.
MINUTES OF THE CITY/SCHOOL
LIAISON COMMITTEE
City Hall Council Chambers
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:
CITY OF SANTA CLARA: CITY OF SANTA CLARA STAFF:
Councilmember, Raj Chahal (Chair) - Present
Mayor, Lisa M. Gillmor - Present
City Manager, Jōvan D. Grogan
Director of Community Development, Afshan
Hamid
Deputy City Manager - Director of Economic
Director of Parks and Recreation, Damon
Sparacino
Police Chief, Cory Morgan
Assistant Police Chief, Wahid Kazem
City Librarian, Patty Wong
Management Analyst, Aimée Escobar
SANTA CLARA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: SANTA CLARA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT STAFF:
Board Member, Dr. Michele Ryan
Board Member, Jodi Muirhead
Board Member Andy Ratermann
Superintendent, Dr. Gary Waddell
Director, School Bond Projects, Larry Adams
Director, Fac Dev and Planning, Michal Healy
Deputy Superintendent/CBO, Mark Schiel
Director/PIO, Jennifer Dericco
Note: The meeting was chaired, and minutes taken by, the City of Santa Clara. Minutes will be approved by the City School Liaison Committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting.
Matters for Council Action: None
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chair Raj Chahal at 11:50AM.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
There were no public presentations.
GENERAL BUSINESS
Item 1: Approval of Minutes - November 19, 2024
Mayor Lisa Gillmor made a motion, seconded by Board Member Dr. Michele Ryan to approve the minutes. Board Members Andy Raterman and Jodi Muirhead abstained. The motion passed unanimously.
City School Liaison Committee Minutes
May 7, 2025
Item 2: Superintendent’s Reports
a) Update from Superintendent
• Superintendent Gary Waddel announced that Dr. Damon Wright is officially taking over as Superintendent as of July 1, 2025.
• Ongoing construction projects that are in planning stages are continuing with input from Dr. Wright.
• Physical Education exemptions for high school students to commence in Fall 2025 and apply to those students who are either 16 or older and/or a high school sophomore. • The Parental Calendar for the upcoming school year is currently in the planning process.
b) Introduction of new Superintendent, Dr. Damon J. Wright Dr. Damon Wright was not in attendance. No introduction to the Committee was given.
Item 3: City of Santa Clara - Updates from the City Manager City Manager Jōvan D. Grogan provided updates on several City items:
• Levi Stadium: Santa Clara Police and Fire Departments, and the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) are coordinating with local, regional, state, federal, and private partners on comprehensive safety planning.
• Discover Santa Clara: Santa Clara is preparing the Santa Clara Convention Center and leveraging Discover Santa Clara initiatives to drive revenue, tourism, and visitor engagement.
Facility upgrades underway for improved guest experience . • Community Engagement: Highlighted the Harvard Fellow who will be with the City for approximately 10 weeks working on the community engagement plan and strategy for subsequent implementation. The City is planning local events so residents may participate in Super Bowl LX festivities. A stakeholder group will help coordinate activities. • Silicon Valley Hopper: Provided status on Hopper usage and plans to expand after a thorough assessment of the program to make improvements and adjustments . It is noted that the program is being used at an unprecedented level . Stated that approximately $2 million dollars is necessary to meet desired expansion needs throughout Santa Clara.
Board Member Jodi Muirhead inquired about student usage of the Hopper to get to and from school. City Manager Grogan informed the Committee that the City will look at collecting that data and will report back to the Committee once it is acquired. • Measure I: Bond Compliance Oversight Committee members will be selected on May 7, 2025.
Stated that funds are allocated for undefined investments as wel l.
City Manager Grogan informed the Committee that the City would like robust community involvement and assured Board Member Dr. Michele Ryan that Committee feedback will be prioritized by City staff and incorporated into recommendations to Council.
Item 4: Santa Clara Unified School District Updates
a) Facilities
1) Hammann Elementary School: Walk event was highlighted, kids loved the fire truck in attendance in addition to Mayor Lisa Gillmor’s presence. 2) Don Callejon School: Agreement for field use has been completed with Parks & Recreation.
