More students are coming to the four schools in the Menlo Park City School District whether or not voters support the $91.1 million bond measure on the June 6 ballot.
If voters approve the measure, the K-8 district will have resources to build more permanent classrooms and other facilities. If the measure is rejected, the district may have to add more portable classrooms to schools sites to house the 440 more students expected by 2015.
District projections show a 20 percent growth in enrollment to 2,578 students by 2015, increasing pressure on classrooms, multi-use facilities, and outdoor space.
“I am alarmed at the increase in the kindergarten enrollment next year — 311 students are already registered” at Laurel and Oak Knoll schools, said Superintendent Ken Ranella in an interview last week.
That number exceeds the graduating eighth-grade class of 220 students, resulting in a net increase of 91 students in the district, or 4.5 percent, in one year, he said.
Concerned about rising enrollment and a need to replace 40 portable buildings — a third of the district’s classrooms — the school board placed Measure U on the June 6 ballot after a multi-year research and planning process.
The measure would authorize the borrowing of $91 million through bond issues, to be paid back over 35 years. The total interest payments over that period could total $196 million, the district says.
Why the growth?
A consultant’s report confirmed what trustees had suspected about enrolment growth trends. More families moving into the district have children entering kindergarten and other lower grades. Long-term residents usually sell their homes to families with school-age children. Most of the recent enrollment growth has come from families buying or moving into homes in the highest price range; typically such families have more school-age children.Also, the district is losing fewer students to private schools. About 99 percent of fifth-graders go on to the district’s Hillview Middle School, which has been recognized nationally as a “Blue Ribbon” school. Seven times it has been named a California Distinguished School.
Bond measure facts
The bond measure falls under the state’s Prop 39 law, which means it can pass with the approval of 55 percent of voters, rather than the two-thirds required in other bond measures.To qualify under this law, the vote must be conducted in a general — not a special — election. The maximum annual property tax the measure could levy is $30 per $100,000 of assessed value. The district’s total outstanding bond debt cannot exceed 1.25 percent of the district’s assessed valuation, which now totals $7.1 billion, according to records in the San Mateo County Controller’s Office.
Also, a bond oversight committee must be established within 60 days of the election to ensure that the money is spent only for school facilities listed in the official voter information pamphlet.
District trustees unanimously voted to set the annual tax rate for the bond measure at $28 per $100,000 of assessed valuation. The district proposes to sell the bonds in a series of four installments. No bond can mature more than 35 years from the date of issuance.
What will bonds provide?
The $91.1 million in bond funds would pay to:• Replace the 40 portable classrooms at Hillview, Oak Knoll, Laurel and Encinal schools with permanent ones. One-third of the district’s 117 classrooms are portables, being leased at a cost of $320,000 per year. The portables also encroach on playground space. At Laurel School, 12 of the 26 classrooms are temporary portables, said Principal Nancy Hendry.
• Build 20 additional classrooms to accommodate the 15 to 20 percent projected enrollment growth over the next 10 years. Two-story classroom buildings are proposed for Hillview, Encinal and Oak Knoll. Classrooms at Laurel School would be similar to the existing “pods” that were built on the K-2 campus with funds from the district’s 1995 bond measure to upgrade and modernize the schools. State law does not allow children in K-2 grades to be housed in two-story buildings, according to Superintendent Ranella.
• Provide better and larger multi-use facilities at Oak Knoll, Encinal and Hillview. The existing facilities — used for gym, assemblies and community events — were built for smaller enrollments. For example, Oak Knoll’s multi-use room was built in 1952 to accommodate the school’s opening enrollment of 250 students. “Today, we have 662 students, and we’re bursting at the seams during assemblies and performances,” said Principal David Ackerman.
• Improve traffic flow and parking at each school to increase safety and reduce the impact on surrounding neighbors.
• Complete work to modernize schools, including technology upgrades and providing access for disabled people. The work was started but unfinished because a $22 million bond measure, approved by voters in 1995, was insufficient to cover the costs.
