Blog #19 - School District to Wait Until November to Place Bond on Ballot

Please see the email below from the Interim Superintendent:


Dear Ross Valley School District staff, parents, and communities of San Anselmo and Fairfax:

After much discussion at last Thursday’s regular RSVD Board meeting, the Trustees agreed to forgo placing a facilities bond resolution on this June’s ballot. We are aiming to place a resolution on the November 2010 ballot. The November ballot is a critical deadline in order for us to address our overcrowding and to prevent increased student-teacher ratios in our classrooms.

This decision is in response to community input the Board has received over the last few months identifying two important criteria for a bond: (1) to ensure an agreed upon and executable facilities plan is adopted first; and (2) to communicate this plan to the San Anselmo and Fairfax communities as part of a bond.

Over the next few months, the District will continue to research and analyze options, including the recently proposed “Small Deer Park” and “Two Middle School Plan:”

• “Small Deer Park” - A small K-5 school at Deer Park, modernizing the existing classrooms and buildings; the addition of six new classrooms on existing K-5 campuses; and replacement of portables at White Hill with permanent classroom structures plus new classrooms to accommodate enrollment growth.

• “Two Middle School Plan” - A new option to redevelop and reopen Red Hill creating two middle schools of equal size (one at White Hill and one at Red Hill); and to reconfigure White Hill to include a new elementary school.

The Board plans to discuss how we can research these options in depth and receive input from representatives from the District and towns, parents, teachers and other stakeholders affected by the District’s facilities plans. An outline and timeline is being developed for the facilities plan process and will be discussed at a School Board meeting this month.

Options will be discussed at the District’s upcoming Town Meetings on Monday, March 8th at Manor School and Tuesday, March 9th at Lower Brookside. Please join us on Monday and Tuesday to learn more about this news and the next steps the District is taking to solve our classroom shortage.

Sincerely,

Catalina Nocon
Interim Superintendent
Ross Valley School District
(415) 451-4060