 Where
there is change there is opportunity; and, with change we find
new opportunities to control our destiny and improve the future
of our offspring. We study history to apply lessons learned so
that we do not repeat mistakes.
I attended another EVP
discussion/planning meeting earlier this afternoon without
gaining leverage for high school land. All were too interested
in strategizing to maintain the EVP as it existed in February
2005.
To answer your question on
"valid source documents," the official EVP position on
education is covered in the "Guiding Principles."
These are attached and can be found on the following city
website:
http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/evergreen/handouts.htm
The Guiding Principles contain
minimal references to schools because California Law regulates
schools so cities have no jurisdiction or responsibility. The
most noteworthy reference to schools is in Key Outcome #3 of the
Guiding Principles as follows:
Key Outcome #3:
Infrastructure and services.
Schools
* Ensure adequate capacity
at Evergreen schools without sacrificing a quality educational
environment.
* Foster neighborhood
schools.
* Institute traffic calming,
especially near schools.
You are no doubt disappointed
that high schools are not specifically mentioned. All of my
proposals to include specific language covering the special
needs of high schools to acquire large parcels of land were
rejected by Councilman Cortese and planning office staff on
legal grounds. And, since I am not a lawyer I was not able to
debate the issue. The agreement was
to defer final decisions on the high school land needs until
formalizing the EVP Project Description. This was to occur after
the EIR constraints were determined, in the February and March
2005 time frame. But, March came and there was no meeting as the
scramble for the Salvation Army Community Center took center
stage. And now in April it looks as though EVP is going to
disappear, to be replaced by Mayor Ron and his friends.
As far as the Evergreen School
District is concerned the above wording in the Guiding
Principles is sufficient since the ESD actively participates
with three members on the task force and, although the ESD has
started building multi-level schools in order to reduce land
costs, the number of students per school has remained relatively
flat. The ESD would like to add capacity
for the 7th and 8th grades but does not see a problem working
things out with the developers.
Since late 2003 we (Lou,
Patrick, and myself) have been trying to strengthen the position
to set aside about 50 acres for a future high school. Early in
2004 I asked the councilmen and his office to invite Dr.
Zendejas to attend our meetings so that the needs of the ESUHSD
are fully considered by the EVP. I even spoke to Dr. Zendejas
(and two of the District Supervisors) in
February 2004 at an EVHS meeting and asked that the ESUHSD
become involved in the EVP process. Alas, the only
representative from the ESUHSD to attend was Mr. Garfolo. He
attended only one meeting and testified that the excess overall
capacity in the district prevented consideration for state aid,
that the additional students brought about by 5000 new homes
could be addressed by moving boundaries and bussing. We heard
the same story last month at EVHS.
Contradiction?
In March of 2004 PACT held a
meeting on the topic of local high schools at Saint Francis of
Assisi Church. Dr. Zendehas and Councilman Cortese were on the
discussion panel. At one point during the meeting Dr. Zendehas
stated that in the next 5 to 10 years (2010 to 2015) the ESUHSD
would need to build one or two new high schools in the South
Evergreen/ South San Jose area.
Dr. Zendejas turned to Dave Cortese and asked him for the city's
help to locate land for these new schools. Dave indicated that
he and his staff would help in this effort, but now, no one
seems to know what happened to this request.
Pre-Dr. Zendejas As a member
of the Evergreen Round Table we heard Mike Welch, then Special
Assistant to the ESUHSD superintendent, talk a number of times
about the plans for EVHS. Mike Welch also gave a presentation to
the SCVCC HOA General
Meeting in October of 2002. The pitch was always the same. EVHS
was to be the template for all ESUHSD schools. EVHS was to be a
"small high school" with four clusters of 400 to 450
students, each cluster being a magnet school dedicated to
preparing students to enter study at the University of
California. All of the ESUHSD high schools would, over time,
be brought up to the same
standards as EVHS by segmenting them into small magnet schools
centered around a specialty, e.g. science, performing arts,
ROTC, electronics...etc. Improvements in facilities were to be
achieved with Measure G funds. But, after Joe Coto and Mike
Welch left the ESUHSD all memory of "small schools"
serving as the standard for the entire district
was forgotten about. Instead of being a college preparatory
school EVHS has been turned into a mediocre neighborhood school
with few promises for raising the bar. It is not the college
preparatory school promised by Mike Welch. Instead of 1800
students max EVHS and SCHS are headed to 3000 students.
It would be great if we could
get Joe Coto and Mike Welch to testify before the City Council
that the ESUHSD policy was to form "small high
schools" and that they recommend that EVP set aside land
for at least one additional high school (before the land is
rezoned from commercial to residential driving the acquisition
cost sky high). |
