Some Pertinent History

Presentation to the board Apr 17 2014 (Related article in the Voice)

After the presentation, Superintendent Craig Goldman told parents that opening a school in the area is not just on the table; it's going to happen.

"From my perspective, the opening of a school in the Slater-Whisman neighborhood is a given. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when," Goldman said.

Pertinent History passed on by Bob Weaver

(All quotations taken from the Mountain View Voice)

For many years, students South of the train tracks attended the Mountain View School District, while students North of the tracks attended the Whisman School District. Dropping enrollments in the late 90s prompted the Whisman School District to close Whisman Elementary Schol at the end of the 1999-2000 school year.

"This year just 290 students are enrolled at Whisman, including 80 interdistrict transfer students. Clearly Whisman's natural constituency is shrinking. Most of the district's losses in enrollment, from 1901 students in the 1994-95 school year to just 1509 this year, can be directly traced to the transfer of military families away from Moffett Field. And all of those families attended Whisman district schools. Whisman also has the smallest grounds, making it the most practical campus close of the three elementary schools." [link]

In 2001, due to changing enrollments and budgetary considerations, the Mountain View and Whisman school districts merged.

"On July 1 Mountain View turned a new chapter in its history when the Mountain View and Whisman school districts officially merged to become the Mountain View-Whisman School District. After voters approved Measure C in last year's election, support for the merger came away with 77 percent of the votes." (July 13, 2001)

The combined school district faced two major struggles: it had to address falling API scores at all but two schools while addressing major budget challenges.

"When the economy sours, no one is happy except the one who gets the good deal. The good deal this week was the lease of the Whisman School site. Previously rented out at $1 million per year, bidding Tuesday topped out at only $640,000 a year for a twenty-year lease. This final amount bodes well for the winning bidder, the German School of Silicon Valley, but poorly for the Mountain View-Whisman School District, which owns the site." (May 24, 2002)

But falling rent was only a small part of the school district's budget problems.

"It doesn't look like the Mountain View-Whisman School District will be pulling out of its financial slump for at least another three years, according to estimates released last week. ... Chief Finance Officer Rebecca Wright told the board that the following two school years would be a tight squeeze as well.

...

The district suffered a major setback when voters last month rejected Measure E, a 5 cent per square foot tax that would have funneled about $2.5 million into the school system for five years. Additionally, the school district is now anticipating a $900,000 loss in state funding.

This means Mountain View-Whisman will start the upcoming school year with $2.5 million less when compared to the $32 million Write expects to close the year with." (July 4, 2003)

The school district felt forced to cut programs to make ends meet.

"Libraries. Counseling services. Music. After-school sports. Art. Office support. Physical education. Custodians.

These were the things cut from Mountain View-Whisman School District's budget for next year. And this is the order in which they'll be reinstated if enough money is raised, teh school board decided last week.

The district needs $841,807 to bring back all the services and programs, and with the Mountain View Educational Foundation's plan to raise $880,000 by the end of the summer, parents, teachers and board members are hoping the money will be there.

...

The district is expecting to lose at least $900,000 in state funding this year. However, with the hike in health care benefits, Negri said, he is still looking at a $1.3 million loss." (July 11, 2003)