The Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees will return to ongoing debates over significant changes to how members are elected and where sixth grade will be placed at its Aug. 4 meeting.
Closed session begins at 4 p.m. with open session following around 6 p.m. at the district headquarters located at 15600 Concord Circle in Morgan Hill.
MHUSD will once again mull over nine possible election-district boundary maps that could also reduce the number of trustees from seven to five. Three of the nine boundary maps before the district eliminate two board member spots. The other six leave the board makeup status quo.
The area maps are attached to the Aug. 4 agenda for viewing on the district website. This is the fourth public hearing on the topic, with previous ones held April 21, June 9 and June 23.
It is listed as an action item, meaning the board is expected to vote on the move to a trustee area election system and authorization of a request to the state department to bypass an election in order to move forward. The waiver would allow the board to vote on the election changes instead of paying for a special election for the general public to decide.
The board will also be asked on whether to move forward on the district’s grade level reconfiguration. District staff, along with a committee of various stakeholders, recommends moving sixth grade classes out of the elementary school sites and into the middle school sites for the 2016-17 school year.
“It has been determined that both Lewis H. Britton and Martin Murphy Middle schools have the physical space within their existing facilities to house sixth grade commencing the 2016-17 school year,” the agenda item’s rational explains. “Should the sixth grade remain in elementary schools, it would preclude the expansion of class size reduction and require portable classrooms to be added to the elementary schools that are at capacity.”
The same rationale also recommends planning for the expansion of the San Martin/Gwinn Elementary School campus to a kindergarten through eighth grade site. Currently, Jackson Academy of Math and Music is MHUSD’s only K-8 site. Additionally, the Charter School of Morgan Hill, which serves Morgan Hill students, is K-8.
Other general business items to be discussed are:
—$152,849 contract for Ramon Zavala, new Assistant Superintendent of Education Services, with yearly bumps to $157,434 in Year 2, $162,157 in Year 3; and $167,021 in Year 4. It also includes a $2,500 stipend for holding a Master’s and Doctorate as well as 24 days of accruable vacation.
—$72,128 salary for new classified position titled Construction Project Planner. “Under general supervision, plans and coordinates a variety of capital improvement, maintenance, modification and repair projects involving multiple crafts,” according to the job description.
Changes in leadership, classrooms
The board will make official the appointment of veteran administrator Glen Webb as the district’s new Director of Curriculum and Instruction; Vera Gomes as the next Central High School principal and Ramon Zavala as new Assistant Supe of Education Services; as well as new principals at Britton Middle School (Christopher Moore), Nordstrom Elementary School (name not listed) and Ann Sobrato High School (Courtney Macko), which will also have two new vice principals (former teachers’ union head Theresa Sage and former Britton teacher Vincent Gutierrez) this school year.
Fifty-nine new teachers were hired by the district for the 2015-16 school year are listed on the personnel order, along with resignations of former principals Debbie Padilla, who took an administrative job with Gilroy Unified School District, from Sobrato and Barbara Neal from Nordstrom.
Consent items
Items listed under the consent calendar (which are considered routine and given board approval by one vote unless otherwise requested) include:
—$1,195,170 in contracts (general fund) for special education services for the 2015-16 school year;
—$90,000 contract (general fund) for School Resource Officer “to ensure school campuses are a safe place for students to learn and grow.”;
—$83,451 contract (general fund/assessment fund) with SchoolCity, Inc. for management and organization of different state assessment data;
—$60,000 contract (discretionary funds) with SCCOE “to provide ongoing professional development to elementary and secondary teachers on California Common Core State Standards);
—$52,365 contract (LCFF funds) with Santa Clara County Office of Education for placement of 15 students in county-run Community Schools;
—$39,545 contract (routine restricted maintenance/Mello Roos funds) with Dryco Construction to slurry, seal and re-stripe playgrounds at El Toro and Los Paseo Elementary Schools;
—$16,000 contract (site funds) with Patty Curtis for art consultation and instruction at Walsh STEAM Academy;
—$9,500 contract (LCFF funds) with Weston Miles Architects for the conceptual design for the Monterey Road site, which currently houses the adult education program. “The goal of the pre-design phase will be to continue determining programming needs and produce project imagery and drawings that can be used to obtain partner grants,” according to the item. “West Miles Architects will research similar career tech and adult education programs and facilities to help visualize design opportunities and develop the district’s list of preferences.”
K-5 Elementary Schools
Barrett
El Toro
Los Paseos
Nordstrom
Paradise Valley
P. A. Walsh
K-8 Elementary Schools
Jackson Academy of Math & Music Elementary School
San Martin/Gwinn Elementary School
6-8 Middle Schools
Britton Middle School
Martin Murphy Middle School
9-12 High Schools
Ann Sobrato High School
Live Oak High School
Central High School (Continuation)
Other MHUSD programs: Adult School; Community Adult; Independent Study; Morgan Hill K-8 Home School Program.
