The process of determining an interim housing plan is moving forward. We (the BPO leadership) wanted to provide you with an update (below). As of now, we are not requesting any specific action from the Beach community until after the first of the year. Once we have more information regarding the current proposals on the table, we may ask you – as we did when Beach Field was being considered – to support our school by contacting School Board members and/or by attending upcoming School Board meetings (the next one is 1/14/09). Stay tuned!
In addition, we have invited Superintendent Connie Hubbard and/or Assistant Superintendent Michael Brady to the next BPO meeting on 1/12/09 at 7:00 pm. We hope that you will join us in a conversation on the status of the project.
Update: On December 10, the Piedmont School Board met and continued their discussion of the options of where to house our students during the Measure E retrofit project. You can watch the proceedings at the following link:
http://www.ci.piedmont.ca.us/video/
Two options – placing the portables all on Beach field or all on Witter baseball field – are currently not being actively pursued, although this could theoretically change if all the other options fall through. There are still multiple options still on the table, and the ones that currently have the most support are:
- All portables placed in Blair Park (across from Coaches Field off Moraga Avenue): This will only be possible if the city of Piedmont is able to quickly gain approvals and funding to develop this area as a new sports field. There is considerable neighborhood resistance to this plan. In addition, safety studies for school use of the site would also have to be completed in time for placement of portables by August 2009.
- Students attend an existing school called Emery on 61st Street in Emeryville: PUSD is actively investigating this option. It would include busing the children to an existing school site. It is very appealing because the site is already set up as a school, is seismically safe and will have a brand new park/playspace across the street. This option might also save funds that could be put to other uses as part of the retrofitting project. Principal Valdez has requested that parents DO NOT contact the Emery school directly.
- Splitting the portables at two in-town sites: If the two options above are not viable, the School Board will likely try to split the portables into two groups to “share the pain.” The two sites that are most likely are Witter blacktop and a combination of Beach tennis courts and blacktop. Where Beach students would go during our year of construction is of concern and has not yet been fully addressed.
Summary: While we believe Beach should be willing and able to take on our share of the burden, we do not think that having children on site during construction is the right solution. If this option becomes more likely, we may come back and ask you for support in early January. We are not there yet. Lastly, we are working to put together a small tri-school committee to work with our peers to find community-oriented solutions to the various Measure E-related issues.
