Slater's neighbors want their space Slater's neighbors want their space (January 20, 2006)

Parents discuss district plan to lease school after it closes

By Molly Tanenbaum

About 20 parents attended a public hearing Jan. 12 to comment on the Mountain View-Whisman district's plan to lease Slater School once it closes in June.

What came out was a resounding community desire to keep the field and blacktop open to the public during evenings and weekends, at the very least.

"This is the place we come. This is where my children learned to ride their bikes," said Slater parent Chris Kuszmaul, whose words were echoed by other Slater neighbors in attendance.

The public hearing was held by the district's advisory committee on surplus property, which is made up of residents, a city planning commissioner, a teacher, and MV-Whisman CFO Rebecca Wright.

The committee's purpose is to make recommendations to the board at the Feb. 2 board meeting about the future of the Slater campus. Right now, there is no indication whether the district will lease Slater to a private school, to the city, or to multiple vendors, and also whether the district plans to lease the entire campus or just portions of it.

Parents and neighbors at the hearing seemed more in favor of a lease to the city, so Slater could potentially house the new child care center that has been in the planning stages for Rengstorff Park, or some other facility that would serve the surrounding community.

During the hearing, Wright explained that a long-term lease -- around 20 years -- would be more financially beneficial to the district than a short-term one. Enrollment is projected to stay fairly constant through 2014, so if the number of students increased thereafter, it would be just in time for Whisman School's lease to be up, Wright said.

Wright's stance is that the district should try to maximize financial gain from Slater as long as it is not in use by the district.

The district hopes to have a lease signed by July so that if a private school plans to use the campus, it can open its doors by September.

The advisory committee is open to community suggestions, and will share them with the board on Feb. 2. Those who would like to contact the committee may e-mail janehorton@earthlink.net or mcobb@colliersparrish.com.

E-mail Molly Tanenbaum at mtanenbaum@mv-voice.com

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