The Palo Alto Board of Education discussed Paly renovation plans and pledged to monitor future high school enrollment, at a meeting on Tuesday.
The school board briefly discussed Paly’s five-year renovation plan, which provides for a new theater and performing arts center, student center, and gymnasium.
A key issue was the renovation of the Paly theater, as school board members debated over two separate designs. One featured a completely new two-story theater; the other proposed that the current theater be modernized rather than entirely rebuilt.
Board members also discussed plans for a new student center. These have yet to be drafted, but are to include a completely new building, perhaps closer to the Tower Building.
Some members of the community voiced concerns about the location of the new theater. During the meeting’s open forum discussion, several individuals expressed their opposition to the current building plans for environmental reasons.
“Many [Paly volunteers] have participated in planting trees in this parking area,” local environmental consultant Ryan Navratil said. “According to the current plans, the new theater could potentially remove a portion of these trees.”
Other citizens were also concerned that the new performing arts center could damage the “green area” near the parking lots, and the Paly quad.
“The new theater plans don’t necessarily take into account ecological resources available to the school,” Navratil said.
The board hopes to formulate a plan that will incorporate both the schools’ needs and the public’s concerns.
In a presentation about high school and middle school enrollment rates, analyst Jeanne Gobalet predicted that by 2013, PAUSD high schools would gain 441 students, an increase that is similar to the size of Paly’s current junior class. By 2017, Paly and Gunn High School are projected to increase in size by a total margin of 888 students.
When asked how the current economic crisis has impacted high school enrollment rates, Gobalet noted that high school migration rates, the rate of new students inflow, have decreased in the last year.
“The migration of high school and middle school students was low,” Gobalet said, “It’s not surprising given the low housing re-sales.”
Gobalet pointed out that the economic crisis might alter future enrollment rate calculations.
“As a result, last year’s medium [enrollment] forecast overestimated the middle and high school enrollments,” Gobalet said. “We’ve assumed that we’re going to be maintaining strong migration patterns, so we might be overestimating enrollments.”
Gobalet mentioned that Gunn tended to get a higher percentage of migrations, while Paly tended to remain fairly consistent. However, she pointed out that Paly and Gunn’s relatively equal overall enrollment rates stemmed from a smaller number of students in elementary schools directed to Gunn than in those directed to Paly.
Gobalet indicated that with the state of the current economic crisis, a greater number of students might choose to enroll in public rather than private high schools. This, she said, could increase the overall enrollment in Palo Alto high schools.
The next school board meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Click here for additional information about this meeting.