be started in late May, and are anticipated to be completed in time for school in August 2016, and the timeline is still in the works for Martin. Bush added that the District will have a community meeting at Buri Bud and the District will send the information to the City. Futrell asked Bush for list of those on the leaseback and stated that he wasn't aware that Bud Bud wasn't technically under the District's control, and stated that he'd like to know which sites are not and said that it's relevant to him is because Bud Bud has been an ongoing problem for a year and he and Superintendent Hogan had dealt with it quietly. The difference this time is that the patience of the community has worn out and it's in the newspaper and he stated that there hasn't been code enforcement action taken by the City because there's a school system, and added that if the District is not the actor out there, the City would want to work with the actor and stated that the City has great influence if they choose to exercise that authority. Krause stated that all of the sites he had mentioned are under lease leaseback, along with the future ones that will be done, and at some point they turn over the keys to the District and then the District takes control of the site. Krause said that the District works as strategically as they can to encourage the contractor to do the right thing, but it sometimes takes a little more muscle than what the District has to encourage them to do the right thing. Bush stated that both agencies working together could provide the needed push for the contractors. Normandy asked about the amount of money that was transferred over for Measure J, and stated that through the audit all bond funds were accounted for, but the District also anticipated increased costs and from what she read the District transferred money from the general fund to Measure J. Krause stated that the District didn't transfer to Fund 21 or Measure J. The District took $10 million out of the general fund and moved it to Fund 40. It's still an unrestricted general fund, it's slightly restricted, but not into the bond fund itself. 8) Update on FREE South City Shuttle(Heather Ruiz—SSF City Staff) Heather Ruiz from the Engineering Division of the City of South San Francisco passed out a handout and provided an update on the South San Francisco Shuttle, which is a part of the San Mateo County Shuttle Program, which is sponsored by CCAG-The City and County Association of Governments, and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority. She stated that the shuttle was implemented as a pilot program in November 2014 to provide services to the City in the areas that were lost when SamTrans eliminated public transit Route 132, which covered BART, South San Francisco City Hall, the library, and Kaiser Hospital. Since its inception they have evaluated the schedule and she pointed to the handout to show that on August 10th the City implemented changes to the shuttle and route schedule based on feedback on the route and review of ridership statistics. She reviewed a side-by-side comparison of the old and new routes and showed specific changes, which have reduced total trip time from 45 minutes to 37 minutes and there are now 15 trips a day, up from 13 trips a day. She then reviewed ridership numbers. She stated that we are above the 10 riders per hour, which is a great success. She said they continue to monitor and evaluate the route and schedule to seek ways to better improve the service. 9) Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) Review Judy Bush stated that there are three goals for 2015-2016: 1. The District will provide a high quality educational program that focuses on raising the overall academic achievement and social learning environment for all students. 2. Identify that classified, certificated, and administrative staff will participate in professional development trainings that will assist in preparing our students for college, career, and lifelong readiness, and/or providing an ongoing support for learning and growth within the profession to increase skills to better support the engagement and attendance of all students. 3. The District will increase student, parent, and community engagement and will support programs that foster more positive connection between school and home. Superintendent Moore stated that all districts are required to develop a Local Control Accountability Plan, with the premise being to establish goals for our all of our students, but that we have a certain responsibility to focus on our low socio-economic students, our foster youth students, and our English learners. Moore then introduced Dr. Leticia Bhatia to answer any questions about the plan or to talk about some of the key services and actions the District has embedded in the plan to support our students. Bhatia stated that it took about a year to go out into the community to capture all of the suggested actions and services that the community felt were really important to the LCAP. We took the data, and with the help of the Board and the Cabinet, the District narrowed down actions and Page 4 of 9 services that were directly linked to the three goals. She stated that this is a moving and breathing document, however, we want to focus on keeping the three main goals with the direct actions and services because San Mateo County Office of Education is taking a look at our LCAP and she stated that Moore will share some great news about that. For this year instead of asking the community and our stakeholder groups for actions and services that the LCAP funding should focus on, the District will instead focus on how effective those actions and services were by analyzing data. This is a three-year plan and if we notice there is a goal we are not achieving, we will go back to the community and the stakeholders to see how we can edit that