I would like to thank the Board and the Facilities Committee for finding a way for special day classes to have permanent homes! This will be a huge benefit to the lives of our kids and our families, and allow students to truly be part of their school communities.

"Board members voted 4-1 for the plans, with board member Greg Coladonato dissenting. Coladonato said he wanted to see more trade-offs and more options that would bring the total cost of the projects both over and under the $100 million budget. His concern, he said, is that construction costs will go over-budget and there won't be enough money left for the schools scheduled to get upgrades last.

But picking and choosing from the list may cause some problems, according to Todd Lee, construction project manager for Greystone West. Lee said Bubb, Huff and Landels Elementary all have libraries and multi-use rooms with serious seismic issues that need to be addressed, and called the current facilities "dysfunctional" and in need of an upgrade.

"You're talking about leaving libraries at those three sites at a 2,400-square-foot portable," he said. "You're leaving your multi-use room with horribly undersized kitchens."

If multi-use rooms or libraries are cut from the project list, Lee said it would also lead to disparities across the district and substandard facilities at some schools that could mean the difference between a 5,000-square-foot library and a portable that's half the size."
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Thank you to Mr. Coladonato for looking at the big picture! If the spending keeps going as it has, some schools will not get much needed upgrades that they have been waiting for. While some schools are having their libraries rebuilt for a second time, Landels, Huff and Bubb campuses are still operating in original archaic portables along with other much needed improvements. The tax was paid by everyone in Mountain View and all schools should benefit equally.
Thank you to Mr. Lee also for pointing out the big picture to the board!

Did kindergartners at a PACT class really have to work standing all year? This seems to be an incredible claim, is this even legal? Surely there is some way to quickly create a wheel chair accessible layout for the classroom.

The kids may have gotten to sit on the floor but they truly did not have any chairs in their classroom. There just wasn't enough room.

So the pact school has no chairs for the students!?!

In the one kindergarten room with the student in a wheelchair, there were no chairs because the room wasn't big enough to be ADA compliant if the chairs were there. There wouldn't have been enough room for the wheelchair to maneuver. The rest if the classrooms have chairs.

@SERIOUSLY of Old Mountain View

"So the pact school has no chairs for the students!?! "

As was explained in other MV-Voice posts, the classrooms at Stevenson are below standard size, far below for the Kinder rooms. One of the consequences of this during this past school year was that in ONE Kindergarten class they were required to remove all chairs for the kids.

This was done so the room could SAFELY meet the special needs of a student who needs a wheelchair. The kids understood and managed to make due with what they had. Kids are very flexible and understanding that way. Something we do a lot of at Stevenson, make due with what we have and loving what we have. We have objectively the worst facilities in the district, but we focus on making the best of it.

The rest of the classrooms did have chairs for the kids.

To @pact parent. "flexible and understand,and make due"

Sounds like pact parent could learn from the kids. On good behavior. Your arrogance shows even while trying to humble yourself.

@matt pot, kettle, black

@Matt of Martens-Carmelita

"Sounds like pact parent could learn from the kids. On good behavior. Your arrogance shows even while trying to humble yourself"

I'm sorry, Matt, I certainly NEVER meant to mislead you into thinking I was trying to "humble myself".

Perhaps when you mis-quoted me you also misunderstood my words in the process?

If I was silly enough to go begging for something like a... swimming pool or something else of a luxury-item for Stevenson, (which I can't imagine asking for) maybe there might be some reason for that, but personally, I would be happy to get NOTHING at all but to be allowed to stay put at Stevenson for the long-haul.

I wouldn't complain if NOTHING from Measure-G was spent on Stevenson as long as we get to STAY at Stevenson permanently.

Slater School was granted a $30million reserve account and Stevenson is not even on the list of schools to get ANY money.

Personally, I can live with that IF PACT remains at Stevenson and remains OPEN for the next decade or so.

Please don't mis-interpret, that was "sincerity", not "humble".

Nelson wont resign now, He has won! By a clever and under the radar tactic.

Nelson and Coladonato have already taken $30million from the district and locked it away for the exclusive use of building a new Slater School no mater what damage it will do.

WHO are the "greedy takers" now?

Slater gets $30million lock-box funding, Stevenson NOT on any list to get any Measure-G money.

Stevenson is NOT even on the list of schools to get ANY of the Measure-G money for critical repairs or any upgrades at all!

And yet the Slater Advocates on the Board (Nelson and Coladonato) have taken $30million out of the general fund and tied it up in a reserve fund for the exclusive purpose of building a new district standard 450-600 school in Whisman/Slater.

Slater gets well over $30million, Stevenson gets ZERO, yeah those "greedy"...wait, WHO is being greedy?

Slater assured $30million budget already and Stevenson ZERO, yeah, see, that proves how "greedy" the Stevenson families are we want NOTHING from Measure-G and would be happy with NO construction MONEY at all. See, there is the proof of how greedy the Stevenson families are....uh,,huh? Did I read that right?

The $30million the Board voted to be specifically set aside in a special reserve account for the Slater School at the above Board meeting didn't even get mentioned in this article. (That $30million number is rounding down.)

That seems very odd, since this huge Slater set-aside also takes away from district funds which could be spent on other things.

The Slater School now has a $30million budget (which is 3/4 the budget of the whole Castro 2-school project) and yet still Stevenson is NOT even on the LIST of schools getting construction money.

Well, I guess if that's the price the Board decides we must pay to stay at Stevenson, we'll find a way to make due with what we have. As long as we can stay where we are, we will find a way to survive until the next bond measure, whatever year that may come in