At its Sept. 18 meeting, the San Jose Unified School District Board of Education took a preliminary look at a new set of criteria for school closings that merges existing SJUSD policy with those of certain neighboring districts. The board will vote on the criteria at its next scheduled meeting on Oct. 2.

The criteria have been updated as the administration looks at closing and consolidating several schools to save money and address the problem of declining attendance within certain areas of the district.

An advisory committee will use the approved criteria over the next several months in assessing which schools should be closed and consolidated. Several public hearings are scheduled as part of the evaluation process, with a recommendation scheduled to go before the superintendent in late January 2004.

The advisory committee will be composed of parents, administrators, representatives of parent and community organizations, and school-district staff. Nominations for advisory committee members will be approved by the district and presented to the school board, along with school-closing criteria, at the upcoming meeting.

The Oct. 2 meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the boardroom at SJUSD headquarters, 855 Lenzen Ave. Copies of the criteria and oral-petition request forms are available by calling the SJUSD board secretary, Phyllis Browning, at 408.535.6078.


Citizen input wanted on hiring new officials

San Jose residents are encouraged to attend a community meeting to help officials define the important qualities and characteristics of the ideal candidate for the next San Jose police chief and fire chief.

From Sept 26 to Oct. 3, meetings will be held at nine different locations throughout San Jose, but no meetings are planned for the Willow Glen area. But one of the meetings, on Oct. 22, is being held at Monroe Middle School, 1055 S. Monroe Ave. All meetings will be held from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

For more information on additional meeting locations, call 408.277.4000 or visit http://www.sanjoseca.gov.


Council positions open on the air quality board

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is looking for individuals representing specific professions and interest groups to serve on its board of directors' advisory board. The 20-member board includes members from public-health agencies, community planning and architecture, but the current openings are for representatives from conservation organizations, colleges & universities and parks & recreation district categories. The terms end between December 2004 and December 2005.

The council meets once every other month. Applicants will preferably have experience in air-pollution control; potential members can contact Mary Romaidis, clerk of the boards, at 415.749.4965 or mromaidis@baaqmd.gov. The deadline to apply is Oct. 10.