Note:

The Board will convene at 6:00 p.m., approve the Agenda and immediately go into Closed Session.

They are expected to resume Open Session at approximately 6:20 p.m.

While many colleagues from all levels of the District will be deeply involved in this work, the Strategic Projects Coordinator will help to coordinate and shepherd across all aspects of the work, collaborating directly with the Chief Business Officer. The Strategic Projects Coordinator is responsible for leading and supporting a number of initiatives including:

1. Drafting and releasing a long term financial plan (LTFP) that builds off the work done by ERS and would help us develop a better understanding of revenue and expenditure over time and by category;
2. Developing a public facing budget website that would allow our community to understand where our resources go in an easily understandable way, and on a per-student cost level; and
3. Preparing the District for a strategic budgeting process by working to cost out and compare a number of possible investments and reductions.

As a result of declining enrollment and a difficult budgetary situation the Board of Trustees took action on January 9, 2020, to close two elementary schools, Brentwood Academy and Willow Oaks, beginning in the 2020-21 school year.  The Board subsequently decided at the January 16, 2020 that the Willow Oaks site would be offered to the KIPP Valiant charter beginning in 2020-21 and that the Brentwood site would begin the process to be declared surplus and subsequently leased out as a new revenue stream for the district.  As such, at the same meeting the Board authorized the creation of a 7/11 committee representative of staff and community to study district enrollment trends and to make a recommendation to the Board as to whether the data supported a surplus property designation and, if so, to recommend appropriate and best uses of the property. 

At the February 13, 2020 meeting the Board approved the membership of the 7/11 committee.  The committee met on three dates, February 20, February 25, and March 3.  Its report was presented to the Board of Trustees on March 12, 2020.  The report found that the enrollment data and future trends supported the designation of the site as surplus.  The report also identified a 5.38 acre map within the 17.5 acre property as the land around the Brentwood buildings that would be declared surplus and identified educational programs and schools, recreational use, non profit organizations, staff housing, senior housing, and day care facilities as appropriate uses of the site.  The Board of Trustees received the 7/11 committee report and then took action at the same meeting, March 12, 2020, to pass a resolution to declare the Brentwood site surplus.  The resolution also authorized the superintendent to seek a waiver from the California State Board of Education pursuant to Education Code 33050 to exempt the district from potential Naylor Act and competitive bidding requirements.  The waiver was granted by the State Board of Education at its July 8, 2020 meeting.

At the May 14, 2020 meeting the Board of Trustees approved a Request for Proposals process for the lease of the Brentwood site.  The RFP stipulated that the maximum lease term would be ten years, only a proposal for the full 5.38 acre site would be considered, the tenant would be responsible for all utilities and maintenance, and the deadline for submittal was June 8, 2020.  The district received three proposals and after careful review, the proposal submitted by The Primary School was identified as the best proposal for the district and surrounding community.

Key points of the attached contract between the Ravenswood City School District and The Primary School include:

1. A ten year lease with no guarantee of renewal, however, the contract contains incentives if an early renewal is granted. 

2. The commencement date of the lease will be August 1, 2020.

3. The first year rent will be $1,307,743 with a 2% annual escalation through year ten.

4. The Primary School will make a $1,000,000 unrestricted donation to the District to be paid in three equal annual installments of $333,333 in support of the district’s strategic plan. The Board of Trustees shall designate how these monies will be utilized.

5. The District and The Primary School will explore collaboration opportunities within 90 days with the goal to develop a Memorandum of Understanding regarding areas of mutual interest that may include socio-emotional learning, parent education, health integration and mental health.

6. The Primary School will share the adjacent sport field with Los Robles- McNair during school hours.

7. If District K-5 or 6-8 enrollment capacity is exceeded during the ten year term, The Primary School will reimburse the district up to $500,000 toward the cost of new portables.

8. The Primary School will be responsible for all utilities and maintenance at the site.

9. With District approval, The Primary School may make structural improvements to the site.

It is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the attached contract with The Primary School for the lease of the Brentwood site.

The Primary School has been operating at a site adjacent to Brentwood School (951 O’Connor Street, East Palo Alto) since 2016.  The Primary School will continue to make use of this site during the 2020-21 school year as it transitions its program over to the full Brentwood site.  This need to maintain the 951 O’Connor site is mainly driven by the lengthy process of licensing their preschool and birth to three programs. 

Under the Third Amendment to the lease, which was approved by the Board of Trustees at its January 16, 2020 meeting, The Primary School extended its lease through the 2020-21 school year.  However, due to their move over to the full Brentwood site, they are not in need of all the space that is included under the Third Amendment.

The Fourth Amendment reduced the number of classrooms The Primary School will rent in 2020-21 by one classroom while maintaining all other terms and conditions included in the Third Amendment. 

For the 2020-21 school year The Primary School will lease classrooms 7, 13, 14, and 15-20 for a total of nine classrooms.  The Primary School will not be making use of classroom 3 due to its move to the Brentwood campus. 

The monthly rent for classrooms 7, 13, and 14 shall be $8,145 and the monthly rent for classrooms 15-20 shall be $7,760 for a total of $15,905 per month for the 2020-21 fiscal year. These amounts are based on the agreed upon square footage rates from the Third Amendment.

The Third Amendment gives The Primary School the option to renew the lease for the 2021-22 school year.  It is very unlikely that The Primary School will exercise this option and, thus, the District should plan that the 951 O’Connor site will be vacant beginning in 2021-22.

It is recommended that the Board of Trustees approve the Fourth Amendment to the lease of 951 O’Connor St by The Primary School.

Trustees Sharifa Wilson and Marielena Gaona-Mendoza facilitated the school naming committee that was comprised of thirteen (13) community members and Ravenswood certificated and classified personnel. The purpose of the naming committee was to discuss the renaming of Belle Haven School located at 415 Ivy Drive in Menlo Park and Costano School located at 2695 Fordham Street in East Palo Alto and make a recommendation to the board. The consideration to rename the schools is the result of the decision to merge Willow Oaks and Belle Haven School on the Belle Haven campus and Brentwood Academy and Costano School on the Costano School campus creating two new schools when the communities come together. The goal of the school naming committee was to create names for both sites to reflect the communities coming together while aslo creating names that reflect the history and highlight instructional programs and offerings. 

The committee members created the following list of names to explore:

Names listed for 415 Ivy Drive site in Menlo Park

1. Jose Ivan Ibarra Academy
2. Jose Ibarra Willow Haven
3. Belle Oaks
4. Willow Haven
5. Belle Haven Willow Oaks
6. Belle Oaks
7. Ivy Elementary
8. Ravenswood Elementary
9. United Menlo Park Elementary

Names listed for 2695 Fordham Street site in East Palo Alto

1. Costano School of the Arts
2. Costano, Home of Michelle Obama School of the Arts
3. Costano Academy School of the Arts
4. Ohlone School of the Arts
5. Brentano

The committee then took a poll to determine what were the top two names that resonated with the committee the most.The results of the poll are reflected as the top two names listed above in bold.

The recommendation is to consider the top two names for each of the sites.

PUBLIC NOTICE: BOARD MEETINGS ARE RECORDED