Can the School Board Grok With BCS, County?

Wrestling with a number of challenges, the Los Altos School Board discussed approaching two key educational bodies with invitations to meet with its members.

The board wants to invite the members of the county Board of Education to joint meetings to explain how decisions affect school boards like theirs, and to better understand how it can help the county board.  

"I think we’ve been too isolated for too long, while they make decisions on things that affect us directly," said Los Altos School Board president Mark Goines.

He was referring to the county school board's granting of the Bullis Charter School's charter and its role in oversight. In drafting an invitation, the board agreed its goals for joint meetings would be: mutual understanding of roles, helping them understand how their decisions affect the Los Altos School District, to ask what can the LASD board can do to help them be more effective.

The board also discussed seeking subcommittee meetings with the Bullis Charter School board. Board members wanted to try brainstorming and discussion as it searches for a longterm facilities solution for the charter school.

The school board's actions are similar in intent to joint meetings the board already holds with other bodies. Through a subcommittee, the LASD board has had regular meetings with the Los Altos City Council, and with the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District.

"We have a very good relationship with the city," Goines said, adding that the relationship remains even when the school board disagrees with the city on some issues. "They may want us to do things we won't do. We might want them to do things they won't."