School board President George Panos prepared and sent a letter
to San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales on Aug. 5, pointing out
discrepancies between school-related numbers gathered by Coyote
Valley planners and state and district estimates.
School board President George Panos prepared and sent a letter to San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales on Aug. 5, pointing out discrepancies between school-related numbers gathered by Coyote Valley planners and state and district estimates.
All Coyote Valley is within school district boundaries and the district would be responsible for building and paying for schools to serve the new population of students.
The plan, the letter said, estimates seven elementary school sites of seven acres each, serving 600 students each. State guidelines recommend 11.1 acres for 600 students.
The plan shows two middle schools, with 2,800 students, at 14 acres each. The state recommends 19.9 acres for each.
The plan proposes one high school with a 28-acre site for its 2,200 students. The state says 55.7 acres are needed. One way planners may get around the small acreage is by proposing schools with as much as 14 stories, not what MHSD parents and staff are used to.
Panos’ letter said that, not only are the numbers of expected high school students underestimated – he said there will be enough students for two high schools at 40 acres each – but all student numbers are low.
The proposed schools on undersized sites are projected to have 9,200 students but the district’s numbers show 14,175 students. The numbers were reached by using state calculations of .623 students from each single-family home, .727 from each single-family-attached unit, .353 from each multi-family unit, for an average of .567 per residential unit.
“How can we best elevate the discussion at the table,” Panos asked Gonzales in the letter.
“Locating parks near elementary schools is a great start,” he said. “However agreement on size remains a challenge. Discussion and comments are at odds with state guidelines and standards. We must reach agreement sooner than later.”
The district is in the midst of a discussion about whether or not it wants to separate out Coyote Valley into its own school district. Separation would avoid the trauma of having to plan, fund and operate more than twice the number of facilities serving more than twice the number of students that it currently does.
