MINUTES
City-School Liaison Committee
Santa Clara Unified School District Offices
March 4, 2026
MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE:
CITY COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Councilmember, Albert Gonzalez
Mayor, Lisa M. Gillmor
Councilmember, Suds Jain (Alternate)
SCHOOL DISTRICT COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Board Member, Jodi Muirhead (Chair)
Board Member, Andy Ratermann
Board Member, Kathy Watanabe
Superintendent, Dr. Damon Wright
CITY STAFF
City Manager, Jōvan D. Grogan
Director of Parks and Recreation, Damon Sparacino
Police Chief, Cory Morgan
Assistant Police Chief, Wahid Kazem
City Librarian, Patty Wong
Library Programs Coordinator, Rachel Schmidt
Community Development Planning Manager, Lesley
Xavier
Management Analyst, Aimée Escobar
SCHOOL DISTRICT STAFF
Director, School Bond Projects, Larry Adams
Deputy Superintendent/CBO, Mark Schiel
Director, Facility Development & Planning, Michal Healy Director of Communications & Community Engagement,
Jennifer Dericco
Executive Assistant, Jean Burrell
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chair Jodi Muirhead at 11:50AM.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
One presentation. Parent of one of the district’s students and part of the 4-H Club stated that they would like the district to work more with the students at the 4-H club.
GENERAL BUSINESS
Item 1: Approval of November 12, 2025, Minutes
Member Jain made a motion to approve November 12, 2025, meeting minutes, seconded by Member Watanabe. The motion passed unanimously.
Item 2: City of Santa Clara: Update from City Manager Jōvan D. Grogan a. Super Bowl Update: 02/08/2026. Described the public safety efforts and how well collaboration occurred with external/regional public safety partnerships. Mentioned FIFA: June 13-July 1, 2026 – 6 games. b. Santa Clara Day: 02/28/2026. Community day at Levi’s Stadium with activities and music. It was a free event for Santa Clara residents.
c. Measure I Bond: 1st phase of bonds approved, and has begun – Fire stations and swim center are included in the 1st phase of work.
d. February 11, 2026 Intel Development Review: Approved at the Planning Commission level. Aimed at keeping manufacturing in Silicon Valley. Project broke ground within one year as requested by Intel. Adds to property
tax income for the City of Santa Clara. Member Ratterman inquired as to the size of the facility, City Manager Grogan stated that it is 101,971 square feet.
Item 3: Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD): Update from Superintendent Dr. Damon Wright a. Community Engagement: The right-size plan has been approved by the Board with layoff notices going out on March 15, 2026. The deadline to finalize layoff notices is May 15, 2026.
Mission Vision/Strategic Plan: Launched on February 15, 2026. Community engagement will occur, dates forthcoming.
Member Gillmor inquired about enrollment levels. Member Schiel replied that kindergarten enrollment is declining. Declining birth rates in California affect the enrollment levels. Downward enrollment is projected as a future trend. Member Healy stated that for every 10-town homes built there are 1.8 students enrolling and 2 students per 100 apartment homes built.
Member Schiel stated there are 730 empty seats throughout the district next year, there is room to accommodate new students. Superintendent Wright also mentioned that Scott Lane is losing 9 teachers with layoffs, teachers from other schools will be shifted to that school and that layoffs are done by seniority not by location. In addition, Member Schiel mentioned that 19-20% of staff are within the retirement window and schools will be losing the veteran work force upon retirement.
Member Healy stated that the Tasman East development generated 15 new students to the District.
City Manager Grogan replied that student generation/more projects are in development of lower density (town homes/single family) that will generate more students to the district.
PUBLIC COMMENT: Private schools and enrollment, how does this affect new enrollment to the district? Member Schiel stated that it created a slight uptick in numbers when one of the private schools closed in 2025 and other private schools had waiting lists. He also mentioned that schools are funded based on local property taxes not on the number of students who attend class/school. As a result, there is little to no state funds given to the District. Volatility of property taxes severely affects the District’s budget. received.
b. Super Bowl Update: Buchser/Townsend Field: Update given under item 4.c – Facilities & Capital Development Update.
Item 4: Santa Clara Unified School District Updates:
a. New Valley High School Relocation Update
Mark Schiel, Deputy Superintendent/CBO
Board approved the plans on January 22, 2026, Board for development and placement and are keeping it as small to retain as much green space as possible. New parking will be added to the campus as the community has asked for more on-site parking to decrease parking in the neighborhood, 80 spaces will be added.
