Whisman Needs a Neighborhood School

I will not be able to attend the 2/6 meeting of the MVWSD this evening, but would like to offer my opinion on the subject of reopening Whisman or Slater as public schools again. The closure of Whisman in 2000 as well as Slater in 2006, has unfairly left this area of the city without a local public school; priority should be given to local residents to make the best use of these facilities over the existing private endeavors at both / either Slater and Whisman. I have also heard that there is interest in possibly relocating Dual Immersion and / or the PACT program - again - to one of these local sites. PACT was already shuffled around from Slater, to Castro, and finally to it's own campus at Stevenson and probably deserves to remain in one location for more than several years at a time; however, I would welcome their return to the area, or Dual Immersion's presence, if the programs require more room. However, the combination of PACT and Dual Immersion did not work well at Castro, conflicting styles and goals, and I would not recommend trying this combination again anytime soon. Since he city is apparently intent upon building up Mountain View with over-development as quickly as possible, I have to wonder if more than a passing thought has been given to the responsibility that we have in making provisions for the inevitable onslaught of a growing school-aged population and not waiting until it becomes a pressing issue. There is no substitute for a local school, and permitting local families to attend Huff on the other side of El Camino as opposed to maintaining even one neighborhood school in our vicinity was never a great idea. It was once a universal standard that anybody could live within walking distance of a neighborhood elementary school, but it seems that greater emphasis as of late has been skewed toward accommodating those who do not even live in this locale, mainly those affiliated with Google, GSSV, and YCIS. If the school board is truly interested in improving the quality of life for it's residents as opposed to dismantling any remaining semblance of community for those of us who actually do live here, they will make it a high priority to work proactively toward reopening at least one of these local school sites, and sooner rather than later.

Scott Haber