The number of students that the Morgan Hill Unified School
District will have to absorb when, and if, Coyote Valley is built
out, and whether high school students will attend a massive
3,000-plus student campus or two smaller campuses are big concerns
for trustees.
School board trustees air concerns about development
The number of students that the Morgan Hill Unified School District will have to absorb when, and if, Coyote Valley is built out, and whether high school students will attend a massive 3,000-plus student campus or two smaller campuses are big concerns for trustees.
On Tuesday, they held a special meeting to hear a presentation by San Jose city officials and discuss their concerns about the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Coyote Valley.
The Coyote Valley Specific Plan, which has been in the works for several years, is the blueprint for the development of the Coyote Valley area north of Morgan Hill. The area is contained in the Morgan Hill Unified School District boundaries, which extend to Bernal Road in south San Jose.
The Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force is creating a development blueprint for San Jose City Council to consider for the area just north of Morgan Hill and west of U.S. 101. The general plan is to create a densely populated transit community with 80,000 residents, 50,000 jobs and 25,000 homes over the next 30 or so years.
Trustees acknowledged Tuesday night that though the planned development will be within MHUSD boundaries, which extend from San Martin in the south to south San Jose in the north, an area covering roughly 300 miles, one of the largest districts in the state, there is no district representative on the task force.
Russ Danielson, a San Jose representative and former Morgan Hill business owner who served the remainder of a retiring MHUSD trustee’s term several years ago, was appointed to the task force while he was on the board, but when he was not re-elected as a trustee, San Jose officials refused to replace him on the task force with an elected board member, despite repeated requests by MHUSD.
Trustees are also worried about the computation of student generation-rates from the housing complexes, the higher number of students listed in the EIR as compared to the number projected to attend the planned schools in the Coyote Valley Specific Plan, the build-out and phasing of the project, the high school situation and the joint use of fields by the schools and the city.
Trustees say they don’t like the plan’s proposed high school situation because it calls for one comprehensive high school for 3,000 students.
They want to have at least two schools, but when Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force members proposed two high schools on one property, sharing certain facilities, that didn’t meet the needs of the district either.
Board of Education President Peter Mandel said he thought the meeting was effective.
“I was very pleased, I thought board members provided some excellent perspective which will be included in our response,” he said. “No individual on the board is supportive of the overall development, however, we need to take steps to insure the interests of the district, the interests of the future kids of the development are looked after.”
Mandel said the issues raised by trustees during discussion will be included in the district’s response.
“A formal response will be crafted by staff and consultants, then it comes back to me and to (MHUSD Superintendent Nishino) Alan so we can make sure that the comments are properly incorporated,” he said.
Nishino has been designated as a negotiator for the district while Mandel and former board president Shelle Thomas are board representatives who attend all task force meetings and subcommittee meetings, along with district officials, including Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini. Nishino said he thought Tuesday’s meeting was productive.
“All those are good points,” he said of the trustees’ concerns discussed during the meeting. “As far as school business is concerned, some of the issues raised are more vital than others, but all will be addressed. Bonnie (Tognazzini) and a consultant will be working with me to craft a response.”
Trustees and Nishino and his staff have also expressed concern about funding for the construction of the recommended nine elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools that would handle the students in Coyote Valley. Nishino said a “funding model” has been “repeatedly requested” by the district, but so far, the task force, which would present the final specific plan for approval by the San Jose City Council, has not acceded to the request.