Plans for Hillview
After hundreds of hours of study sessions and discussion, meetings with enrollment projection consultants, architects, engineers, construction managers, financial advisers, and legal counsel, and a series of meetings at each school site and a community meeting, the district came up with a proposed plan.Changes for Hillview Middle School that serves all the district’s sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders present the greatest challenge.
Some Hillview School neighbors have voiced opposition to the bond measure at a few public meetings. They object to putting any more students and buildings on the site and increasing traffic, congestion, parking problems and noise.
Enrollment at Hillview is projected to grow from 654 students now to 852 students in 2015. The site, about 8 acres at the intersection of Santa Cruz and Elder avenues, has limited expansion opportunities. The string of portable classrooms along the northerly boundary have encroached on the school’s fields and outdoor space for physical education and activities.
Several conceptual drawings have been proposed and discussed, but no decision will be made until after the bond election and further discussions with architects, the construction manager, and the community, according to the superintendent and trustees.
One possibility for Hillview is to add to the existing facilities two-story classroom buildings to replace 11 portables; build an auditorium; convert the music room to an exercise and dance facility; re-stripe the basketball courts and renovate the playfield. Estimated cost: about $28 million.
Another option is to tear down existing structures, except the multi-use building, and rebuild Hillview as a “state-of-the-art” middle school with two-story classroom buildings. This rebuild option would double the size of the playfield, add parking spaces, and improve traffic circulation, especially during pickup time. Estimated cost: about $40 million.
Other campuses
The school board is considering these plans for the other three campuses:• Expand Encinal School, the grade 3-5 school at 195 Encinal Ave. in Atherton, and change it to a K-5 school. Encinal has the least students (371) and the largest site (10.5 acres) in the district. Under this plan, the district would build a two-story classroom building for grades 4 and 5, plus a multi-use facility, and a district education resource center next to the district office. Estimated cost: about $22 million.
• Change Laurel School at 95 Edge Road in Atherton, from a K-2 to K-3 school. Laurel has the smallest site and will have 504 students next August. The district would build a one-story pod of five classrooms, a mini multi-use building, and a science room. Enrollment would be reduced by shifting some of the incoming K-2 students to Encinal. Estimated cost: about 10 million.
• Cap enrollment at Oak Knoll School, the K-5 school at 1895 Oak Knoll Lane in Menlo Park, which now has 657 students. Some incoming students would be shifted to Laurel and Encinal. The district would add a two-story classroom building to house grades 4 and 5 and a multi-use building with an indoor and outdoor stage. The kindergarten play area and upper-grade playground would be reconfigured. Estimated cost: about $17 million.
Measure U campaign
Campaign co-chairs parents Deborah Fitz and Mark Box have organized hundreds of volunteers to provide information and urge district residents to vote yes on Measure U.About 850 people, including community leaders, school volunteers, parents, grandparents and business people, have endorsed the bond measure.
Five well-known community members submitted the ballot argument in favor of Measure U: James K. Mackenzie, a Menlo-Atherton High School teacher; Linda R. Meier, a community volunteer; Charles R. Schwab, business executive; Charlot N. Singleton, a community volunteer; and Lucile Spurlock, a community volunteer.
The arguments against Measure U in the official voter information pamphlet are signed by John J. “Jack” Hickey, a healthcare district trustee and frequent Libertarian candidate; Kennita Watson, a board of equalization candidate; and Christopher VA Schmidt, secretary of the Libertarian Party of San Mateo County. None of the three lives in the district.
Signing the rebuttal to the argument against the measure are Karen Canty, former trustee, Menlo Park City School District; Cindy Folker, development director of the Menlo-Atherton High School Foundation for the Future; Russ Hall, founder, Legacy Venture; Mervin Morris, founder, Mervyn’s; and Barbara Tyler, a semi-retired Realtor.
INFORMATION
For more information about Measure U, check the official voter information pamphlet. The pro-Measure U campaign committee’s Web site is BuildforFuture.org. The district’s Web site is mpcsd.org.
