We’re encouraged by news that the Gilroy Unified School District
and the Glen Loma Group are considering entering binding
arbitration to settle their dispute over a fair price for a site
the district wants to use to build a new elementary school.
We’re encouraged by news that the Gilroy Unified School District and the Glen Loma Group are considering entering binding arbitration to settle their dispute over a fair price for a site the district wants to use to build a new elementary school.
The land at the center of the squabble, 10 acres near Luchessa Avenue and Santa Teresa Boulevard, is commonly known as the Greenfield Site. The district wants to build a new Las Animas School there to serve the south side’s student population, which will grow dramatically as the Glen Loma Ranch project fills with homes.
However, GUSD and Glen Loma have been unable to come to terms on a price, meaning the district will not be able to open the new Las Animas School by the beginning of the 2006/2007 school year, as originally planned.
That means that elementary schools will be overcrowded for at least one year, and the transition to neighborhood schools will be more difficult than necessary.
“I can tell you, no matter how well you plan, you’re going to move some kids two years in a row, and that’s going to tick some people off,” Tom Williams, a GUSD consultant on attendance boundaries, told reporter Lori Stuenkel.
Of course it will “tick some people off” and well it should. Changing schools, teachers, classmates, routines and bus routes is a big stress for children of any age. Younger children feel the stress even more than older ones. Parents, community members, teachers and administrators who value the educational experience of Gilroy’s students have every right to be “ticked off” by this delay.
Besides binding arbitration, the district does have two other options for finding a Las Animas school site – using eminent domain to force a sale of the Greenfield site or finding another site – but neither are very appealing.
Eminent domain, or condemnation, is a legitimate power of government agencies, but fraught with ill-will and the prospect of a long court battle. In essence, it is binding arbitration, but with a judge and/or jury as arbiters and expensive lawyers along for the ride.
Finding another site in southwest Gilroy would be most difficult. Sites of the appropriate size, in the appropriate location, that are for sale and that meet the strict requirements of Field Act, California’s law specifying where public schools can be located, are rare and potentially more expensive than the Greenfield site.
We urge both parties to enter the arbitration process with open minds, with flexibility to consider new approaches and with the best interests of Gilroy’s students – many of whom are future residents of the Glen Loma Ranch project surrounding the Greenfield site – in mind.
