The Morgan Hill Parks and Recreation Commission voted 4-1 to
accept a proposal from a local nonprofit sports program to manage
the city’s Outdoor Sports Center.
Local sports group gets commission nod
The Morgan Hill Parks and Recreation Commission voted 4-1 to accept a proposal from a local nonprofit sports program to manage the city’s Outdoor Sports Center.
The commission voted Tuesday, passing its recommendation to award the facility’s operation to Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance along to the city council. The item will be discussed and voted on for approval or rejection at the April 28 council meeting.
Three companies submitted proposals to run the 35-acre complex of football and soccer fields on Condit Road. Parks and Recreation staff recommended that the commission select MHYSA because its proposal was consistent with the city’s objective to run the fields at no cost to the city while focusing on the local community.
The center is currently run by the California Youth Sports Association.
MHYSA president Jeff Dixon has said his group’s proposal would ensure fair use of the city’s fields for everyone, open the fields on weekdays, and bring in more revenue by using on-site fencing as advertising space.
Also submitting a proposal to run the OSC was Upper V Management Group, LLC.
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Craig van Keulen voted against the staff recommendation.
Two teens advance to National Merit finals
Does a 4.3 GPA sound impressive? How about a 4.47? The two high marks belong to Live Oak High School’s Emily Mandel and Ann Sobrato High School student Joshua Yip. Both were honored at the school board meeting Tuesday evening for their move from semi-finalist National Merit scholars to finalists.
The prestigious honor for high school students offers scholarships to its finalists and are chosen based on academic achievement, skills and abilities.
Mandel’s career at Live Oak was spent dedicated to taking and acing her Advanced Placement courses, participating on several athletic teams such as badminton and cross country, and enjoying her time on the school band. She is deciding between UCLA and Dickinson College in Pennsylvania with a plan to study international affairs.
Yip’s 4.47 GPA is proof he’s no slouch when it comes to academia. He has scored a “5” on every AP test he has taken – the highest mark possible – in college-level courses that can be transferred into college units. He runs the tutoring center at Sobrato and has been busy studying for an upcoming AP physics test – a course that isn’t offered at Sobrato – but Yip is taking the class online with the guidance a Sobrato teacher.
Yip will attend Rice University in Texas to study engineering.
Summer school moved after Fourth of July
While summer school at the high school level was cancelled, 1,100 students will swarm onto Britton Middle School on July 7 to start their four weeks of extra help.
Forty-two teachers will run the show of migrant, special education, algerbra readiness and kindergarten readiness classes.
About 286 students are expected to be a part of the Migrant Education for kindergarten through high school students; 500 will be a part of the special education summer school; 133 outgoing 7th-graders who received a D or F in pre-algerbra will utilize the algerbra readiness and about 200 pre-kindergarten students will attend.
Summer school was moved nearer to the fall to help with students memory of the lessons and also the day will go from 8 a.m. until after noon for four weeks – resulting in a slightly longer day but two weeks shorter than summer school before 2010.
Twenty-four intructional aides and eight para-educators will also be on hand to assist students at Britton in July. The Morgan Hill Unified School District will save $200,000 from the general fund by only providing programs that use categorical dollars.
Catch a candidate forum
The five candidates running for the District 1 Santa Clara County Supervisor seat will answer questions at a special community forum held Tuesday May 4 and hosted by the Morgan Hill Toastmasters club.
Currently, the District 1 Supervisor seat is held by Don Gage who faces a term limit this November. The five candidates currently running to replace Gage are Teresa Alvarado, Peter Arellano, Thomas Kruse, Mike Wasserman, and Forrest Williams.
A panel of four South Valley leaders will ask the candidates questions about local issues and their leadership ability. It will be made up of Suzanne Bulle, a Leadership Gilroy alumni, Priya Smith, the Leadership Morgan Hill board president, Sylvia Hamilton, the president of the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance board, and Robert Airoldi, editor of the Morgan Hill Times. The forum will also provide an opportunity for audience members to ask questions of the candidates by writing them on cards.
The forum will be moderated by Morgan Hill Toastmasters club members Jim Carrillo and Nancy Lowe.
The forum will be begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Playhouse in downtown Morgan Hill. Doors will open at 6 p.m. so that members of the South Valley community can chat with candidates in the lobby. The two-hour forum will start at 6:30 p.m.
