GILROY
– At the advice of its lawyers, Gilroy Unified School District
will hold one more public hearing before deciding where to build
Gilroy’s second public high school.
GILROY – At the advice of its lawyers, Gilroy Unified School District will hold one more public hearing before deciding where to build Gilroy’s second public high school.
The school board’s decision Thursday to host its third public session regarding a new high school site honored a request made in April by growth-leery Day Road residents who oppose putting a busy school in their rural neighborhood north of town. Holding the forum delays what could have been a start to land purchase negotiations and environmental studies on the Day Road parcel.
Gilroy Unified School District will host the meeting May 28 at 7 p.m. inside district headquarters. Trustees are asking people to contact the district before May 10 with any suggestion for a high school site.
“I think this is good for the whole community. I’m absolutely pleased they honored our request,” Day Road resident Cammie Brown said Friday morning.
Brown represents other residents in the vicinity of the 60-acre parcel coveted by the school district – for a 50-acre comprehensive high school – and the Catholic church – for a 10-acre church and school.
Although the announcement pleased Brown, the group’s Morgan Hill lawyer, Bruce Tichinin, said the public forum satisfies only half of the group’s concerns.
“One of the things required of (the school district) by law is a comparative environmental analysis of potential school sites,” Tichinin said.
Tichinin says the district must show that putting a school on the Day Road site is less of an impact to the environment and community than building it on another potential site. Tichinin sent a letter to the district in April telling trustees they would be “legally premature” if they authorized negotiations to purchase and begin environmental work on the Day Road site at their May 1 session.
The district has not made a formal statement regarding Tichinin’s legal interpretation, but officials were moving forward with plans to do an environmental review after they negotiated a land deal.
Complicating matters is that the Day Road parcel lies outside the boundaries of Gilroy proper and must be annexed into the city before being developed. The parcel is eligible to receive city services already, but its current county zoning is residential and agricultural, making development more difficult if it remains county land.
Tichinin’s letter triggered a 45-day delay by Glen Loma group – the developer who is seeking annexation from City Council. Glen Loma may approach the city again in June.
“If you read between the lines we’re trying to open this up to anyone with information that can help us find alternative sites,” school board President Jim Rogers said. “But I don’t want to comment on which site is the number one, two or six priority. Let’s do that at the meeting.”
Already four sites have been considered by the district to build a new comprehensive high school. The Day Road parcel was presented as the trustees’ favorite when GUSD and the city held a public forum last month.
Trustees said the northern location, the site’s eligibility for city services and the fact there is a willing seller made it more desirable than other sites.
The other sites include properties north of town and in the southern end of town. Multiple and unwilling owners, among other issues, make those sites less desirable.
“I think the district needs to think about a site more central to town. The current high school is on the south-central end of town, maybe the new one can be north-central,” Brown said.
Call Superintendent Edwin Diaz’s office at 847-2700 with additional site options.
