Please join the Board at a Special Board meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the District Board room to hear the presentation of the Facilities Advisory Committee.  If you cannot attend tonight, there will be another opportunity to hear the FAC presentation at the October 8 meeting.

At its first regularly scheduled meeting of the school year on August 13, 2019, the Board of Education publicly revealed a Special Board Meeting on Wednesday, September 18, to hear the findings and recommendations of the Facilities Advisory Committee.  At the time the Special Meeting was scheduled, there were not any other meeting conflicts on the District's master calendar, nor was the Board aware of Partnership for Awareness' important program on suicide prevention.

 

Tonight's Special Meeting to learn about the FAC's recommendations is an informational meeting only, and no action will be taken by the Board of Education during this meeting.  As always, the public will have an opportunity to provide Public Comment on the specific subject matter after the FAC's presentation.

 

The Board understands that the topic of the District's facilities needs is of great interest to many in the community.  A digital audio recording of the meeting, as well as any PowerPoint presentations or other materials presented during the meeting, will be available to the public, as has been the Board's practice after each meeting this past year.  In addition, the Board has asked FAC Chair Jeanie Caldwell to make a second presentation at its October 8 meeting (Jeanie has a prior commitment during the September 24 meeting) so that those who cannot attend the September 18 meeting have another opportunity to hear and publicly comment on the FAC's findings and recommendations.  

 

By way of reminder, the Board created the Facilities Advisory Committee to research and analyze the District's facilities needs and to make findings and recommendations to the Board.  The Board is very appreciative of the many hours the FAC has worked to become educated about all aspects of the District's facilities needs and to make its recommendation.  The Board will hear the FAC's findings and recommendations for the first time on September 18, which means that the Board has not made any decisions about whether a bond is necessary, when a bond election would take place, how much a bond would be, and what projects would be included in a bond. This also means that the Board has not taken steps to schedule Town Halls or community meetings because the Board has not yet made any decisions relating to this subject matter.  

 

The Board will continue to follow a logical and fully informed process relating to any facilities needs decisions.    If the Board decides to consider a possible bond, just as it included the San Marino community in its lengthy process to hire a new superintendent, it will include the San Marino community in the extensive process of considering a bond.    The community will be made aware of the facts as they become available, but at this time any speculation about a bond is premature.