Resident Wants School Site Selection Committee To Include Community Members: Letter To The Editor

Dear Editor:

I believe the school site selection process followed by the Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees (the District) was the wrong approach. Given the huge impact of school overcrowding on the community and the dire need of a second high school, the District would have been much better positioned had it utilized and instituted a site selection team comprising members of the District, its staff, and members of the community.

According to the California Department of Education (CDE), there are two approaches available to choose a site: (1) through a staff selection process or (2) through a site selection team to include members of the community.

The District did not form a school site selection team to include community members; instead it chose to pursue a staff-selected site. On February 23, 2016, the District voted to begin the planning process to build the second high school. After that vote, the District and staff, working through a hired consultant, Scott Sheldon of Terra Realty, determined a list of potential sites that were available to the District for purchase and reviewed them against certain site selection criteria, to include:

● Timeline for potential school opening;

● Costs to develop and build on each site;

● Educational program opportunities; and

● Developing site opportunities and constraints

Approximately a year and a half later, after working with staff and hired consultants, the school site selection process used by the District failed to produce a viable option for Dublin’s second comprehensive high school.

On May 23, 2017, the District held a regular meeting to vote on a site selected by staff, through the hired consultant. At the meeting, Scott Sheldon of Terra Realty gave a presentation on the site selection process that lacked substance and detail. The presentation left many with more questions than answers. The site ultimately selected based on this process was extremely small, at 13 acres, located within a corporate complex on the corner of Hacienda and Gleason drives. The site consists of a building and a wrap around parking lot -no open spaces whatsoever. Across the street from this site is a very large, brand new courthouse that will handle an extremely busy docket and court-related business. This new courthouse will undoubtedly bring lots of traffic to that area. Additionally, less than one mile walking distance is the Santa Rita Jail, the third largest jail in California and the fifth largest jail in the United States.

After hearing public comments, of which there were approximately 70+ (commenters cited concerns over the fact that a comprehensive high school would not be possible given the site’s size, the overall safety of children, and the increased stress the location may cause students, teachers and staff), the District voted 3 - 2 against signing a purchase agreement for the site. The community was relieved, to put it lightly, that the District did not choose this site.

I understand the District put in a lot of time to select a site for the second high school; however, based on the above, it is clear something about the process was very wrong. I believe the community needs a more comprehensive approach to the second high school site selection process, to include increased transparency and overall clearer communication.

Moving forward, I call on the District to partner with the community by creating a school site selection committee to include staff members, District members and community members to review all documents and information necessary to fully vet all potential land sites available (i.e., promenade, Chen, and Fallon Sports Park phase 3) to the District for the purpose of building a second comprehensive high school. Many of the community members have a wealth of experience who could bring their professional backgrounds and expertise to bear and contribute tremendously to the process. There is no doubt in my mind that including community members would make a huge difference and improve the overall school site selection process to yield a viable result.

Respectfully,

Lisa Yang, Dublin resident