Wise decision by school trustees to halt new school at Donlon | Tim Talk | Tim Hunt | PleasantonWeekly.com |

Local Blogs

Tim Talk

By Tim Hunt

E-mail Tim Hunt

About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

View all posts from Tim Hunt

Wise decision by school trustees to halt new school at Donlon

Uploaded: Nov 17, 2020
Pleasanton school trustees have taken a wise step to put the new school on the Donlon Elementary campus on hold.

It was just a month ago that it appeared the school for fourth and fifth graders was a done deal when trustees approved sending the plans to the state for approval. Now, after the staff has noted the enrollment growth has slowed and there may be other ways to accommodate students, trustees dove deeply into the issue last Thursday evening and decided to hold off.

Good call.

The last thing the city needs is an expanded school that may be in the right place in the short term, but could be a location mis-match in the long term. The new plan calls for expanding classrooms at Lydicksen Elementary that is currently being rebuilt and then changing boundaries to balance the student populations between 700 and 800 students per site.

Should another school—elementary or kindergarten through 8th grade—be necessary, the district staff suggested it could be constructed on a site donated by the developer in East Pleasanton. The plan sets aside $35 million in bond money for that possibility.

The broad plan outlined by Ponderosa Homes for the eastside includes the school site although, given the active adult housing in the plan and other affordable proposals, it’s unlikely that project would generate enough students to require the school.

It is, however, a good location that is easily accessible and located a good distance away from other school sites. A key question, given the change in the City Council that is coming up next month, just when and if that two-year planning process will resume.

Congrats to Dublin Mayor David Haubert who topped Vinnie Bacon to win the First District seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Scott Haggerty, the supervisor for 24 years, is retiring.

Haubert will bring a steady and wise voice to the board. He has a broad range of local experience serving on both the Dublin school board and the Dublin City Council before being elected mayor. During those stints, he’s demonstrated his ability to solve tough challenges both in education and in the city. Those traits will serve both Livermore Valley and county residents well over the next four years.

The First District includes the cities of Livermore and Dublin as well as the vast unincorporated area surrounding Livermore. Supervisor Nate Miley represents Pleasanton as the Livermore Valley will continue to have two voices on the five-member board.




Democracy.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by Fifty Years Here, a resident of Pleasanton Heights,
on Nov 18, 2020 at 9:33 am

Fifty Years Here is a registered user.

I think Ponderosa's record is much better at covering school sites with houses, than it is providing sites where schools ever get constructed...
But that seems to be the way PUSD likes it... Identify a site, extort it from the developer, claim that the enrollment numbers don't support it, wait for a decade or two, and then sell it to Ponderosa...


Posted by Wise decision by school trustees to halt new school at Donlon, a resident of Canyon Creek,
on Nov 23, 2020 at 4:05 am

Wise decision by school trustees to halt new school at Donlon is a registered user.

Unfortunately, there is now a trend in the world that is associated with the critical availability of educational institutions. This is not the only problem in education. When it comes to the nuances of education, students sometimes complain about problems with teaching methods and other things. But you can solve these problems on the Web Link , where I recently found an essay on the role of students in communal harmony. Continuing the theme of construction, I hope that all the same the authorities will give priority in spite of the decline in the number of students.


Follow this blogger.
Sign up to be notified of new posts by this blogger.

Email:

SUBMIT

Post a comment

Sorry, but further commenting on this topic has been closed.

Stay informed.

Get the day's top headlines from PleasantonWeekly.com sent to your inbox in the Express newsletter.

Burning just one "old style" light bulb can cost $150 or more per year
By Sherry Listgarten | 10 comments | 2,505 views

Reflecting on lives this Thanksgiving Day
By Tim Hunt | 0 comments | 1,164 views

Premiere! “I Do I Don’t: How to build a better marriage” – Here, a page/weekday
By Chandrama Anderson | 2 comments | 991 views

 

Support local families in need

Your contribution to the Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund will go directly to nonprofits supporting local families and children in need. Last year, Pleasanton Weekly readers contributed over $83,000 to support eight safety-net nonprofits right here in the Tri-Valley.

DONATE HERE