We have an interesting set of topics at the Mountain View Whisman School Board this week. Many of them cover the logistical work that powers our schools for students, teachers, and families. Before we get to that, I’d like to mention a couple of things I’ve been up to since my last post.
On Friday, the Community Services Agency held their first Homecoming event. This was a wonderful gathering of community for music, food, and games. As an added bonus, they hosted the Stevenson Elementary School Talent Show. I got to watch talented students sing, dance, and play their instruments.
Just last night, I attended Kinder Reading Night at Vargas with my family. This was an engaging and fun event with different stations teaching phonological awareness, blending, word segmentation, and letter sounds. We had strong family turnout, and staff was there to support them. These types of events help students achieve their potential by giving families tools to support their children at home, and they’re important to building a connected school community.
If you ever have questions, comments, or feedback, don’t hesitate to send me an email at my official district address, [email protected] or click the button below to schedule office hours with me.
Board Meeting
The Thursday, October 22, 2026 meeting begins at 6:00 PM with closed session. Here are some items on the agenda:
Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation (MOT)
Staff will provide the Board of Trustees with an update on the Maintenance, Operations, and Transportation (MOT) Department.
Departments like MOT rarely get much attention, but these are the folks who make sure all of our facilities are ready and functioning for students, teachers, and staff. This will be a chance for our recently hired Director of MOT to give us an overview of the team that’s responsible for maintaining more than 411,000 square feet of buildings and 91 acres of space.
As we work through our budget conversations, including the next item, our decisions aren’t exclusively about cost. We’re deciding the level of service we’ll provide to our community. It’s tempting to put off maintenance when budgets are tight, but deferred maintenance usually costs more later and makes the experience worse for the people using our facilities now.
Budget Choices
Staff will present the Budget Choices information to the Board of Trustees.
This is one of the bigger items on the agenda, and it continues the Board’s work on the District’s roughly $9M structural deficit. Last year, we made about $7M in reductions, which helped but didn’t fully close the gap. Thankfully, we've maintained reserves to allow us the time to plan a path to a balanced budget, but it’s unsustainable to continue to use those reserves to cover an ongoing deficit.
This will be a discussion item, so no decisions will be made Thursday. Staff is asking the Board for its priorities and for direction on a reduction package built around them. Their proposed timeline would lead to action by the Board in January, with further discussions November 19 and December 17.
If you have thoughts, I’d love to hear them ahead of the proposed package. You can speak at Thursday’s meeting, email me directly, or email the full Board at [email protected]. Additionally, make sure to respond to the District Priorities Survey, as that will feed into these discussions.
Castro Elementary Upper Level Covered Walkway
Staff will present the schematic design, budget and schedule for the subject project. The project consists of installation of a free standing covered walkway above the 2nd floor pedestrian walkway at the Castro Elementary School 2 story Classroom Building.
This project adds a free-standing steel canopy over Castro’s second-story walkway. This has been a Priority 2 project since our 2019 Master Facilities Plan update, and was included on the Phase 2 project list that the Board approved back in May 2024. It’s funded by Measure T, our facilities bond, which can only be spent on facilities, not salaries or operations.
The Board will be asked to vote on the schematic design, a $3.4M budget, and the schedule for the project. If approved, the design will go to the Division of the State Architect for review at the end of November, with construction running over summer 2027.
Continued from Last Time
We have two items from the last meeting that we ran out of time for. You can take a look at my last post for more details, but here’s a quick refresher.
Facilities Use Fees is a discussion item, and no vote is planned. Under the Civic Center Act, we can charge most community groups no more than our direct cost. The Board will be discussing how much of that cost we choose to subsidize from our General Fund.
Board Policies at First Reading is the latest set of recommendations from the Board Policy Committee on which Vice President Henry and I serve. This batch came from our September 9 meeting. The committee only makes recommendations, so the first reading is for discussion by the full Board. Any feedback will be incorporated before it comes back to the Board for final action.
Upcoming Events
The District Priorities Survey is open through the end of October. It’s one of the important inputs into our strategic plan and overall prioritization. Friday, November 6 is the end of the trimester and a minimum day, and Wednesday, November 11 is Veterans Day, with no school.
This Saturday, October 24, the City will be hosting its annual Monster Bash from 10 AM to 2 PM at Rengstorff Park. Before it begins, there will be a group bike ride at 9:30 AM with City staff from the Mountain View Public Library to the park. I hope to join again with my kids in tow.
The next regular Board meetings are on November 5 and November 19, with a special meeting on November 7 and our December meeting on December 17. As always, thank you for reading, and please share this newsletter with anyone who might find it useful.
Have something on your mind after reading through all of this? My district inbox is open at [email protected] and so are my weekly office hours.
