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(October 2005)

The Board of Directors of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD) has limped along in a rather broken condition for years. One needs only to look at examples such as the State imposed financial oversight, or the frustrated parents' successful establishment of a charter school to salvage a high quality education for their children.

Now, LVJUSD is distracting itself further from its vital responsibility over education by advocating for a massive new housing development. Responding to the sway of their appointed Realtor-Director Bill Morrison, the hapless Board is championing an attempt by Weyerhaeuser Corporation to trick Livermore voters into letting them build a potentially disasterous housing tract. LVJUSD produced an erroneous "Fact Sheet" and posted it on their web site. Citizens' testimonies about the errors have been ignored, and the Sheet remains uncorrected.

My comments to their assertions below are in red. Please be fully informed before you vote.

THE IMPACT OF THE LIVERMORE TRAILS INITIATIVE ON OUR SCHOOLS
There is no "Livermore Trails Initiative" on your ballot. It's "Measure D, the North Livermore Initiative". It has very little to do with "trails". Weyerhaeuser's strategy is to use comfy words to describe its new "leapfrog" housing tract.

(Last updated September 16, 2005)  

WHAT IS THE SCHOOL BOARD’S POSITION ON THE LIVERMORE TRAILS INITIATIVE?
It's Measure D.

The Board of Education, as a group, does not take positions on political issues. Individual Board Members may express themselves as private parties, but not represent their position as that of the Board of Education. Also, they may provide factual information or share the District’s conclusions about the impact of events on our District.

HOW MANY HOMES ARE PLANNED FOR THE LIVERMORE TRAILS INITIATIVE?
It's Measure D

When the project is complete in 10 years, the plan indicates it will have 1,251 single family units, 971 multi-family units, and 228 homes for seniors for a total of 2,450 units. (The City will determine the exact mix of single and multi-family units.)
Measure D mandates a MINIMUM of 2450 houses. There is nothing that prohibits or discourages that number from rising during the planning process. History teaches us that developers often make this happen, and such is to be expected from the likes of Weyerhaeuser.

HOW MANY STUDENTS WILL THE LIVERMORE TRAILS DEVELOPMENT PRODUCE?

Based on student generation rates in our District, the total number of students expected to come out of the project is as follows:

The above data is taken from the District’s Facilities Master Plan 2005-2010, available at www.livermoreschools.com. (Click on the Quick Link “Board Documents” and then again on “Facilities Five Year Master Plan.”)

HOW MANY SCHOOLS WILL THE DISTRICT HAVE TO BUILD IF LIVERMORE TRAILS PASSES?
It's Measure D. They like to repeat that magic word "Trails".

The School District will have to build an elementary school north of freeway 580 and also provide for about 285 middle school and 320 high school students coming from the Livermore Trails project. These middle school students can be absorbed into our existing sites. However, Livermore and Granada High Schools are already over the California Department of Education recommended enrollment for their “usable” acreage by approximately 597 and 469 students, respectively. Building a high school north of freeway 580 would deal with the existing overcrowding and, at the same time, provide for the high school students coming out of the Livermore Trails project.

So, instead of us having a troubled District with an underachieving Board, we'll have a bigger troubled District with the same underachieving board. A recipe for a greater disaster. A better plan would be to develop in ways that produce students to fill the several empty schools we already have, rather than risk giving this clueless bunch the responsibility of designing something new.

HOW MANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS CURRENTLY LIVE NORTH OF THE 580 FREEWAY?

The District estimates that about 950 current high school students live north of the 580 freeway. That number is projected to increase to about 1,100 over the next three years. Any high school students generated by the Livermore Trails Initiative would add to these numbers.
They will DECREASE in other areas.

TO WHICH HIGH SCHOOL ARE CURRENT STUDENTS NEW TO OUR COMMUNITY ASSIGNED?

Livermore High enrollment has been capped because of the relatively small size of its campus. Students new to Livermore, regardless of their home address, are assigned to attend the larger Granada High campus.

DOES LIVERMORE NEED A THIRD HIGH SCHOOL?

The State of California has recommendations for an optimal site capacity for comprehensive high schools based on the amount of usable acreage. As of September 8, the enrollment of Granada and Livermore High Schools was 2,219 and 2,107, respectively. Granada’s usable acreage is 32 acres while that of Livermore is 29.6 acres.

• Given the usable acreage of each campus, the California State Department of Education guide recommends an enrollment of 1,750 as an optimal size for Granada and 1,510 for Livermore.

• Given current enrollments, the California State Department of Education guide recommends enlargement of the Granada campus to 55.7 acres and that of Livermore to 52.8 acres.

SOURCE: “Guide to School Site Analysis and Development,”
prepared by the School Facilities Planning Division, California Department of Education

Thus, the total by which the enrollment of both high schools exceed the State’s optimal capacities is about 1,000 students. Following the November election, the Board will have to determine whether or not to build a new high school or to continue to absorb students on our existing campuses, disregarding the State of California’s recommendations.

HOW MUCH DOES THE DISTRICT RECEIVE PER DWELLING FROM DEVELOPER FEES AND MITIGATION AGREEMENTS?

As a result of a City ordinance, developers in our community are required to pay the District $12,429 for each single family unit and $9,671 for multi-family units. In addition, the District receives 36 cents per square foot for senior housing and commercial construction.

WHERE WOULD THE MONEY COME FROM TO BUILD THE NEW SCHOOLS REQUIRED BY LIVERMORE TRAILS?