goal. Moore said she heard from the County who is reviewing the District's plan and stated that it goes to the District's Board for approval first, and then to the County who has to ultimately approve it, along with the District's budget, and in their preliminary reviews she heard feedback from the Deputy Superintendent that he asked his staff to identify any plans that he felt were strong enough that they could take to the State level an use as an example and the District's plan was one of the ones that they recommended. Moore stated that the District is happy about that recognition, and the possibility of taking the District's plan to the State to use as an example. Gupta discussed the goal for supporting the underserved and stated that he thinks that's the same goal the City is looking at with their biotech program. He stated that some of the underserved need to be paid more attention because their opportunities are more limited. He asked the District to let the City know which kinds of things they feel succeed beyond normal means that could help the City in their bio-steering committee. 10) Potential Public Playground—Sunshine Gardens A longtime member of the community, Kristi Camacho, spoke about Sunshine Gardens and the need for recreational facilities. She stated that it was identified in a 1997 Parks and Recreation Master Plan and almost 20 years later the gap is still here. She stated that South San Francisco has the highest percentage of obese children in San Mateo County and said it's important that the District-City partnership come together to look at ways to serve this underserved community. She stated that Sunshine Gardens has 11.5 acres, which is the second largest community site outside of Westborough, and she feel there is some space that can be used to support the community. She said if the new and great leadership is open to this, she thinks that great things can be achieved. She spoke about development money coming in with Measure J construction happening next year and said now is a good time. Sharon Ranals stated that the idea has been discussed and that they have looked at a couple of scenarios. One was to put a playground towards the front of the school, but she stated that she thinks there are other options. Bush stated that as she recalls there were two portions to the playground. Futrell stated that he hasn't found a lot of staff support or with the community he's spoken with, and said that the top lot is not supported. He said that he sympathizes with the principal who's worried about strangers coming in to the area at that location. He then cited the cost of about $750,000, which seems to outweigh such a small return on that investment. He also stated that if they engaged and built that, he didn't think the neighborhood would be satisfied. He discussed the large acreage in the back, which he has been told is rarely used by the school due to limited access and questioned if the access issue was resolved by someone selling their home, would the school system be interested in pursuing that back area becoming a public park. He suggested that from the City's efforts the top lot in the front is not worthy of additional time, and stated that would be up to the District. He stated that Ranals has just completed the master plan and many residents attended that meeting, so it's fresh in their minds. He then mentioned that because of the development on Mission Road, there is development money coming into the City specifically designated for parks and that is in Sunshine Gardens so those two things are coming together. Bush stated that she glad to see it back and stated that for some reason a park was never built in that area of town. She stated that she appreciates the concerns of the principal for safety, which is of utmost concern for everyone in the community, and said that the District is looking at Sunshine Gardens next year as a Measure J project and said she would like to take this back, if Trustee Ochsenhirt is in agreement, to report out to the Board, to look at this in conjunction with the Measure J work that the District will be doing at Sunshine Gardens. She stated that there was concern about the placement of buildings with regard to Measure J at Sunshine Gardens, so at the District side, we wanted to revisit those plans, and she talked about accessibility to the back of the Leo J. Ryan Center that also needs to be considered. Bush then stated that she wants this to be something serious to look at to see how the City and District can work together and partner to see about having a playground at Sunshine Gardens, but she would want to first have the Board look at the design phase portion and the buildings, etc. Moore stated that the biggest concern from the administrator was the front lot, and who currently would be using it as they are currently going through Measure J, and she had ideas about housing, and a space for physical education. She stated that the District will have to have conversations to see what that will look like and then loop in the administrator. Ochsenhirt talked about the history of the fields and said people used to use them all the Page 5 of 9 time, but the usage has gone down and talked about past discussions to bring people up to the area. He said that he wants to move forward with this idea, but stated that the principal has to be comfortable with the layout. Bush asked if the City has any ideas or thoughts of a plan yet. Futrell said the City will be waiting to hear from the District on whether it's worth the City's time to give any thought to this issue, but that he would like to come up with a response for residents who ask why they don't have a park at Sunshine Gardens. He stated that he thinks the answer is, "We hear you, we understand the needs validated by the study, and it's in the hands of the school system." Gupta stated that he