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School district is unwavering on plans for Broadway move
Community group threatens legal action
By Jessica Lyons
Despite staunch opposition and threats of lawsuits, San Jose Unified School District is plowing ahead with plans to move Broadway High to John Muir Middle School's campus. According to district officials, construction could begin as early as November.
The district is waiting on the results of a new traffic study, part of the California Environmental Quality Act review press. The CEQA requires that public agencies conduct environmental reviews of any projects that may have an adverse environmental effect. The traffic study, along with the updated CEQA report, will be published and available for public review on Sept. 30. After a 20-day public comment period, the study and comments will be presented to the Board of Education on Nov. 4. At that time, the board intends to give the final go-ahead to the move.
"The timeline for actual starting construction hasn't been set yet, but after [the study] goes before the board on Nov. 4, construction will start as soon as possible," says Ron Edwards, the district's manager of community services/school construction.
Unless the Robertsville community has anything to say about it, that is.
The district has faced strong community opposition at every turn in the road to relocate Broadway, the district's continuation high school, and last week's community meeting was no exception. Approximately 200 Robertsville area residents--three dozen of them wearing bright yellow CAIR (Community Action in Robertsville) T-shirts--angrily told San Jose Unified officials to keep Broadway off of Speak Lane and out of their neighborhood.
Linda Gregory, a John Muir parent, echoed the sentiments of several attendees.
"I would like to ask the board to reconsider this decision, to leave Broadway where it is and fix that site up, and find a new home for River Glen," she said.
That's not an option, say district officials.
Edwards says the 35 new Broadway classrooms should be completed by May, and students will arrive in September 2000.
But Jim Chase, president of CAIR, a community group formed in response to San Jose Unified School District's decision to relocate Broadway onto John Muir's campus, says the battle is not over yet.
"A lot of people seem to think this is a done deal," Chase says. "The district obviously thinks it's a done deal. We do not. We are determined to take this as far as we can to make sure this doesn't happen. It's a bad decision because it has been done in violation of our rights."
CAIR members are also anxiously awaiting the Nov. 4 board meeting.
Chase says the district didn't follow proper legal proceedings in choosing John Muir as the site for the continuation high school, or in conducting the CEQA study. CAIR's lawyers are standing by, waiting to see what the Board of Education will decide. If the board decides to proceed with the move, Chase says, they may see a lawsuit staring back at them.
"If the board accepts [the CEQA report] then we need to continue our legal proceedings," Chase says.
San Jose Unified officials, however, are confident the board will OK the CEQA study, and the move will proceed as planned.
"We believe that [the CEQA report] will find no additional factors that need mitigating," says Maureen Davidson, a spokesperson for San Jose Unified. "The board approved the move contingent upon the CEQA study. We are proceeding with the design phase and everything that can be done in advance of the published report."
The published study will be available for review on Sept. 30 at the following locations: San Jose Unified School District General Services Office, 885 Lenzen Ave., 408.553.6000; San Jose Public Library, Pearl Branch, reference desk, 4270 Pearl Ave., 408.265.7833; John Muir Middle School, main office, 1260 Branham Lane, 408.535.6281; San Jose Unified School District website, www.sjusd.k12.ca.us.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