There are sufficient funds available and they would come from the following sources.

• The State of California pays for 50% of the cost of approved school construction projects through the State Building Program.
 
• The Livermore Trails project will provide the District
with more than $60 million in fees, land value, and construction cost. (The developer will pay more than $25 million in required developer/mitigation fees. Also, the District is in the process of completing an agreement with the developer which will guarantee the donation of the land needed for both a 42 acre high school and a 9 acre elementary school with utilities installed at no cost to the District, The agreement will also guarantee a payment of $1 million a year for five years to fund start-up costs associated with these schools as well as the waiving of $8.5 million in reimbursements for which the developer is eligible when the State makes that money available to our District.)
"The District" is not negotiating with anyone who claims to be the developer. This is sort of like that guy who wants to sell you a bridge. The financials they quote above are due to horribly inflated claims of donated land value that far exceed even Weyerhaeuser's own estimates.

WHERE WILL THE MONEY COME FROM TO OPERATE AND MAINTAIN THE NEW SCHOOLS?

The State of California will provide more than $5,000 per student in base revenue for the operation of the schools. There would be additional funding for special programs from both the state and federal governments.

A class of 30 students would generate $150,000 in base revenue. With the cost of the average teacher being about $65,000, each class of 30 students would generate an additional $85,000 beyond the cost of their teacher to pay for the additional services and supplies needed for day to day operation of the school and the District. In addition, the Livermore Trails developer has agreed to donate an additional $1,000,000 per year for five years to help pay for the start-up costs associated with these schools.
Measure D does not name the developer. This was done on purpose, to allow Weyerhaeuser to "promise the world" to get your vote and not be responsible for the failed outcome. Thus, "the developer" could not have agreed to any such thing. You don't know who will develop "Livermore Trails". The empty promises that Weyerhaeuser subsidiary and San Diego based Pardee homes has made are perhaps what Bill Morrison irresponsibly references above.
Finally, funds are available from the State’s Deferred Maintenance Program for this purpose as well.
Are you sure they will be available?

We project the District will have the funds to build, operate and maintain these schools at the same level as the other schools in the District.
Great. Substandard now, and the new schools will be too.

IF THE DISTRICT WERE TO BUILD A 3RD HIGH SCHOOL, WHERE WOULD IT BE LOCATED?

The Board of Education has not yet decided whether it will build a third high school, nor has it identified a specific site as yet. Were the Board to build a third high school, it is reasonable that it would be located north of the 580 freeway due to the fact that there already exists 950 students who live in this area and must travel a significantly longer distance than other students to attend Livermore or Granada. The Livermore Trails Initiative would generate additional high school students and add to that number.
The WORST place to locate a new high school is on one of Weyerhaeuser's parcels, in "Livermore Trails". They are all too far west. We have far better options more toward the east (where most of the students will live, even IF D passes).

EXCLUDING LIVERMORE TRAILS, HOW MANY STUDENTS WILL CONSTRUCTION IN THE CITY’S GENERAL PLAN PRODUCE?

The District’s Facilities Master Plan projects 4,957 students being produced from housing construction in the City’s General Plan over the period from 2002 to 2025. The City’s Downtown Specific Plan is projected to produce another 977 over the next ten years. These numbers do not include any students who may come out of the Livermore Trails project.

DID THE LIVERMORE TRAILS DEVELOPER CONSULT WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT BEFORE DECIDING WHAT TO CONTRIBUTE?
There is no developer. Pardee is not mentioned in Measure D as the developer. Weyerhaeuser will choose the developer after the election.

Representatives from the Livermore Trails project met several times with District representatives.
Ahh Mr. Morrison, you choose your words carefully. "Representatives from the Livermore Trails project". Who is your developer, Mr. Morrison? I notice you are not mentioning it is Pardee, Mr. Morrison. You know it will not be them.
In those meetings, we explained what our needs were as well as provided information about the financing, maintenance, and operation of our schools.

DID THE SCHOOL DISTRICT CONTRIBUTE TO THE VARIOUS REPORTS ON THE INITIATIVE?
They must mean the "Livermore Trails" Initiative. Repeat and Defeat.

On several occasions, School District officials provided information, including the District’s Master Facilities Plan, to representatives and consultants of both the City and the Livermore Trails Developer. District officials answered questions and provided additional information as requested. However, the School District takes no responsibility for how District information is represented in those reports or used in other publications or communications.

DOES THE SCHOOL DISTRICT HAVE A POSITION ON THE LIVERMORE TRAILS INITIATIVE?
I'm surprised they don't have a cheerleading squad.

No. That is a political issue for the community to decide. However, we can provide data and share our conclusions regarding the impact of the Initiative on our District. With respect to the schools that would serve the homes built through Livermore Trails Initiative (measure D), our analysis indicates that the District will have the funds to build, operate, and maintain these schools at the same level as the other schools in Livermore (cut to applause). Furthermore, our analysis indicates that the creation of these new schools will not negatively impact our District’s ability to fund, operate, and maintain the schools that already exist in Livermore.

WHAT IMPACT WILL PLANS FOR A CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL HAVE UPON ENROLLMENT IN LIVERMORE?

Based on information provided by the Catholic Diocese, the new Catholic high school would draw approximately 200-250 students from the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. The balance of the student body would come from the greater Bay Area.
No one can estimate the numbers for sure. Let's build the Catholic High School (which is moving forward), step back, look at the actual draw, and see if we then need to build another high school after all. If so, then decide where in North East Livermore to put it.