Title
Approval of the October 27, 2021 Minutes
Body
AUSD/City Council Subcommittee Meeting
Draft Minutes
10/27/21
Start - 2:01 pm
Via - Zoom (recorded)
1 Call to Order/General Introduction
Jennifer Williams, AUSD Board of Education, President
Heather Little, AUSD Board of Education, Trustee and Chair of the Meeting
John Knox White, Councilmember
Tony Daysog, Councilmember
Present:
• Jennifer Williams, President, Board of Education (AUSD)
• Heather Little, Trustee, Board of Education (AUSD)
• John Knox White, Councilmember
• Tony Daysog, Councilmember
• Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager, City of Alameda
• Pasquale Scuderi, Superintendent (AUSD)
• Shariq Khan, Assistant Superintendent, Business Services (AUSD)
• Susan Davis, Senior Manager Community Affairs (AUSD)
• Gail Payne, Senior Transportation Coordinator, City of Alameda
• Aleida Andrino-Chavez, Associate Transportation Coordinator, City of Alameda
• Lisa Foster, Transportation Coordinator, City of Alameda
• Denise Turner, Lead Program Manager, Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools
• Carolyn Hogg, IT Director, City of Alameda
• Kerri Lonergan, Senior Executive Assistant (AUSD)
2 Minutes
A. Motion to approve minutes of September 15, 2021 Meeting:
Jennifer Williams moves/John Knox White seconds
Vote: Jennifer Williams: Yes
Heather Little: Yes
John Knox White: Yes
Tony Daysog: Abstain
Approval of Minutes passes 3-0-1
3 Oral Communication Non-Agenda (Public Comment)
No public comments under this agenda item
4 City/Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Issues
4-A: Traffic Safety Near Schools (City)
Ø Lisa Foster, Senior Transportation Coordinator for City of Alameda stated youth ages 10-24 are over represented in fatal crashes. Most crashes occur within a quarter mile of the school. City Council is working on Vision Zero plan. There are over 20 public and private schools in Alameda. City’s primary role is in keeping young people safe is investing and maintaining infrastructure.
Ø Ms. Foster shared a School Street Safety Report which can be accessed on the City of Alameda website. Ms. Foster shared the improvements the City has made since 2019. Improvements cannot be made without education. The goal is to provide school safety assessments for all private and public schools in Alameda.
Ø Ms. Foster stated in 2020-2021 the City installed 46 high visibility crosswalks. Ms. Foster shared information on the projects the City has completed to increase safety for students and families across the Island.
Ø Public forum on safety improvements is coming in December 2021.
Ø Next up are safety improvements for Edison, Lincoln and Love Elementary. Ms Foster shared information about the Active Transportation Plan.
Ø Ms. Foster stated the City invests in the Crossing Guard program, and she shared a map of crossing guard locations across Alameda. The City coordinates and supports the Safe Routes to School program which is run by the Alameda County Transportation Commission. 17 schools in Alameda are enrolled in this program. The goal is to have all schools enrolled in the program, but it does take volunteers and school administrators who are willing to support the program.
Ø The City also supports a Bicycle Safety Education program with the goal to target all 5th grade students in private and public schools.
Ø Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager stated the Alameda Unified School District would also like to speak to efforts the District has made and is making to support traffic safety across the Island.
Ø Susan Davis, AUSD’s Senior Manager of Community Affairs shared a presentation on the District’s Vision for Traffic Safety. Ms. Davis introduced Shariq Khan, AUSD’s Assistant Superintendent, Business Services. Mr. Khan shared recent and upcoming projects AUSD has and will complete to increase traffic safety for the District’s students and families.
Ø AUSD Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi explained AUSD principals help with traffic enforcement at their schools. Mr. Scuderi stated the District no longer has Student Resource Officers anymore and these SROs were very effective for enforcement of traffic rules in surrounding AUSD school sites.
Ø Ms. Davis stated there are many ways the District supports traffic safety through instruction and education.
Ø Mr. Khan also shared that there are street sweeping times that interfere with safety efforts and the hope is that the City can alter these times so that it helps with safety in and around school site zones.
Ø Mr. Khan shared another “hot spot” are the streets surrounding Wood Middle School. Superintendent Scuderi explained how the current layout of the streets around the school are contributing to overall congestion and safety issues in the area.
Ø City Council Member John Knox White thanked his fellow Subcommittee members, City staff and AUSD staff for moving this meeting up a month due to the need to address these safety issues as soon as possible. City Council Member Knox White stated he was surprised to hear the School Resource Officer program, which was recently eliminated, was a part of traffic enforcement around the City’s school sites. City Council Member Knox White stated he would like to see some of efforts made to increase the percentage of families who walk or bike to school rather than drive. City Council Member Knox White stated the City/District may be unintentionally encouraging people to drive.
