The Presiding Officer will call the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. before the Board Recesses to Closed Session. 

Persons wishing to address the Board should fill out a green speaker card.  Cards turned in by 7:15 p.m. will be given priority.        

Speakers will be randomly selected based on topic and position, with BUSD students generally given priority.  Public Testimony is limited to 30 minutes with a 3-minute limit per speaker per topic although the time allotted per speaker may be reduced to 2 minutes at the discretion of the President. 

Board members and the Superintendent are given the opportunity to address any issue.  

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 

TO:             Donald Evans, Ed.D, Superintendent
FROM:       Timothy White, Executive Director of Facilities
DATE:        December 7, 2015
SUBJECT:  Withdrawal of  Zone Adjustment Board Appeal for 2211 Harold Way
Development inBerkeley High School Zone

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On September 30, 2015, the Berkeley Zoning Approval Board (ZAB) approved revised Conditions of Approval and a Use Permit for the Harold Way Project.  On October 27, 2015, the District, through its legal counsel, filed an appeal of the ZAB’s decision to the City Council.  As the health, welfare and safety of BUSD students, teachers and our facilities are our primary concern, The Board filed the appeal out of concerns about potential negative impacts on Berkeley High School student population.  

The City Council has set the date to hear all appeals on the project on December 8, 2015. 

Since the filing of the appeal, representatives of the District and representatives of the project developer have met and conferred to discuss possible resolutions of the District’s concerns and were able to reach an agreement such that the District would be willing to withdraw the pending appeal.

The agreement includes several additional mitigations to be completed by the developer for the express benefit of the Berkeley High School and Washington Elementary School communities.  The proposed additional mitigations address many of the concerns raised by the District in its appeal.  The specific additional mitigations are set forth in the attached proposed Letter Agreement.

Should the Board approve the Letter Agreement, it would authorize the District’s legal counsel to formally withdraw the appeal, which request must be made no later than midnight December 7, 2015 (as agreed to by the parties in the Letter Agreement).  In exchange, the developer would formally request that the City Council incorporate the additional mitigations into the Conditions of Approval.  This request must also be made by midnight on December 7, 2015.  Even if the City Council does not formally modify the Conditions of Approval, the developer has agreed through the Letter Agreement to be bound by these additional mitigations in any event.

POLICY/CODE:
None

FISCAL IMPACT:
Unknown at this time

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Staff is recommending that the board approve the letter of agreement for additional applicant concessions and withdraw the appeal to the ZAB’s Conditions of Approval. 

BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT 

TO:      Board of Education
FROM:        Donald Evans, Ed.D., Superintendent
DATE:         December 7, 2015
SUBJECT:    Parent Town Hall Meeting: Addressing Safety and Issues Impacting African
American Students

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
On November 4, 2015, there was racial threat directed towards African American students at Berkeley High School.  The threat to their lives indicated that harm would be done to our students/staff on December 9th. Members of the community came to the Board on November 18th to address this immediate threat and the broader issue of racism and its impact on our students and our community.

As a follow-up to the issues and concerns, the district has been working in collaboration with Parents of Children of African Descent (PCAD) to plan a Town Hall meeting on December 7th.

Outcomes for the Town Hall meeting include the following:

1.    Present Safety Plan and curriculum for December 9th.

2.    Overview of Programs and Resources to Support African American students

3.    Gather input on how to move forward on addressing racism at BUSD

After the Town Hall, staff will prepare a summary of the discussion, suggested actions, and next steps that will be agendized for the January 13, 2016 School Board Meeting.  At that meeting, the Board will again elicit public comments and then determine which steps can be implemented immediately as well as a timeline/process for prioritizing mid-range and long range steps to be included in the next LCAP and/or budget process.

Persons wishing to address the Board should fill out a green speaker card.  Cards turned in for the earlier open session public testimony will be given priority.  Speakers will be randomly selected based on topic and position, with BUSD students generally given priority.  Public Testimony is limited to 15 minutes with a 3-minute limit per speaker per topic although the time allotted per speaker may be reduced to 2 minutes at the discretion of the President.