Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District

School Facilities Meeting Minutes 4-6-05

Acton Agua Dulce Unified School District Facilities Committee draft Minutes -Meeting at ACTON SCHOOL TEACHER'S LOUNGE Wednesday, April 6, 2005 -7:00 p.m.

1.0 OPENING OF MEETING Members Present Ron Bird yes Charles Brink yes Shauna Comber yes Cindy Gerlich yes Larry Layton yes Sheryl Puett yes Ken Wipff yes Max Duran yes School Board liaison

2.0 COMMITTEE OPERATIONS Mission: To best serve our student population, we will act as representatives of the community to recommend to the Board solutions for the improvement of district facilities. We will first focus on current problems and possible corrections and then on long-term challenges.

Approve Agenda Approved agenda with the following discussion topics added: Address Nature of Committee Questions to the School Board Approve Minutes Minutes for the meeting of March 23, 2005 were approved.

Open Forum Our immediate facilities wish list is due back from the Principals on April 8. Max agreed to send a reminder email the Principals.

Max mentioned that he would like our committee to report to the Board in writing. Some discussion ensued that the committee minutes might serve this purpose for the normal bi-monthly School Board reports.

Doug Miller, the teach in charge of the Success Academy, proposed a way that a library can be created at Vasquez High without adding any additional buildings to the site. There are two set of lab buildings at Vasquez, each of which is really two relocatable buildings that are connected. Each set of buildings consists of a classroom relocatable and a lab relocatable. He recommended that the classroom component of each science class be conducted in the science lab. This would free up two classrooms for other purposes for use as a library and for use as an extra classroom. It was noted that one teacher roves from classroom to classroom, because that teacher does not have a permanent classroom due to the lack of classroom space at Vasquez.

One concern with this proposal is the lab portion (with the tables and sinks) large enough to accommodate a full science classroom comfortably. Another concern is students damaging the lab equipment. Doug mentioned that everything is locked up now, unless an actual lab is in session. Max says that a permanent school typically has classes in the lab room. These permanent rooms though are slightly larger than a normal sized classroom. It was a agreed that we look at this proposal further and pay particular attention to this topic when we are on our April 16 field trip to the campuses. If this turns out to be a viable solution, we will forward this suggestion to the Principal, Superintendent and the Education Committee.

It was also brought up in this discussion that a Vasquez High Accreditation report exists. The number one concern in this report is the lack of a library at Vasquez. Max will look for a copy of this Accreditation punch list and the committee agreed to review this list for any other facility related concerns it may contain. Max will also try to get us a copy of this years' Vasquez Schedule of Classes so that the committee can review current room utilization. Address Nature of Committee Questions to the School Board The nature of the committee was discussed and it was mentioned that the Mission Statement seems to sum it up quite well. Some concern was expressed that the School Board has not given the committee a focused direction. It was also expressed that if we stray off topic that the Board will keep our committee focused.

Prioritize the List of Committee Topics The following list of topics was put in the following priority order and will be the basis for discussion in our future committee meetings:

1. Consider use of existing facilities to optimize our educational environment including the possible use of the Acton facility.

2. Discuss existing Vasquez High School facilities issues.

3. Facilities Philosophy (example issue: separation of general fund vs. facility funds)

4. Immediate term facility needs (example issue: no lunch room or library at Vasquez)

5. Mid-term facility needs (example issue: not enough classrooms at Vasquez)

6. Completion of a permanent high school Larry strongly feels that a separate topic should be created and placed at the top of this list called “Reopening Acton Elementary School”. Others felt that this topic could be addressed as part of the first topic, which is to consider optimization methods for our existing facilities.

The above priority list was approved: 6-1-0.

Facility Optimization It was agreed that Vasquez High is currently overcrowded and that there is a potential for Vasquez enrollment to continue to grow in subsequent years. Some discussion ensued regarding Meadowlark being currently overcrowded. Moving four relocatable buildings to this site will relieve this overcrowding. The same was said regarding High Desert Middle School. Currently though both of these schools are overcrowed.

Some concern was expressed regarding the annual and one-time costs to reopen Acton School. Updated estimates have thus far not been provided to the School Board. Max agreed to draft a letter regarding this.

A statement was made that ideally facility optimization should provide for enough classroom space for expansion including being able to physically restore class size reduction and all day kindergarten.

3.0 ADJOURNMENT Adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Next meeting: April 20, 2005 at 7:00 PM at the Acton School Teacher's Lounge Facilities Field Trip: April 16, 2005 at 9:00 AM. We will meet in the upper parking lot at Agua Dulce Elementary School. Please try to be there at 9:00 AM sharp.

Agenda for the April 20, 2005 Meeting Some Basic Ground Rules: To encourage the free expression of ideas and should establish the open forum as an item on the agenda. As a convention, people may engage each other in discussion, but only two at a time. If a third or fourth party wishes to jump in they are encouraged to hold their comments until they are recognized. All discussions and disagreements should be aired in a spirit of community. The open forum is an attempt to give all ideas voice to better find solutions to enhance the facilities that house the learning environment. Approve agenda Approve prior meetings minutes Open forum Consider use of existing facilities to optimize our educational environment including the possible use of the Acton facility.

Discuss existing Vasquez High School facilities issues.

Facilities Philosophy (example issue: separation of general fund vs. facility funds)

Immediate term facility needs (example issue: no lunch room or library at Vasquez)

Mid-term facility needs (example issue: not enough classrooms at Vasquez)

Completion of a permanent high school

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