Local residents may learn something new about the district’s plan to build a new $20 million elementary school on 10 acres of donated land in northeast Morgan Hill with a “comprehensive update on the Peet Road site progress” listed on the June 21 board of education docket.
The agenda item (tagged as G4) includes “potential remediation options” and “tentative schedule for remediation” of the former agricultural land, which is riddled with dangerous toxins from decades of farming and the use of pesticides now banned.
While negotiating the transfer of ownership in closed sessions for more than a year, Morgan Hill Unified School District leaders have also waffled over the potential use of the land given to them as a gift by the Borello family—which has turned the surrounding neighborhood into clusters of executive homes. It is located southeast of the Target shopping center off Cochrane Road.
Meanwhile, the school board approved a $1 million design contract and thousands more for a variety of site assessments, most recently in April.
In an attached presentation expected by Director of Construction Casino Fajardo at Tuesday night’s meeting, it suggests using a treatment process called “bioremediation” to reduce the dangerous concentrations of chemicals in the soil. There are no other remediation methods listed in the presentation.
“Bioremediate means to use biological organisms to solve an environmental problem such as contaminated soil or groundwater,” according to an Environmental Inquiry conducted by Cornell University.
Listed on a schedule for “New Borello School Site Development Project,” it has a 92-day period needed from December 2016 to April 2017 for the “Removal Action Site Remediation (TBD).”
Construction of the new school is estimated to take 490 days immediately following the soil cleansing through February 2019.
The school, which will be funded through the $198 million Measure G capital improvements bond along with developer fees, will be named “S.G. Borello Elementary School” in honor of the family making the donation.
Preceding the Peet Road update on the June 21 agenda are:
•Approval of the Annual Local Control Accountability Plan, which “represents our district’s allocation of resources toward specific actions designed to meet board established goals;”
•Approval of the MHUSD’s annual budget for the 2016-17 school year. The proposed expenditures are $81,696,929.85. The revenues are $84,035,133.51;
•Multi-year financial projection presentation.
Consent items
•Agreements of legal services with Burke, Williams & Sorensen, Lozano Smith and Orbach Huff Suarez & Henderson firms ($350,000 budgeted in general fund for legal services);
•Consolidation request for Nov. 8 election with three open seats (expiring for Trustees Bob Benevento, Rick Badillo and Thomas Arnett) to be filled for Trustee Areas 5, 6, and 7 to be elected for the 2016-2020 terms of office. Candidate filing period is July 18 through Aug. 12. Incumbents failing to file a Declaration of Candidacy by Aug. 12 deadline are then prohibited from filing for the office during the extension period, which would continue until 5 p.m Aug. 17.
•$71,180 contract (from Measure G) with Alphatech to provide engineering services for middle and high school classroom projectors;
•$107,298 contract (LCFF fund) with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for Read 180 licenses and professional development. “Read 180 was developed to support the ELA/ELD Framework for California Public Schools to meet the needs of students at risk for academic difficulties, English Learners and Students with Disabilities,” according to the item’s rationale.
School board meetings begin with closed session at 4:30 p.m. followed by the public session around 6 p.m. at district headquarters located at 15600 Concord Circle in Morgan Hill.
