The Sept. 8 meeting of the Measure F Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee was intended to finalize a draft for the implementation of the funds. But a 45-minute meeting stretched into a lengthy discussion of three hours between the oversight committee, the school district, the construction company that was awarded the contract and local citizens.

As a result of the discussion, members of the school district and Turner Construction Company are being asked to resubmit a revised draft of the bond's implementation plan before the Measure F Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee accepts the report and makes its recommendation to the district governing board members.

A portion of the $429 million bond has already been applied to several Willow Glen area schools, but all the funding is overseen by the oversight committee, a requirement according to regulations of strict accountability passed in 2000.

The meeting, which took place at Willow Glen High School, was preceded by a tour of the campus. It was led by district construction manager John Cimino, who discussed the intended improvements.

Initially citizens reviewing the proposal had little to say as they walked the project, but this changed when the group reached Dry Creek Road. The street is now being used as a bus drop-off and pick-up for students on a daily basis. Cimino stressed that the district's main objective is to improve bus and car congestion around the school, and it wants to work with city traffic, school staff and the local community to improve the "political hot potato" of Willow Glen High School.

Cimino says that although many ideas have been brought to the table, all bus drop-off and pick-up ideas are still in the conceptual stage and no final plans have been made.

Yet the issue drew heated responses from some residents on Dry Creek Road. Helen Brady, a longtime Dry Creek Road resident, is unhappy with the lack of district communication about solving the increased number of buses and cars near her home.

Her street demographics mainly consist of homeowners between the ages of 75 to 90 years old, making it difficult for these homeowners to attend community meetings on issues concerning their neighborhood.

One of those concerns is a new entranceway into the high school from Dry Creek Road.

Yet, Brady says, "Even the older people say they would form a human chain before they would let the district create another street in our neighborhood."

She says that until about a year and a half ago, buses used to enter the school on Cottle Avenue. But Cottle Avenue residents didn't like the traffic congestion and, after a traffic-calming meeting, the buses were diverted to Dry Creek Road.

Brady says she was on vacation during the meeting and couldn't attend and wasn't informed subsequently of the decision to divert traffic by the city or district. Instead, she received a knock on the door from a Cottle Avenue resident, instructed to tell Dry Creek residents of the bus-route change.

"A woman who lives on Cottle came over to tell me, but after seeing the amount of cars near my home, the woman felt bad about diverting traffic to my neighborhood," Brady said, continuing that the woman told her, " 'I feel so guilty because we've just transferred our problem to your street.' "

But transportation issues in the neighborhood were only one of the oversight bond committee concerns about the final draft of the implementation plan.

Turner Construction Company, district representatives and oversight committee members spent several hours dissecting and questioning the dollar amounts of various projects.

Director of school construction Ty Williams said a committee member are seeking more clarification on projects that are in excess of $500,000. Some members would like to see these large dollar amounts broken down into a detailed accounting so they can determine where the funding is going.

Members of the oversight committee were particularly distressed when they heard one of the members, C.C. Su, say he spoke to one principal who wasn't even familiar with the implementation plan. This finding, along with the other questions posed by the committee, led Associate Superintendent Jerry Matranga to move any action or decisions on the plan to October, so more principals and community members could be better informed.

"This is too important to rush," he said. "I would feel more comfortable if action by the committee was taken in October."

And he added, "It is very important to have the principals know what is happening at their school."

In response to the meeting, Williams says all the principals from the district are invited to a meeting held from Sept. 15 through the 19, so they have another opportunity to learn about the implementation plan.

After the meeting, San Jose Unified School District board member Carol Myers said the bond committee has been above board and professional, making sure the committee was carrying out what the voters wanted.

"The district is used to these types of plans being rubber-stamped," Myers said. "But this is not a popularity contest. It is important to make sure we get this right."