understands that the District is looking at the planning and the location of the buildings under Measure J and that they want to make the park at Sunshine Gardens a part of this planning process. Bush stated yes, if it works. Gupta wanted to be sure of paraphrasing for when he reports back to the Council, and he stated that in terms of the concept of having a park in Sunshine Gardens there is no opposition as far as the City Subcommittee members are concerned. Ranals stated that the principal has been included and in the loop from day one, and said that one of the first things they did was to ask the District if any of the buildings would be moving and the answer was no, and that's one of the reasons they looked at the front of the park, due to access issues, etc. They thought about if the buildings could be moved and said that it didn't seem like an option before, but it would be great if it becomes an option as it would open up a lot of possibilities. Bush then stated that the only access now is on either side of the school and cited the safety aspect again. 11) Public Access to Alta Loma Park and El Camino High School Sports Fields &Tracks Sharon Ranals stated that the City has been getting a lot of inquiries from the neighborhood about this access and she pointed to a picture that shows the front of Alta Loma School and shows the access in a handout and talked about the big gate that controls vehicular traffic and the little gate that controls pedestrian traffic and said that the entry is wide open—no controlled access. She stated that what the neighbors, especially seniors, are saying is that they try to get access to the park from Romney and if that gate is locked they have to walk all the way around. The other group of neighbors are trying to get to BART, or down to El Camino, etc. She said she's hoping that the pedestrian gate can stay open and stated that would be helpful. On the back side the rear gate has a similar situation where you can close the vehicular gate, and stated that she understands controlling property for security, but in the case of these pedestrian gates the area is wide open as far as access to the school. Bush stated that she has no problem leaving the gate open for public access, and while she stated that safety is of utmost concern, she said that with regards to this, she has no concern of keeping the pedestrian gate open at Alta Loma Middle School/Alta Loma Park. She also stated that when this park was built it was agreed upon by the City and the school District that because the park was built so close to Alta Loma School that the surrounding community would have accessibility because it would be a community park. Bush recommended to the Superintendent that if the principal comes back on the next school day and sees graffiti, vandalism, or garbage dumped at the school site, then the principal will call the Superintendent who will meet with the City Manager, and that protocol can be used. Gupta said that the City welcomes whatever can make it easier for the residents. Ranals added that because of the Sunshine Gardens' lack of park space people ask her about access to El Camino High School and asked to clarify the park's hours for the public's benefit. Moore stated that they are working on posting to the website, but wanted to have this dialogue first. She then stated that the gates will open during the week from 6:30 to 8:00 a.m., will be closed while school is in session from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and will open again from 4:30 p.m. until dusk. She said Saturdays are off limits because it's in use for the athletic team, and that Sundays would be open to the public all day from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 12) Outstanding Youth Gupta said that he had a seed of an idea. His concept is that the school Board and the City get together to recognize outstanding achievements by kids, not only in academics, but also in arts, music, public speaking, public service ideas that they might have, athletics, community activism. He stated that he'd like to look at it as a collection of many different outstanding achievements at one time, big enough to create a mass inertia so we can make a big thing out of it, a big gala, and said he'd like to create a group of people who think this is a good idea to put some flesh on it. He stated that we've been doing this for academics, but that there are a lot of other areas that kids might be interested in that should be recognized. He added that he wants to spread the net as wide as possible to get as many kids to feel good about what they are doing. Bush said it's a super idea and mentioned that both El Camino High and South San Francisco High have Senior Awards Nights and stated that Superintendent Moore has a listing of the awards. And the awards have a cross section—they are not just academic, for example the Cultural Arts Commission provides an award, each of the departments award exceptional students. So at the senior level there is recognition and she asked Gupta if he was wanting to expand on this. She said that she will scan and send a copy of the list to Gupta. Gupta said that perhaps he would like to see if there is any benefit of expanding that program to the early levels where kids are still interested in getting pushed to excel, like in Page 6 of 9 the elementary school. He said there are many kids, especially in the underserved communities who might be excellent in music and may not excel in traditional areas where we do recognize their qualifications, so he's trying to create a network in which people's beautiful qualities can be recognized and encouraged. He said it could be this program or something else. Bush stated that she thinks there are some awards given at a middle school as well. Moore suggested that the District do some investigatory work to find out what sorts of