Brisbane Schools

By Emmett A. Cunningham

Each school district must make truly difficult decisions in order to survive. Those decisions need to protect the school district itself for the longest term possible. Brisbane school district is no exception to these problems.

Brisbane School District has a series of interesting issues to consider:

• The merger with Bayshore School District.
• School closure in the Brisbane School District.
• High School in Brisbane School District.
• Doing more with less.

The Brisbane/Bayshore school district merger presents some interesting tradeoffs.

Bayshore School District has an older property which is expected to be sold. The revenue from this property sale is hoped to buy both school districts a little more time. If this merger is completed then I do not expect the Unified School District to be able to successfully pass another ballot measure to secure more revenue as Brisbane School District has successfully done twice in the past.

I am currently opposed to merging these School Districts as long term it will reduce our control over our schools.

School Closure in the Brisbane School District

This has been one of the hottest topics. Not because people do not recognize the need. But instead because people are personally invested in which decision is made. So it's highly politically charged. The result of which is that some sizable group of people will be unhappy regardless of which decision is made.

I would only promise to make what I see as the best decision from a financial and logistical standpoint for the School District.

High School in Brisbane School District

I'm whole-heartedly in favor of a high school in Brisbane.

The 1994 Brisbane General Plan "alternatives survey showed a high school in Brisbane to be of the highest priority to the respondents". Having a High School is part of the 1994 General Plan. It is specifically mentioned in Policies 101, 103a and 103c.

Having a High School in Brisbane does not mean that a student must attend this school. A student is certainly welcome to apply for an inter-district transfer.

Doing more with less

A quote from a document entitled "Reorganization Feasibility Study" dated July 19, 2012 produced by the San Mateo County Office of Education:

This quote really nails it. 88.2% of Brisbane School District expenditures are dedicated to employee compensation. In order to control costs this must be controlled. How do we do this? It means not having as many people working for the School District. It means increasing our student/teacher ratios. It means trialing Kahn Academy in our classrooms.