Middle school may open on time; Calabasas guarantees $375,000

Acorn Staff Writer


Middle school may open on time; Calabasas guarantees $375,000


By Michael Picarella


Acorn Staff Writer

The city of Calabasas last week voted to give $375,000 as part of a joint-use agreement for completion of the new Alice C. Stelle Middle School this fall, but some clauses of the contract must be completed.


Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD) is facing significant budget cuts from the state. High on the list of potential cutbacks that the board of education will consider during a May 15 meeting is the 35-classroom school.


The city’s payment toward the school would allow public and sports organizations to use the school’s gymnasium, its three American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO)-approved soccer fields, a baseball diamond, eight basketball courts and maybe more. The action will probably enable the school to open as planned.


"We’re all in favor of it," said Calabasas Mayor Pro Tem Michael Harrison in an interview. But he doesn’t want to rush into signing the contract just yet, he said. At last week’s council meeting, citizens put some major pressure on the council to sign the agreement with LVUSD that night.


"They all wanted us to sign a contract that has a lot of blanks in it," Harrison said later after the meeting. He added that the city attorney hadn’t reviewed the agreement. The council only saw it a few days before the meeting last week, according to Harrison.


"It’s a multi-million dollar contract," Harrison said. "Would they sign a multi-million dollar contract without looking at it, without the blanks filled in? I can’t understand why they were pressuring us to sign it that night. The school will get the $375,000—we will enter in the agreement. But we need some time to do it properly and protect the city. It’s common sense."


The joint-use agreement between the city and LVUSD has been in the works for about 13 months, according to Calabasas Director of Community Services Jeff Rubin. The city would be responsible for maintaining the sports fields and courts for 15 years. By approving the $375,000 expenditure, the city will pay its share of the contract for the next five years, Rubin said.


Harrison said spending the money isn’t easy.


"Our general reserve will drop by one fifth by June 30—in one year," Harrison said in an interview. "We’re probably going to have to defer all capital improvements and we’ll still be going down a couple hundred thousand dollars, which is alarming. So we’re going to take some measures to take care of that, too. We’re probably going to have to freeze capital improvements and other expenditures for a while. But there will be the money. We’ll take it out of our savings."


Many taxpayers are worried that the $375,000 isn’t guaranteed to go to the school, Harrison said. The money is guaranteed, he said, but the city and the school district must first iron out details of the contract.


Still to be decided, according to Harrison, are the definition of a "non-school day," the possibility of early termination of the contract and the amount of money the city would get back of the original $375,000—among other items.


Some members of the council met with LVUSD representatives earlier this week to discuss the contract. The item was to return to the council for final approval of the contract last night. It’s possible the item might have been delayed until next Wednesday during another council meeting.


In addition to the city working with Alice C. Stelle Middle School to use the ballfields and courts, according to Harrison, the city recently joined in an agreement with LVUSD to allow after-school playground use at Bay Laurel Elementary School.





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