Bids to be opened for lease of Menlo Park school site Bids to be opened for lease of Menlo Park school site (May 11, 2005)

By Marjorie Mader

Almanac Staff Writer

Trustees of the Menlo Park City School District expect to open bids May 19 for a five-year lease of the former O'Connor School site, now leased and occupied by the German-American International School, and located at 275 Elliott Drive in Menlo Park.

Since 1992, the German-American school has leased the 5.95-acre site for its preschool through eighth-grade program, but its lease will expire June 30, 2006.

The school is interested in staying at the site, said Hanna Tikkanen Merk, the school's executive director.

"We are very pleased to have had several years of good cooperation with the Menlo Park school district and the O'Connor neighborhood," she said.

Under state law, the school district cannot renew the lease with the German-American School without going through the public bidding process. It must give public notice of the district's intent to lease the property and set a public hearing to accept lease bids.

The site has 13,200 square feet of classroom and office space.

The German-American school is paying the district $261,000 in the current school year and will pay $293,000 for the 2005-06 school year.

Under the new lease, the minimum rental price will be $300,000 for the first year, with annual adjustments for increases in the consumer price index.

The new lease document stipulates that the entire site be used for private preschool and elementary-grade programs.

The district acquired the vacant O'Connor school site after approval of a November 1983 ballot measure that transferred the site from the Ravenswood City School District to the Menlo Park district.

The district has never operated a school on the site, but has leased the property, initially to a cancer support organization and then to the German-American School.

While the district does not need the school now, it may need it in the future, depending on district enrollment and program needs, said Superintendent Ken Ranella.
INFORMATION

Trustees of the Menlo Park City School District will hold a public hearing to accept lease bids for the site at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 19, at Laurel School, 95 Edge Road in Atherton. For more information, call the district office at 321-7140.

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