Ø Council Member Tony Daysog thanked staff for the 50-page report that was submitted. Council Member Daysog stated he will work for City staff to increase safety for our young people in and around our schools. Council Member Daysog remembers when there used to be a police officer that drove near Grand Street to help with supervision of high traffic areas. Council Member Daysog stated this visible show of APD’s support seemed to be very helpful with traffic enforcement issues. Council Member Daysog stated he looks forward to whatever traffic safety recommendations City staff brings to the full Council.
Ø AUSD Board President Jennifer Williams thanked City and AUSD staff for their work and for meeting to discuss this urgent issues. Board President Williams shared there are some immediate things that can be done to help alleviate some of these problems while we wait for bigger infrastructure issues to help. Some of these smaller items include painting asphalt to help guide drivers in the Wood and former Lum School areas.
Ø Board Member Heather Little thanked members of the Subcommittee and everyone who is on the call now. Board Member Heather Little stated the Board just approved redistricting so that students who live West of Webster Street will now have Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School as their neighborhood middle school. Board Member Little stated this will help because students will no longer have to pass two different schools just to get to their middle school.
Ø Board Member Little stated any efforts that can be solved by putting paint on the ground should be done. Member Little stated she wanted to acknowledge the various partners who are giving this topic their full attention. Board Member Little called on Gail Payne from the City of Alameda. Ms. Payne shared the upcoming projects the City is putting into place. Ms. Andrino-Chavez from the City of Alameda who has seen participation from parents and staff increase. Ms. Ms. Andrino-Chavez stated she hopes this participation can increase.
Ø Denise Turner Lead Program Manager for Alameda County Safe Routes to School stated the County is envisioning increasing collaboration. Ms. Turner stated she was excited to see future plans that will use this collaboration to help problem solve.
Ø Board Member Little stated today’s meeting focused on just a few schools but every school in Alameda has some form of safety issue when it comes to driving and bike riding.
4-A: Crossing Guard Contract and Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Cost Sharing (City and AUSD to present)
Ø Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager, explained the history of the Crossing Guard Program in Alameda. Mr. Beaudin stated the cost of the program is $342,000. AUSD would pick up 25% of this contract for a cost of $90k, for the one-year program. Mr. Beaudin stated that was a stop gap measure put in place during COVID.
Ø Going forward, Mr. Beaudin stated the City Council is going to vote on a contract for Crossing Guard services that will be for 32 months for a cost of $1 million dollars. Shariq Khan, AUSD’s Assistant Superintendent, Business Services stated this contract needs to be discussed further. District staff stated previously there was a need to take money out of this fund to move to the Animal Shelter. The District stated having lost some money for the crossing guards and losing the School Resource Officers puts the District in a place of wanting to have further discussion on this issue.
Ø Superintendent Scuderi stated eventually there may be a need to talk about having crossing guards at the middle schools.
Public Comment:
Alyx Karpowicz, Alameda Community Member: Ms. Karpowicz asked what the process is for requesting a Crossing Guard at a school.
City Manager Eric Levitt asked the public speaker if the crossing guard the speaker mentioned is usually there the City can follow up on this contractual issue.
Tamara Centeno, Parent Liasion for AUSD: Ms. Centuro asked if it is an assumption that only elementary schools should receive crossing guards.
Ø Board President Jennifer Williams asked if it was possible to move the crossing guard that is currently at San Jose and Grand to closer to Wood Middle School.
Ø Gerry Beaudin, Assistant City Manager stated historically the crossing guard locations were tied to the Safe Routes to School program. Mr. Beaudin also stated that moving crossing guards will then create issues from families who use the intersections where there was previously a crossing guard. Mr. Beaudin stated the contract the City Council is voting on now has locations set. The City can definitely look at changes or revisions for the next contract cycle.
Ø Board Member Little asked if we can get feedback from schools prior to the next contract cycle is completed for the crossing guards.
4-B: Smart City Planning (City to present)
Ø Carolyn Hogg, IT Director for the City of Alameda gave the Subcommittee a report on the Smart City Plan Vision. Ms. Hogg stated with the recent pandemic, it was clear the need to increase technology access across the City. The need for more stable internet at Alameda Point will help families in the area, transportation, safety, and cyber security. Ms. Hogg stated during the pandemic it became very clear that the need for reinforcing the infrastructure at Alameda Point was something the City needed to address.
5: New Business:
There was no new business discussed.
6: Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned by Heather Little at 3:29 pm (Zoom meeting was recorded to the cloud)
Respectively Submitted,
Kerri Lonergan
Senior Executive Assistant
Alameda Unified School District