LASD speeds up San Antonio campus planning

The Los Altos School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved a delegation of authority at its June 8 meeting, allowing district leadership to execute certain consulting contracts related to the planned San Antonio campus project before the board’s next regular meeting in August. District staff said the authorization is intended to keep work moving during the summer if consulting agreements arise that require approval before August 3. Any contracts executed under the delegation would be brought back to the board for ratification. The action comes as the district continues long-range planning for the San Antonio campus at the corner of California Street and Showers Drive in Mountain View – also known as the district’s “10th site” – a project that trustees say remains on schedule. During public comment, a parent questioned the need for the project amid enrollment declines, saying, “Your enrollment is down. You don’t need the 10th site.” They argued that the district should focus resources on existing campuses and raised concerns about facilities for Bullis Charter School (BCS) students. Trustee Jim Malone pushed back on the characterization that the project is being accelerated. “I don’t think anybody’s fast-tracking anything,” Malone said. “We made a decision. We made it as a board a while ago and this just keeps things moving forward. It’s not really doing anything out of the ordinary.” Board President Vaishali Sirkay said, “We are very much on schedule and I’m really, really grateful for that because if we were to slow things down or not be on schedule, the costs are just going up and up and up, and I think that by us staying on schedule, we’re able to stay within our budget.” Trustees also discussed how the campus could affect future facilities arrangements with BCS. Trustee Stella Kam said BCS is expected to be the first occupant of the San Antonio campus when it opens in the 2028-2029 school year. Kam also said some BCS students would remain at Egan Junior High School because the new campus would not be large enough to accommodate all of BCS’ in-district students. The discussion also touched on the district’s long-standing facilities relationship with BCS. Kam noted that the district has operated under a facilities agreement with the charter school for roughly 12 years and said the current agreement is expected to expire in 2027. Kam said two members of the board have been meeting with the BCS board, adding that “there has been work going on” behind the scenes. Sirkay connected the project to a long-standing district goal of creating separate campuses, referencing the Measure N campaign slogan, “10 schools on 10 campuses.” Sirkay said the district’s shared-campus model has created instructional challenges and should be phased out. She said the district has long wanted to shift to a middle school model but has been constrained by the current arrangement. “I don’t think it’s fair or appropriate for BCS students or for LASD students to continue sharing campuses to the extent that they have been,” she said.