After nearly three years of discussion and disagreement, the Mountain View Whisman school board is poised to take a vote within the next month on the installation of fences at Monta Loma Elementary School.

The school district's plans to put up fences around all of its campuses sparked outcry from residents in 2020, particularly those living in the Monta Loma neighborhood. Community members argued that they lack park space, and that fencing would cut off access to fields and other outdoor areas at Monta Loma that they rely on for open space.

District officials pushed back on that idea, pointing out that the public would still be allowed to use the open space outside of school hours, and contend that fences are necessary to improve security while kids are on campus.

Faced with substantial and enduring pushback, Mountain View Whisman moved ahead with installing fencing on other campuses, but held off at Monta Loma. The board ended up hiring the architectural design firm Carducci Associates to host a series of public meetings to get input on how to redesign the campus.

That public input process has been underway for a couple years, but no formal decisions were made about the future of Monta Loma. That looks like it's about to change.

At a Thursday, Aug. 17, meeting, district staff brought an update back to the school board with three options for where to put fencing at the elementary school, encircling varying amounts of the campus. The board is expected to take a vote on a fencing plan at its next meeting, scheduled for Sept. 7.

Superintendent Ayindé Rudolph kicked off the discussion by giving his perspective on the fence debate, including acknowledging that he and other administrators didn't initially appreciate why the open space at Monta Loma was so important to its neighbors.

"Had we understood that there's only two parks for the whole community, and technically one of them is a school field, we probably would have tread differently," Rudolph said. "We would have approached this problem differently. And for that, I truly need to apologize."

At the same time, he said that other areas of the community also lack park space, and that the point of installing fencing was never to restrict access.

All three options presented at the meeting would fence off the Little League field and add gates facing into the campus so that teachers can bring their students onto the field for time outdoors. The Little League field is currently only partially fenced off and lacks gates.

The difference between the options is how much to fence off the multi-use grass field that is frequently used by the public. The first option would add a fence near the edge of the field where it borders the campus buildings, leaving most of the grass area open to the public.

The second option would fence off a portion of the multi-use field near the Little League field, but would leave a large section towards the front of the school open. The final option would fence off most of the multi-use field, although a smaller portion would still remain outside the fence.

In each of the three options, the public would have access to the areas outside of the fences at any time of day – including during school hours – and can enter the fenced-off areas when school is not in session, Rudolph said.

Rudolph told the board that each option had pluses and minuses, but that he believes the first option is the best compromise and the one he would recommend the board choose.

"It balances the needs of everybody and it allows for the community to still have access," Rudolph said.

Eleven members of the public spoke on the topic at Thursday's meeting, including Mayor Allison Hicks and Assistant City Manager Audrey Seymour Ramberg.

Hicks said that she had received several messages from formerly unhappy residents who were pleased with Option 1, which provided the most public access during school hours. In general, neighbors preferred Option 1, while Monta Loma staff members favored Option 3, which would provide the largest fenced-off area.

A Monta Loma teacher read the board a portion of a letter from her and her colleagues, explaining that school staff have had multiple hostile incidents involving people coming onto campus.

"Opting for Option 3 would enable us to continue utilizing the space while upholding the safety of our students within our school boundaries," she said.

Neighbor Jill Rakestraw, on the other hand, said she favored Option 1, but objected to the yearslong process it took to get here.

"We have spent all this time on this theater of security," Rakestraw said. "I'm just disappointed that the Monta Loma neighborhood has not been respected tonight and you've made us wait hours to even express our point of view."

The fencing discussion was held near the end of a lengthy board meeting and didn't begin until after 10 p.m.

Board policy only allows meetings to go past 10 p.m. when a majority of the board votes to do so and only one extension vote is permitted per meeting. The board voted to extend Thursday's meeting until 11:15 p.m.

With limited time to discuss, the board members didn't reveal which plan they each preferred at Thursday's meeting, though they did share general thoughts. Board member Bill Lambert didn't say which option he preferred, but argued that the district should aim to keep as much open space available as possible.

Board member Chris Chiang questioned whether the fences would tangibly help with school safety, and pointed to evidence that these types of measures haven't been shown to be effective at stopping school shootings.

Rudolph responded that stopping school shootings can come down to a matter of seconds and that buying more time is important.

Board member Devin Conley also noted that as a former teacher, she has been through multiple campus lockdowns and also had her own child go through lock downs in Mountain View Whisman. While a fence might not stop a determined shooter, Conley argued that it could potentially deter incidents that aren't pre-planned, like someone who is running from police.

Board member Laura Blakely said she was glad the board was finally having this conversation after several years.

"I appreciate people's willingness to move forward and make a decision," Blakely said.

The district plans to hold a community meeting to discuss the fencing plans at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 24, in the school's multi-use room.