Community Corner
Schools With Tomorrow Inside - San Bruno Park School District Q&A
Questions and Answers about "School With Tomorrow Inside"
Article Source: San Bruno Park School District - Superintendent Dr. Kemp
"Schools with Tomorrow Inside"
Background
San Bruno Park School District is positioned as a gateway to the world - flanked on one side by a generation of creative thinkers and doers at YouTube’s headquarters and, on the other, by a gorgeous, state-of-the-art Capuchino High School - our schools look east to an international airport and major transportation stations and west to the dynamic Skyline College and an ocean that connects continents. Yet the District schools, 52-76 years old, are antiquated and out of sync with the gateway and 21st Century learning.
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The purpose of this document is to provide background information to the community regarding the plans for the District. If you have a specific question, you may call the district or submit your questions via email to info@sbpsd.k12.ca.us .
Frequently Asked Questions
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What is the District’s vision for the education of SB children?
The San Bruno Park School District will engage and inspire our students to be productive critical thinkers who embrace diversity, curiosity and innovation throughout their lives.
What are Schools with Tomorrow Inside?
The District’s vision can be better realized when students now and for generations to come, receive their education in classrooms that are state-of-the art centers for teaching and learning and adaptable to programs that prepare them for being successful in an ever changing world. Modern elementary schools – Schools with Tomorrow Inside – typically house 500-600 students which has become the funding formula for the state. Enrollment in SBPSD schools well below 400 at each of the six elementary schools. Larger schools afford more collegial support for faculties and, in turn, for students.
How do we accomplish Schools with Tomorrow Inside?
The District is looking at consolidation of six aging and under-enrolled elementary schools to four large, modern centers for teaching and learning, strategically located to respond to projected enrollment trends.
What does “consolidate” mean?
Two of the six District elementary schools will have the students, faculties, and programs relocated to one or more of the four remaining schools which will be enlarged and modernized. “Band aid” approaches to maintenance of aging schools, some built before television was a reality, will be transformed into exciting and invigorating environments of learning for San Bruno children.
How is the decision made on which two of the six elementary schools to consolidate?
When a school district is considering closing a school and the potential sale of that property, the Education Code 17389 requires the District to convene a “7-11” committee (no more than 11 and no less than 7 members) to delve deeply into all matters affecting facility and education improvements in their schools, exercising due diligence to make an informed recommendation to the school board on which school(s) should be considered for consolidation. In compliance with the Ed Code, our District 7-11 Committee is comprised of eleven members representing a cross section of diversity and professions, including parents, teachers, administrators, community and city leaders.
The meetings have been open to the public. The 2017 7-11 Committee has meet seven times to develop an understanding of the enrollment trends and projections, learn about the work of previous 7 - 11 committees, review facility reports from the District’s architect, and tour each of the six elementary schools. At the conclusion of their work, the committee is charged with preparing a recommendation which will be shared with the community (via the District’s website) and hold a public hearing before submitting to the Board for consideration.
Visit http://sbpsd.k12.ca.us/7-11.htm for full details related to the Committee’s work and recommendations.
What schools are being recommended for consolidation?
The 2017 7-11 Committee is recommending consolidation of El Crystal and Rollingwood Elementary Schools into four state-of-the art elementary schools that will be located at the current sites of John Muir, Allen, Portola and Belle Air schools.
When is the public hearing on consolidation?
January 22, 2018 at 7 p.m., Allen Elementary School
When will a decision be made on which schools will be consolidated?
The 7-11 Committee will take under advisement input from the public hearing and present a formal recommendation to the Board of Trustees at the Board meeting on February 21, 2018, 7 p.m.. The Board meeting will be held at Allen Elementary School.
When would consolidation be in effect and where will students be reassigned?
If the Board of Trustees moves to consolidate El Crystal, the effective date would be June 30, 2018. A plan for reassignment of staff and students will follow in a timely manner, sensitive to parents needing time to plan accordingly. Programs in effect at the school will be transferred as well. If the Board of Trustees moves to consolidate Rollingwood School, or another school instead, that action is anticipated to occur in the next 2-3 years allowing ample time for redesigning attendance boundaries and preparing for reassignment of staff, students and programs into new and/or modern schools.
How will the closure of El Crystal affect the STEM program?
STEM education is a high priority for the school district. All SBPSD schools provide instruction in science, technology, engineering principles, and mathematics. The intention is to both transfer the STEM program from El Crystal, and in the future expand STEM opportunities other sites.
What could/should Schools with Tomorrow Inside look like in San Bruno?
Concurrent with the meetings of the 7-11 Committee have been meetings of a Facilities Visioning Committee comprised of 22 members also representing parents, teachers, city and community leaders. Meeting with the Superintendent and District architect, they have been providing input regarding features they feel are important to include in the design of Schools with Tomorrow Inside so that teaching and learning space is flexible, functional, well-lit, inviting, modern and meets seismic safety and Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines. There are no band aid repairs to our schools in the plan for Schools with Tomorrow Inside . The draft Vision for Schools was presented at the January 10th Board meeting. This presentation is available on the District’s website.
Schools with Tomorrow Inside will enhance the educational program for students with new and modern facilities that will allow at each of the four sites, for the thread of STEM to be woven into language arts, mathematics, and science providing San Bruno children with optimum preparation for their advancing years of study.
Will students have to attend school in portables?
New construction and modernization may require modular classrooms temporarily just as was the case when Capuchino High School was being rebuilt. The end result at that campus serves as the perfect example to what the end result can look like – a beautiful, modern center of learning.
How can I learn more about the vision of Schools with Tomorrow Inside?
District Superintendent Dr. Kemp has been presenting the vision since November in schools and at
community meetings.
Future presentations are scheduled for:
January 17 th 6 p.m. at Allen Elementary School
January 18 th 6 p.m. at Belle Air Elementary School
February 13 th 7 p.m. San Bruno City Council meeting at Senior Center
February 20 th 12 p.m. at Senior Center
How will consolidation into Schools with Tomorrow Inside be financed?
School consolidation will allow for savings in costs currently budgeted for maintenance/repair of six schools as opposed to four. Further, to finance creating Schools with Tomorrow Inside , and on the recommendation of the 2017 Budget Advisory Committee, the District is exploring a variety of funding options including sale of surplus property and a possible bond measure. Unlike other school districts in San Mateo County, it has been 19 years since San Bruno passed a bond measure to support modernization of schools.
The District has retained the services of a nationally recognized, preeminent firm specializing in school and municipal tax measures, to work with the Superintendent and the Facilities Team to arrive at a recommendation to the Board on the favorability of turning to San Bruno for support of Schools with Tomorrow Inside. This new vision for bringing San Bruno schools into the 21st Century is one that we hope will capture the imagination and excitement of the community at large.
The Future for the Children of San Bruno
San Bruno Park School District has a responsibility to provide the very best education for the children in San Bruno including those not yet enrolled in our schools. Our children and our community deserve no less than Schools with Tomorrow Inside for generations to come.
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Robert Riechel
E=Mail: SanBrunoPatch.Robert@Yahoo.com
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Photo Credit: San Bruno CA Patch Archives
Source Credit: Superintendent Kemp - San Bruno CA Park School District
Web Site: http://sbpsd.k12.ca.us/
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