The city of Mountain View has given the Mountain View Whisman School District its terms for a new joint use agreement to share operations of school fields, with a year-end deadline for the school district to accept the offer.

The district and city have historically jointly managed the use of campus fields, with the city handling maintenance and improvements, while the school district allows the public to use its open space outside of school hours. The city has also handled rentals for sports games and other community uses during those times.

The two parties have been in multi-year negotiations to formalize a new agreement, but the long-running partnership appeared on the brink of falling apart in September when city staff recommended terminating the current deal. The move came after the school district paused negotiations on the renewed agreement earlier this year.

The City Council ultimately voted on Sept. 12 to end the agreement, which was slated to run through June 30, 2025, but directed city staff to give the district a final "take it or leave it" offer for a new deal with an end-of-year deadline to accept.

City spokesperson Lenka Wright told the Voice last week that the city had drafted its new agreement and sent it to the district for review.

The school board met in closed session at a Nov. 16 meeting to confer about the joint use agreement. The closed door discussion lasted nearly two hours and when the meeting reconvened into open session, board President Laura Ramirez Berman reported that no action had been taken.

The school board plans to hold a public discussion about the joint use agreement at a Dec. 7 meeting, school district spokesperson Shelly Hausman told the Voice ahead of last week's meeting. Hausman said that the district did not have additional comments at this time.

The City Council doesn't have a set date to vote on the joint use agreement because it is waiting to hear if the terms are acceptable to the district, Wright said.

"The city values the longstanding partnership between the district and the city with regard to the use of school grounds and facilities and hopes that our partnership with the district will continue into the future," Wright said in an email.

According to Wright, the city's updated proposal includes modifications related to previously unresolved areas, including indemnification and Civic Center Act compliance. The document also includes "acknowledgement of the partnership between the city of Mountain View and the Mountain View Whisman School District," Wright said.