[BHS Etree] Special Board Meeting Postponed; School Capacity Discussions Continue

[BHS Etree]

PLEASE do not reply to this email, contact Mark Coplan 
markcoplan at berkeley.net <mailto:markcoplan at berkeley.net>*
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*Special Board Meeting Postponed; School Capacity Discussions Continue*

The previously announced March 4th special meeting on school capacity 
and enrollment growth has been postponed to a later date (TBD) in order 
to include additional information related to long-term facilities planning.

At the February 25th board meeting, the Superintendent and staff 
provided a brief overview of facility capacity solutions that could 
accommodate anticipated enrollment growth in the short, medium, and 
long-term.

The Board voted to modify the short-term plan for 2015-16, based on new 
enrollment projections from our admissions department. Now that most 
parents of elementary students have completed applications to enroll for 
the fall, current trends project only two additional classrooms are 
needed for next year. Classrooms available at Jefferson and Rosa Parks 
would provide the needed space. Both of these schools would still have 
at least one additional "flex" space.

While it is unlikely that a third or fourth classroom would be needed in 
2015-16, the board voted to prioritize classrooms if needed in this 
order: 1. Jefferson, 2. Rosa, 3. Jefferson, 4. Rosa, 5. Emerson, 6. 
Muir,  7. Washington. The option of consolidating three Transitional 
Kindergarten (TK) classrooms to a single site has been removed from the 
short-term list of options, as staff indicated this would be 
logistically challenging for 2015-16.

The Board directed staff to begin developing a mid-term and long-term 
timeline, including variables and costs involved in options such as 
portables, new construction or repurposing of existing sites. Staff will 
bring a timeline to the School Board on March 11th, and additional 
information to later board meetings.

The Board welcomes further community input on the mid-term and long-term 
solutions to enrollment growth once the additional information on costs 
and other considerations have been developed by staff.  A date for a 
community meeting will be publicized on the web site, e-trees and in the 
A+ News as soon as it is rescheduled.

You can watch these video clips from the February 25th board meeting for 
more details:

Board Meeting Item on Facilities Capacity Plan <https://vimeo.com/120831730>

Follow-up discussion <https://vimeo.com/120831732>

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Mark Coplan, Public Information Officer

Berkeley Unified School District

510-644-6320 Cell: 510-472-3811

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