things are happening and said there some similar things happening at the schools to acknowledge things happening on the school campus, and proposed that they come back with that to see if that was in line with what Gupta was thinking or if he has a broader vision. Gupta asked Bush to place this as an agenda item whenever it is convenient. Bush stated maybe they could do that at the next meeting. Normandy said that there's also an opportunity to do a certificate of recognition at City Council meetings, and also an opportunity to get the City's Community Liaison Officer, Rosa Acosta, involved where they can send a cover letter and somehow fill them in and recognize South City Superstars with a certificate. She stated that there's always an opportunity when the school Board does their certificate of appreciation and recognition to allow for the City Council to be given that air time or two-minute presentation and she mentioned a football player that had been given such recognition from the City and how that meant so much to him. She stated that she finds it difficult when there are superstars in the District but she doesn't know about them or she reads about them in the Daily Journal. She thinks this can be a great collaboration. Gupta agreed and said that his concept has been captured and that he is trying to provide an impetus for kids who might not otherwise try to put forth effort in trying to excel. Having some type of recognition by getting their names out through some type of visibility, i.e., a function, a picture, awards, trophies, etc., could be a good start. 13) Status of Big Lift Partnership Kelli Jo Cullinan, Supervisor of Childcare, stated that before moving onto the Big Lift she wanted to provide an update on a character building program she is involved with. She stated that most of the elementary schools in the area are doing character building and she's partnering with them in the afterschool program. Each character is identified at the beginning of the month. The student that works hard on the character building gets acknowledged by the principal and by the afterschool program. This is an area where they are working in the school, the after school program, and the home. She stated that another thing they're doing in the afterschool program is called "Stepping in the Right Direction," and it is basically for Good Samaritan acts or for trying something new or hard that the students want to accomplish. In their program they get a tennis shoe keychain that they can decorate and the program makes a big deal about it to show that they are working towards good citizenship or community service, and Cullinan stated that at the elementary level this is probably where you want to go before you award them for something else in middle school. Cullinan said it's fast moving on the Big Lift, and then it slows down, and then it goes fast again. She stated that for their Big Lift, the Peninsula Family Service is adding a new family engagement counselor to their employees, which will allow them to have smaller caseloads. They are hiring an internal coach to help them with the goals and objectives and with the aesthetics and environment of the classrooms, they are enhancing their salaries, upgrading classroom environments, and they are enhancing family engagement. She said that they did a lot of enhancements—rather than add many new spaces—in their program. Cullinan then stated that Head Start or IHSD will have two of their four classrooms going to a 10-month duration, August through June, adding two to three months to their existing school year. They are also adding coaches and are doing continued professional development and they are looking at exploring an outside consultant for parent education. The Unified School District is looking at release time for professional development coaching. In other words, how do they release teachers to get staff development and the programs they need, and how do they make sure they still have teachers in the classrooms with the students. She stated that USD is also looking at getting new laptops, and at possible budget revisions to include teacher's salaries and possible additional professional development. She stated that as in all of our programs, staffing is a huge challenge. Early Childhood Education in and of itself is a profession that is losing our teachers to other opportunities. Cullinan and Lora Armanina, who is the preschool coordinator with the City of South San Francisco met with Sheryl Chan at Hillside to look at the classroom aesthetics and environment and to explore the outside area. They are collaborating on licensing requirements and it has been a tremendous partnership. She stated that Sheryl is working on her licensing packet now, the plan for construction of the classrooms, hiring staff, and will use Lakeshore, a school teacher's supply company that provides coaching to come out to look at classrooms and helps teachers pick out the most appropriate developmental supplies for the curriculum. She stated that the classrooms are beautiful! The City of San Francisco has met with the of San Page 7 of 9 Mateo County Office of Education coaches to look at our classroom design and to look at some of the elements they would like to include to make our classrooms best fit the goals and objectives of the Big Lift. They were impressed with their classrooms. She stated that they are sending letters to currently enrolled and wait listed families and are waiting on the responses. They've been receiving a lot of phone calls and currently have 8 onboard and 20 slots. They are working with their Technology Department for upgrading classrooms' new Sign in/Sign out pad, along with the other technology they will need for the curriculum. She stated that their classrooms are ready to go, and they have completed their licensing packet and are just awaiting signatures. She stated that Big Lift has put out a notice stating that they might have additional dollars for expansion, and the City Manager and Ranals have been working with them to explore being able to use some of those monies to provide facilities or additional spaces. Bush thanked Cullinan for the presentation and for working with the District and for being a resource. Moore stated that they are doing walkthroughs to look at renovation needs, the District is working with their IT Department to ensure that their classrooms are wired, and they are doing a good job of meeting monthly to have conversations to see what type of support they can provide to each other. The District is also working on staffing and hiring. 