Dear Mrs. Myers,
I am writing with regard to the relocation of Broadway High School to the John Muir Middle School campus. My office has received many communications in opposition to the current relocation plan.
In connection with the relocation of Broadway High, I understand that an Ad Hoc Advisory Committee was established and considered 13 different locations. I am sympathetic to school districts, realizing that existing resources must be utilized when reorganization takes place. I am also cognizant of the barriers that exist when moving a large institution like Broadway with in a metropolitan area such as San Jose.
However, I am concerned that the community surrounding John Muir was not sufficiently notified or engaged regarding the site selection process. Without question, when a community is asked to absorb a large students population, opposition will arise regarding after school activity, traffic and safety. For this reason, the community needs to be involved from the beginning of the process and given the opportunity to raise and have addressed concerns which may result from a school's relocation in its neighborhood.
I am hopeful that the Board will reexamine the immediate plans to relocate Broadway High School to the John Muir Middle School campus. It is critical that our communities support students in their neighborhoods. Given the current groundswell or opposition to the relocation plan, I respectfully request that the Board give the impacted community the opportunity to have their concerns heard and addressed.
Thank you for your attention to this serious matter.
Respectfully,
Byron D. Sher
Senator, 11th District
Jim Cunneen - Assemblymember, 24th District
Dear Linda:
I am writing you regarding the legitimate concerns of several constituents with the sudden District decision to relocated Broadway Continuation High School to john Muir Middle School.
Specifically, they are concerned that the District did not inform the community, in a timely way, of the plans to relocate Broadway to their campus. Most parents were informed of these plans by the John Muir PTSA, five days before a final vote on the topic was to take place. Several parents and homeowners are suspicious of the timing of such a decision, being that school was out for summer and there appeared to be no public notice of any hearings until the final Board Meeting. I'm troubled by this lack of emphasis on communication.
As I understood it, the John Muir site was not considered a top prospect for the Broadway School relocation in the Board's early discussions. And for good reason: the location of the site is far away from the vast majority of Broadway students. Further, many parents, homeowners, and students at John Muir harbor great concern with having high school students on the same campus site as junior high students. As a parents and as the Vice-Chair of the Public Safety Committee, I share their concerns. Although Broadway classrooms will be separated from John Muir with fences and shrubs, there are very valid fears regarding these two student populations interacting with one another before and after school.
Finally, there is a feeling among parents that this site decision was primarily based on financial considerations, not the best interest of the junior high students. If not true, and given the undesirable geographic location and age gap, what were the primary advantages of this location that are in the students' best interests?
There appears to be several misperceptions about the Broadway Program. Many parents suspect these students to be "bad kids." These negative perceptions have continued and proliferates in part because the District has not aggressively educated the John Muir community about the successful programs at Broadway High School.
When making a decision to relocated a campus into a different neighborhood, a much longer open community dialogue period is critical. Without open and timely communication, a sense of mistrust builds between the community and the District.
I respectfully urge the Board to reconsider the decision to relocated Broadway High School to John Muir Middle School in light of the strong community opposition. How can such a move prove successful-and without lingering discord-with the prevalence of anger and surprise expressed by so many of my constituents who live in the John Muir community?
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Jim Cunneen
Assemblymember, 24th District
Linda Murray, Ph.D. - Superintendent of Schools
Dear Jim:
I was most surprised at the content of your letter of July 22 concerning the proposed relocation of Broadway continuation High School to Speak Avenue on the John Muir campus. In fact, this decision was reached through a public process culminating in a public hearing and a decision by the Board of Education to support my recommendation to site the high school on Speak Avenue. A CEQA study is still in process.
The recommendation was not "sudden" but the conclusion of a two month long study by a Superintendent's Ad Hoc Committee composed of parents, teachers, community members, students a realtor, the principles of two high schools, two of the District's facilities managers, a district administrator and a Board member. The Committee worked in public, meeting with and hearing from many members of the community during the process. Preceding the formation of the committee, my staff had studied options for Broadway. When the Ad Hoc committee was formed on April 19, my staff presented options that had already been investigated, and sought further suggestions. John Muir was on that first list.
The formation of the committee was reported in The Willow Glen Resident and the Mercury News. Reporters from both these papers were sent minutes of the first meeting and invited to attend the second, a tour of the potential sites. The public was also invited to participate, through a notice on the District web site. John Marks from the VEP Homeowners Association did attend, as did Jessica Lyons of The Resident, who reported on the event. The Resident diligently reported the actions of the committee throughout the process.
On June 7, I received the recommendation of the committee to relocate the Continuation High School to the Muir site. Following the recommendation, the Board of Education representative of that trustee area, Veronica Lewis, and the principle of John Muir, Bonnie Piche, met with the PTA to discuss the recommendation. The public hearing was noticed in an appropriate time frame in the newspaper and on our web site.
In your letter you note that the location of the site is far away from the majority of Broadway students. While it is true that a majority of students currently come from the northern part of our district, it is preferable that a Continuation High School be located more centrally, so that it may better serve students throughout our 25-mile long district.
You express concern that a high school be located contiguous to a middle school. This is common throughout our District and in many other districts. We have experienced no problems of any kind with this arrangement. The Continuation High School will have its own entrance on a different street, its own staff parking on a different street and be separated from John Muir by fencing, turf and parking. Furthermore to address the concerns of the middle school families, the academic schedule of Broadway will be designed so that students will arrive and depart at very different times from the middle school students.
I am enclosing the minutes of the committee meetings which show beyond any doubt that the well-being of our students was the first consideration for all members, as it is mine and the Board's. Without financial constraints, we would all certainly have preferred to develop a new high school. Sound financial management is certainly one of the many elements of our public charge and one factor among many in our decision making process.
Finally you are correct that there are misconceptions about the Broadway program. While we have broadly publicized the achievements of our Broadway students in the media, in our District publications and web site and distributed a fact sheet about the program and students at the public hearing, you know how difficult it is to change perceptions that sometimes stem from fear of unknowns. Our staff is currently planning an extensive educational process that will, we hope, begin to build public support for Broadway.
I know you recognize that we must make difficult decisions every day. Sometimes it is necessary to make decisions that will not please everyone. I hope that you can continue to support our public schools and our District as you have so faithfully in the past, knowing that we have made sincere efforts to make the correct decision and to involve the community. The involvement will continue.
Sincerely,
Linda Murray, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
