Officials from Portola Valley and Phillips Brooks School, a private elementary school now extensively rebuilding its campus on Avy Avenue in Menlo Park, plan to meet this week to discuss why the school bought 10 acres of undeveloped land near Arastradero Road in unincorporated Santa Clara County. The land is along Los Trancos Creek and opposite the parking lot of the Alpine Inn in Portola Valley.
In a letter to parents dated Aug. 30, Phillips Brooks officials say the school purchased the property and add: “The Board of Trustees believes this property could be the site of a permanent home for The Phillips Brooks School.”
That prospect worries neighbors and Portola Valley officials because of potential environmental impacts on the area, including increasing traffic through Portola Valley.
Portola Valley Councilman Steve Toben said he met on Sept. 19 with 25 concerned Santa Clara County neighbors of the site at their invitation. “We’re interested in all learning together,” he said. “This is a big deal.”
As for the planned meeting with Phillips Brooks trustees, Mr. Toben said the point was to be cordial and give the trustees “the benefit of the doubt.”
The preschool-to-grade-5 school has leased its Avy Avenue campus from the Las Lomitas Elementary School District since 1978. The lease expires in 2017 and has an option for one five-year extension.
The school has no immediate plans for the Santa Clara County site, Portola Valley deputy town planner Tom Vlasic said he was told.
School officials have not responded to numerous Almanac requests for comment.
Meeting
The meeting of Portola Valley and school officials could take place as early as Tuesday morning, Sept. 25, at the town’s Historic Schoolhouse.
Among those likely to participate are Portola Valley Mayor Ted Driscoll, Councilman Steve Toben, Mr. Vlasic and two Phillips Brooks trustees.
Mayor Driscoll would not confirm plans to meet and said he did not want publicity about the meeting, in part to avoid residents showing up outside the schoolhouse to protest. “We’re trying to do this in a friendly manner here,” he said.
Without a quorum — if just two of the five council members are present — the council would not have to open the meeting to the public.
Letter to parents
The Aug. 30 letter to Phillips Brooks parents says that finding a permanent home is “critical” to the school’s long-term sustainability and the 10-acre purchase is “part of that continuum.” The site “could be” the school’s permanent home, but the letter says the trustees must first evaluate its potential and find a way to “most effectively use this property.”
The one-page letter is not signed, but the two names at the bottom are Scott Ryles, who chairs the Phillips Brooks board of trustees, and Kristi A. Kerins, the head of the school.
The letter also says:
• School trustees decided to buy the property at the last board meeting of the 2006-07 school year. The land set the school back about $5 million. Building a campus comparable to the 4.5-acre site on Avy Avenue would take “greater than $30 million.”
• Raising that much money would entail a fundraising campaign over 10 to 15 years.
Avy Avenue campus
In the 2005-06 school year, Phillips Brooks paid $900,000 in rent to the Las Lomitas district for its Avy Avenue campus in Menlo Park, about 7 percent of the district’s revenue that year.
In early 2006, Phillips Brooks got the go-ahead from the city of Menlo Park to embark upon a $10 million upgrade of the campus. The project is nearing completion.
The new buildings will expand the school’s floor area to 31,000 square feet from 18,000 square feet and alleviate a situation in which art, music, science and foreign language teachers have to share classrooms, a school spokeswoman said.
In the Aug. 30 letter to parents, Mr. Ryles and Ms. Kerins said they expect students to “thrive in our new Avy Avenue campus for years to come.”
