LASD Board Highlights

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If you missed the meeting, you can view the video here. The highlights of the meeting are below.

Mr. Baier provided an update on school reopening. All TK-6th grade students enrolled the Blended Learning program have returned to our campuses. Due to a change in state guidance, our 7th and 8th graders' return to campus has been delayed until further notice.

As new state guidance strongly recommends weekly testing for COVID-19, LASD is beginning a pilot pooled testing program for Blended Learning 6th grade cohorts on February 1. Pooled testing would test those students who voluntarily enroll in the pooled testing program each week for early detection of COVID-19. If successful, this testing method would provide better detection of COVID-19 across schools and cohorts.

In consultation with staff and teachers, LASD will also provide some additional COVID-19 related measures including an information session for staff with healthcare professionals; additional PPE where appropriate; more focus on mental health; and a revision and re-emphasis of the Community Commitment to Healthy Schools.

For more information, check out item H.1. on our agenda online.

Last week, the State of California announced new public health guidelines related to school operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. These new guidelines changed the definition of an "open" school, which caused a delay in the reopening of our junior high schools until further notice. Now, our 7th and 8th grade Blended Learning students will not be able to return to campus until Santa Clara County is in the Red Tier for 5 days. We hope the current decline in coronavirus cases will continue so that we may reopen our junior high campuses soon.

In addition, California's new guidelines require a COVID-19 Checklist and a COVID-19 Prevention Program. While LASD already has a COVID-19 Prevention Program (our Reopening Plan) in place, the Board unanimously approved the COVID-19 Checklist yesterday evening.

COVID-19 cases have remained low and isolated in our schools, a testament to our community's diligence in adhering to the safety precautions that are in place on our campuses. Check out the LASD coronavirus tracker for the latest updates.

For more information, please check out item H.2. on our agenda online.

Monday evening, the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to approve a new contract with the Los Altos Teachers Association, including a well-deserved salary increase. Our incredible teachers have worked even harder than usual this year with the complexities of the pandemic and hardship of multiple modes of teaching. We appreciate their dedication to our students and our community.

For more information, please review item H.3.

Monday evening, the Board of Trustees discussed an update to the Community Commitments to Healthy Schools. LASD strongly encourages all families, students and staff to strictly abide by these commitments--whether or not they are present on our campuses. The health of our community impacts the ability of our schools to remain open. Many of our students learn best in-person in the classroom with their teachers. For that reason, these Community Commitments are essential to continuing the excellent education we are providing for all students in the midst of this extraordinarily challenging pandemic. Please visit our Reopening Webpage for the current version of the Healthy Schools document, which will be emailed to all families and staff once it is revised.

For more information, please view item H.4. on our agenda online.

Mr. Kenyon shared some good news regarding the California State Budget and its impact on LASD. With a better outlook, the Governor is proposing additional funding for schools. Funding may also be available through the Governor's incentive program to reopen schools, which also applies to districts like LASD that have already reopened. In addition, the Federal Government is proposing additional funding for schools in the recently approved $900 billion COVID-19 relief package.

While this information is still preliminary, LASD will have more details this spring to adopt a 2021-22 school year budget.

For more information, please review item H.5. on our agenda online.

Last school year, LASD completed a multi-year exhaustive search for a cost-effective solution to help resolve long standing facilities challenges by purchasing land for a new school site and community park in Mountain View.

Through committees, task forces, emails to the Board and community meetings, our constituents made clear that purchasing a new school site was the best solution to resolve school site sharing, accommodate future student enrollment, as well as protect the top quality education we provide for our students.

Through a unique partnership with the City of Mountain View, LASD will offset the purchase price of the property by up to $127 million. One major component of these cost offsets is the sale of Development Rights. The Board approved the first sale on Monday night for a total of $10.4 million. This is the first of many transactions that are still in progress and which will be completed over the course of the year.

LASD engaged in a lengthy community input process to determine how the site will be used in the future. This process has been put on hold as we grapple with the pandemic, but the Board hopes to resume this community discussion as soon as we can return to normalcy.

For more information, please check out item H.6. on our agenda online.

The next meeting of the Los Altos School District Board of Trustees will take place on Monday, February 8 at 7:00pm via Zoom. To attend the meeting please visit our Board web page and register for the meeting using the provided link. The link will be posted on Thursday at 5:00pm the week prior to each meeting.

If you would like to stay updated regarding upcoming Board meetings, please email mbirnie@lasdschools.org, providing your name, email address and a request to be added to the email list for Brown Act updates, including upcoming meetings and agendas.

Website: www.lasdschools.org
Location: 201 Covington Road
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LASDK8/