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Google may lease Slater school
'Win-win' deal would provide space for company's child care needs

By Molly Tanenbaum

The answer to Slater Elementary School's fate once it closes in June may be short and sweet: Google.

The company hopes to use the site for its child care and preschool needs. The Mountain View-Whisman School Board met on March 2, after the Voice went to press, to discuss a possible joint use agreement with Google. The board will then hold a follow-up meeting March 9 to vote on the agreement.

A draft of the five-year agreement was provided prior to the Thursday meeting. It indicates an average yearly rent of $690,000, allowing Google to use two-thirds of Slater's 45,000 square feet for employee child care and a preschool. The district had hoped for $500,000 of income from a Slater lease, if it came to that, so the Google proposal will more than meet those expectations.

Google currently uses part of Theuerkauf School for child care and preschool programs, with a long waiting list of employees wanting to enroll, according to Rebecca Wright, the district's chief financial officer. She called the joint use agreement plan a "win-win."

If the board and Google decide to move ahead with this plan, the elementary school district would continue to be able to use Slater for its own state-funded preschool under the joint use agreement. The plan also allows community members to continue to use the school's playing fields, addressing neighborhood concerns about being deprived of open space if Slater were leased to a private school.

"It's a dream in a lot of ways," said board vice-president Fiona Walter.

E-mail Molly Tanenbaum at mtanenbaum