Time to talk Hillview!

Update 10/23/13:   Los Altos City Council and Los Altos Hills Town Council are holding a joint meeting Wed, Oct 23, 5:30 PM at the Los Altos Hills Council Chambers (26379 Fremont Road, Los Altos Hills).   Agenda item 2A is on "Interest in exploring Joint Funding of a Community/Senior Center".  I would encourage those who want to see productive discussions about potential use of part of the Hillview site for a future school to come tonight and comment on item 2A.   The public deserves a city-to-city dialog about collaboration and support for new schools ahead of the joint Los Altos City Council/LASD meeting in November. 

I want to dedicate a topic solely to Hillview.   It's the idea that will just not go away, whether it be a future location for a new district school or a home for Bullis Charter School.   The fact that many different people keep raising Hillview as an option says something about its potential.   Those against the use of Hillview have either argued it's too obvious of a choice, that it's misguided, or the larger community as a whole has invested too much into the civic center future vision.

Home to a nice library, cute history center, and various community venues it is an amazing place.   Hillview Elementary began ~ 1949 as a K-3, and at some point thereafter served higher grades.   In 1978, due to declining enrollment, Hillview was sold to Los Altos in a cooperative deal at below market rate.   The city of Los Altos now has a multi phase master plan to upgrade the civic center.

The former Hillview elementary buildings, the soccer, and baseball fields are ~ 8 acres.   The question to ask is what kind of school can be built here?

First, the why:  As I tried to point out in my previous post, growth is happening across the district.   NEC may have the higher density of the growth, and an expected spurt with upcoming developments, but single family residence housing turnover is as strong as ever all over LASD.   Add to that there is a sizable inventory of homes waiting for the next retirement.   Real estate data has shown this to be case.   Anecdotally, for the past 5 years on my block a new school-aged family has moved in each year while an older generation moves out.  

I would love to see a solution with a priority to address growth with a facility in/near NEC.   But I haven't heard of an obvious solution, except for some nice ideas of land banking and upzoning commercial property.   Hillview is the next choice.  It is centrally located within the district.   Preference can still be given to NEC.   Access is from a more major roadway and there are multiple points of entry.

The how:   We had differing views on the Task Force on exactly the how, but we mostly agreed Hillview has a lot of workable potential:

• Size:   On 8 acres minimum, we could do something along the lines of a 450-500 size school, or less (?), so this would be considered "small".  Maybe higher numbers could be considered with creative structuring of the facilities.  

• Grade configuration:   At minimum, 2 classes per level is > 320 students for K-6.   Or some mixture of 3 classes vs 2 classes will get > 400 students at higher class loads in the upper grades.   Point being, if the K-6 class count is kept low, this could permit adding on a 7/8 grade with two classes each with the effect of providing some small growth relief to Blach & Egan Jr Highs (~120 students).  Is an integrated K-8 feasible in our district for a singular school?  Alternatively, could it work on so little land to have a smaller 6-8?  This would mean moving to a K-5/6-8 model.

• Model:  The traditional model can be done, but it would need to be done in a disjoint way to address NEC growth.    Perhaps by assigning new construction development (slated for Santa Rita & Almond) with the option for existing Santa Rita & Covington families?   The alternative is a magnet approach (be it K-6 or K-8).   A magnet school now affords some flexibility by offering choice for all in the district to attend.   Preference can still be given to new NEC (and/or existing NEC) residences while drawing from a larger population.

The Compromise:  Hillview is not going to be an easy sell to those with vested interests.   It will require a lot of cooperation and something to offer from both sides.   Perhaps, with a choice approach we can design the magnet principle to be something civic oriented or mutually benefiting both the school and the city center (arts, drama, ...).   Los Altos would be losing part of a vision, but could something be compromised with sharing of school owned public land?   Can the BCS camp site be converted to a community center as Hillview now is used?   Can the topic of a pool being built near Covington be re-addressed?  Can some city services be moved downtown?

I'll leave you with two links:

• Los Altos Community Center Master Plan:   http://www.ci.los-altos.ca.us/documents/Community%20Center%20Master%20Plan/Community%20Center%20Master%20Plan%20Graphics.pdf

• Presentation from Duncan MacVicar to Los Altos City Council:   He has his own idea that is worth some merit, being McKenzie Park instead of Hillview.  However, take note of the City Councils reaction to the topic of Hillview.  http://los-altos.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=649&meta_id=33981  More dialog is needed!