Posted by Observer, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Mar 8, 2013 at 6:26 am

Wow! A politician actually doing something he promised to do if he got elected! You have all my support Mr. Nelson.

Posted by Garrett, a resident of another community, on Mar 8, 2013 at 8:51 am

Not going to say we shouldn't spend money on fire sprinklers, we also need to spend money on earthquake. In recent events we need to spend money student, teacher and playground safety. Secure those schools.

Posted by Otto Maddox, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Mar 8, 2013 at 8:52 am

Waste of money. Period.

I've had to deal with fire supression systems in the past.

Fire sprinklers are a maintenance hassle and cause many false alarms (most systems have flow alarms) and more accidental water damage (pipes break, someone snaps a sprinkler head off) than any damage they may prevent from an actual fire.

As Mr. Goldman noted. A child has not died in a school fire since 1933. What issue is Mr. Nelson trying to address here? Surely there are more pressing needs in our schools.

I promise we'll be reading stories about how the music teacher came in Monday morning and saw a water fall coming out of the band storage room. All the instruments ruined.

Just something to think about.

Posted by Steven Nelson, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Mar 8, 2013 at 11:32 am

Please note that Mountain View City over many decades in the late twentieth century was a national leader in automatic fire sprinkler safety codes. The issues of automatic fire suppression in schools is covered in several civil grand jury reports in the last few years in both San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Garret is right - there are several buildings that the Conditions & Needs structural analysis identified as 3rd class (just above replace as earthquake hazard). Should these buildings be left, reinforced, or bulldozed and entirely replaced? It's all a matter of public policy priorities isn't it?

one of five MVWSD Trustees

Posted by Interested observer , a resident of another community, on Mar 11, 2013 at 3:04 pm

I find it interesting that Mr. Nelson, in his capacity as a trustee, is taking on the role of the President of the Board who normally speaks for the Board. His motives are unclear and suspect. More information from experts in fire suppression is needed before I would support his opinion re: fire sprinklers in the schools.

Posted by Steven Nelson, a resident of the Cuesta Park neighborhood, on Mar 17, 2013 at 1:25 pm

@interested, I hope you are interested enough to read the article in the Voice. The "expert in fire suppression" is the Menlo Park fire marshal who spoke. The second person who offered to come down to our county and speak (though a lay expert) was a Director of the Meno Park Fire Protection District. Both these people have much more experience with the topic than Superintendent Goldman. The school Administration implements the Policy of a majority of the Board. Neither the Superintendent (Administration) or the School Board President by themselves set Policy. It is decided by a majority of the Board!

Steven Nelson

one of five MVWSD Trustees

(BTW - I have 50 signatures of school parents who want this topic discussed by the Board - is that sufficient?)