3) Briarwood Elementary School: Constructing 2 new classrooms and demolishing several other classrooms on campus. The pick-up/drop-off process at the school has also been improved.
4) Bracher Elementary School: Construction of a new multi-purpose room. Toxic soil is also in the process of being removed as well as the rebuilding of the play turf and new landscaping.
5) New Valley High School: Currently in 10 portables. Relocating from educational City School Liaison Committee Minutes
May 7, 2025
options campus to existing Laurelwood campus. 15 new classrooms to be constructed, and a new parking lot. Will take approximately 2 years to design before construction may begin.
6) Public Works was thanked for making sure the corresponding curbs and no parking allowed for the neighbors within the crosswalks were painted red. Safety improvements within the bike lanes was also acknowledged. The coordination amongst the schools and Public Works is appreciated by the school district. 7) Upcoming school improvements include the r esurfacing of several parking lots and the re-painting of multiple schools in the district.
b) Capital Development
City Manager Jōvan D. Grogan introduced the City’s new Community Development Director, Afshan Hamid. Director Hamid provided a brief background on herself and proceeded to provide updates on several community projects.
1) Per Director Hamid, the following developments were recently approved by the Planning Commission:
• Mission Point by Kiely: 3005 Democracy Way 200. Mixed use of residential and commercial.
• 2518 Mission College Blvd: 1,792 residential units in Freedom Circle near Great America and Stadium. To be built by the Irvine Company. • 4590 Patrick Henry Dr: 8 story, 284 multi-family residential building.
a) All projects conform with the City of Santa Clara’s affordable housing policies and will be coming online in approximately 2-3 years.
b) It was mentioned that there are limited nearby school resources in the Northern part of the city where these developments are being constructed. However, district wide capacity is available to accommodate new students . The District will need to re-assess capacity when the new students begin to come online. It was stated that many of the units are small and not family units which may limit the number of new students in the future.
c) Mayor Lisa Gillmor mentioned declining enrollment. Director Michal Healy stated there is a slight decline in kindergarten enrollment, but they aren’t seeing a large decline across the district. Director Healy also mentioned that birth rates are going down which drives the decline in pre-k and kindergarten. Current levels of enrollment remain constant except for kindergarten.
d) Board Member Jodi Muirhead requested an update on the Benton and Lawrence transitional project. City Manager Grogan stated that residual funds are available from the State and County, however, grant funds are not. A request for funding has been submitted to the State and is pending approval.
2) Parks & Recreation Director Damon Sparacino provided an update on facility field use and the revitalization of the International Swim Center. 1) All work will be done in phases. Phase I of the revitalization of the International Swim Center is in progress. Phase 2 will start concurrently to phase I and includes buildings and restrooms.
2) Stated that there is a staffing shortage in the parks. The City is in the process of hiring more parks staff to bring service levels back to a more functioning level for residents.
Item 5: Coordination of Communication between the City of Santa Clara and the Santa Clara Unified School District on Student Recognition/Inclusion Events • Board Member Dr. Michele Ryan would like invitations regarding student events and recognitions held at City Hall to be sent to all school board members so they may attend .
City School Liaison Committee Minutes
May 7, 2025
• Santa Clara Unified School District Director of Communications and Community Engagement / Public Information Officer Jennifer Dericcio acknowledged that City Manager staff have been sending invitations to events and recognitions to the school district but that it is an internal issue as it pertains to disseminating the information amongst district staff. Gaps were discovered in the current process and will be corrected mentioning that, in the future, they will over communicate the information to make sure they all receive the information.
Item 6: Remaining 2025 Meeting Schedule (Informational Only):
Board Member Dr. Michele Ryan reminded the committee members to attend and hold the meetings as scheduled.
Remaining Schedule of 2025 Meetings:
• Wednesday, September 3, 2025, at the Santa Clara Unified School District Office. • Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at the City Hall Council Chambers.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned by Councilmember Raj Chahal at 12:48PM.