14) Board/Councilmember Requests/Comments/Events Normandy stated that she is looking at this as a collaboration and partnership of the subcommittee meetings. She said that she came to create dialogue and was disappointed at the earlier unexpected tone. She said that she hopes the subcommittee can come back to the table after they have looked at a future meeting date and understand what the tone that needs to be across the table—because it's also about the people who are in the audience and whether it's a majority of City staff or school staff, what we do as City leaders is their impression of how we run our departments and how it trickles down to the community. She stated the last thing she would want is for someone to grab a copy of the tape and hear animosity or hear something different. She stated that this is not the perception she wants people to have. She pointed to something that Councilman Gupta said and stated that the students belong to all of us and we want the best for them. She talked about the conversation on workforce housing, and said she felt that there could be discussion in advance to avoid discussing a dead issue and save time. She thanked her City staff, and Sharon Ranals and her team for thinking outside of the box. And she expressed appreciation for City Manager, Michael Futrell, for working to close the gap of communications with the residents by letting them know where we are at. Gupta stated that we have a new energy and a new set of issues, a new superintendent, a City Manager, an energetic school Board and City Council, and he stated that there's no reason why everyone can't put their heads together to arrive at solutions that are win-win for everybody. He stated that he would like to put whatever has happened or not happened behind us, and look at future meetings in a very positive and constructive way, and he hopes that communications can be improved. He said that he wants to make sure that the subcommittee is doing substantial work because everyone is taking their time out for it. He also said that he would like to move forward to follow up on comments and commitments to ensure that progress is maintained, and said that agenda items should be categorized in terms of the action items—in terms of what can be done. Ochsenhirt agreed with the councilmembers and said that this subcommittee is to work together on issues in common where we think we can help not just the interest of both governing boards, but all of South San Francisco. He stated that he got riled up because this item came to the District for the third time and each time it was put on the agenda by the City Manager. Ochsenhirt apologized if he didn't communicate this before—and said the group could look back at the previous minutes—and said that he doesn't think the Board sent out anything positive to keep it going. He stated that he remembers a conversation he had about the S Zone, which would be the first thing the District should address before talking about selling surplus properties, because the City has the power to tell the District if they can or can't build houses up there. He stated that he wanted to set the record straight and said that he feels that when it's time for the District, as a governing board, to look at a resource that is owned by the citizens of South San Francisco, that the District would bring it to the subcommittee to discuss, and said that's probably where he got off on the wrong foot on that issue. He stated that he enjoys working on the subcommittee and stated that he doesn't want an image out there of lost control and he apologized for that part of it, but said that he stands behind the issue itself. Bush stated that the purpose of the subcommittee is that the two governing bodies come together to work on common projects for the betterment of the community, the students, families, and citizens of the City of South San Francisco. She said it's important for both sides to come together on issues, and if an issue does not meet a criteria for either side of the table at the time, then so be it. She added that communication Page 8 of 9 amongst the committee needs to be professional and respectful. She then stated that a good part of the committee might be that if there is a follow up, to put that as an action item for the record to hold everyone accountable on the subject, so we know where we are if that subject matter should come up. She stated that looking at the Minutes of the last meeting, it was only showing as discussion, but not what type of action, if any, should be taken. She said that will help everyone know if they are moving forward. Moore thanked the staff that came and presented reports. She stated that she supports the partnership and everyone coming together and working collaboratively and that communicating respectfully to one another is really important. She said it's something that they are trying to do throughout the District and we should model that with all of our interactions. 15) Future Meeting The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 20th, starting at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall. Adjournment at 4:59 p.m. Page 9 of 9