Existing traffic circulation will be utilized; no new access will be created. Design of the building has begun (master plan) and should be submitted to CEQA in December 2026. July 2027 is the projected groundbreaking.
DSA and CEQA may delay the groundbreaking due to processing delays and/or red flags. School Districts are held to the highest DSA standards. Projected to open 2029 school year.
b. Construction Update
Larry Adams, Director - School Bond Projects
Laurelwood: To be completed Summer 2026.
Briarwood: 2 new classroom buildings and improvements in frontage. A permanent easement is being processed to correct the property line adjustment.
Bracker: Buildings should be occupied by the end of 2026. Rain and DTSC delayed the project due to toxic soil removal on site. Currently locating topsoil to import to replace toxic soil that was removed (1600 truckloads), must be approved by DTSC. All soil imported must be tested before placement.
Westwood: Constructing a new multipurpose building in the middle of campus that ought to be completed by the end of 2026.
Pool Modernization at Santa Clara High School: To be completed Summer 2026. Wilcox HS will begin after completion of Santa Clara HS and includes the addition of restrooms.
c. Facilities & Capital Development Update
Michal Healy, Director - Facility Development & Planning • Bucsher Townsend: Event occurred on February 1, 2026. Will transform the area, currently in design and will break ground December 2026/January 2027 and will take about 1 year to construct.
Member Ratterman inquired about what is being done to the field. Director Healy replied that there will be a natural grass field, synthetic track, bleacher replacement, replacement and upgraded bathrooms, new lighting and score board. Funds are a combination of Super Bowl/NFL and district.
• FIFA Events: City Manager Grogan stated that agreements for events were finalized at the last minute due to location/venue holdouts for a higher pay out with NFL for Super Bowl. Many venues are also team specific, and it depends on who makes it to the Super Bowl. It is not anticipated that this would occur with FIFA events.
FIFA events are currently TBD but Santa Clara will be the kick off City of FIFA. FIFA is still determining what they will plan/host outside of the Stadium. Santa Clara will stay in close communication with the District as events are planned. Member Muirhead asked about outside events – San Jose & San Francisco, will this also occur with FIFA that they hold the majority of events? City Manager Grogan replied that Santa Clara does not have the same infrastructure as these cities to hold such events, but it is also the decision of FIFA as to where to hold external events and they are looking regionally for these events and as did Super Bowl/NFL. Member Schiel stated that he knows that Director Healy has been working with the City about District facilities for FIFA events, however, others are inquiring about using the facilities and it would be best if they could know as soon as possible about facilities so they may release those not being used to others.
Item 5: City of Santa Clara Updates:
a. Community Development Department Update
Community Development Planning Manager, Lesley Xavier provided the update in Director Hamid’s absence. • 3625 Peterson: Application withdrawn for 292 town homes. Was a light industrial site to be converted to housing. Will now revert to light industrial and the expansion of Palo Alto Medical on site. • 2490 El Camino/Mariani: Application to demolish buildings and build 118 town homes was submitted recently.
• 422 out of 531 are market homes built in 2025
• 3500 housing unit permits issued in 2025
b. Library
Patty Wong, City Librarian & Rachel Schmidt, Library Programs Coordinator • STEM Zone, April 19 10-4 p.m.
Part of the “Mission Meets the Moment” campaign and involves SCUSD students. There will be 90,000 square feet of interactive events at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Working with all the local community colleges to contribute to the activities. Heavy sports theme throughout. • Student Success Library Card
Will be in the 2027 enrollment packet for students. (Free library resources) • Teen Library Card Design Contest
29 art entries were received for the new library cards, 20 were from SCUSD. Narrowing down to 5 selections to vote on within this demographic and the winner will be the printed card issued by the library
Member Comments:
• Member Gonzales asked that street closures for FIFA be communicated as soon as possible to minimize the impact on students. City Manager Grogan replied that the FIFA games begin after June 13th and mainly occur in the evening so there should be a minimal impact.
• Member Jain inquired if there is a way to keep the Wilcox Tennis Courts open to public for the summer.
Member Ratterman would also like for SCUSD to look at possibly opening other facilities over the Summer for joint use. SCUSD will look into this and the financial impact of doing so.
Item 6: Remaining 2026 Meeting Schedule
(Informational Only, No Action)
• Wednesday, May 6, 2026 (11:45am – 1:15pm) City • Wednesday, September 2, 2026 (11:45am – 1:15pm) SCUSD • Wednesday, November 4, 2026 (11:45am – 1:15pm) City
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting was adjourned by Chair Muirhead at 1:01PM.