Dear Menlo Park City Council -
As you know, Ravenswood City School District is currently in exclusive negotiations with Alliant Strategic Development on a possible ground lease for the former Flood School Site. While the parties have not reached an agreement over the terms of the ground lease, we have heard significant and alarming misinformation about the possibility of new housing among some segments of the Menlo Park community.
To help address this misinformation, we'd like to clarify a few points:
* The planned housing will be contractually capped at 90 units and four floors. Regardless of density bonuses or other factors, the development will contractually not be permitted to exceed that limit.
* The site will bring in a small amount of new revenue (likely equivalent to 1-2% of the district budget), which will go to close the significant funding disparities between Ravenswood and surrounding districts. However, the District is primarily excited about the opportunity to house our staff, while also providing affordable housing to the 40% of Ravenswood families who are homeless or housing insecure.
* We are in active conversations with the County of San Mateo about adding additional entrances to the site. While these conversations are still in their early stage, we continue to push for every option that might help mitigate the traffic impact on the surrounding community.
Even though we are very early in this process the district has already had numerous meetings with community members. We expect to have many more. To additionally help combat misinformation we've added a new "fact sheet" to our website (in addition to our existing lease page). I've also copied that information below.
As always, please don't hesitate to reach out,
Will
___________________________________________________
William Eger (he, his)
Chief Business Officer
[cid:17ce1812e2c4cff312]
Former Flood School Fact Sheet
What is the current status of the site?
* Ravenswood City School District has collected proposals from a number of developers for the site. All of the legitimate proposals were for housing for the site - the District has no intention of using the site for anything other than housing.
* Ravenswood is currently negotiating over the specifics of the contract with Alliant Strategic Development. If the District is able to finalize key terms of the contract, they would bring the contract to the Ravenswood School District Board to approve.
How many units are planned for the site?
* The contract, which is still being negotiated, explicitly caps the number of units at 90 units and four floors - meaning that no matter what the site is zoned at or if there are any density bonuses, the number of units and floors cannot exceed that which is permitted in the contract.
o If the ultimate zoning determines lower limits, then the lower zoning limit would apply.
o If the ultimate zoning is higher than that limit, then the contractual cap would apply.
* Furthermore, due to the type of construction planned and the number of parking spots on the site, it is not economically feasible to have more than 90 units or four floors for the site.
Who would be eligible to live in the development?
* The site is intended to be affordable housing, meaning that the local income thresholds would apply.
* Teachers and district staff would be given first preference for the site. That means that Ravenswood staff would be able to register first for housing at the site. If enough Ravenswood staff demonstrate interest, all units could be filled by district staff. If not, the units will not remain empty, but will instead be filled by members of the public who meet income eligibility thresholds.
* Note that some Ravenswood Staff - including many district administrators, most principals, and some teachers - have salaries that exceed the maximum affordable housing eligibility limits. Many others, however, are well below the eligibility thresholds including our paraprofessionals, kitchen staff, custodians, campus relation coordinators, bus drivers, and other essential school support staff.
Why affordable housing?
* A recent analysis found that Ravenswood had the biggest mismatch between teacher salaries and the typically priced home in the entire state of California. According to that analysis, the average teacher salary is $74,400 while the typically priced home is $1.7 million. For other district staff (bus drivers, custodians, etc.) who earn half of what a typical teacher makes, that gap between salaries and affordable housing is even larger. The last time we surveyed teachers on this topic, 70% were "definitely" or "probably" interested in participating in some kind of workforce housing.
* Additionally, a substantial portion of Ravenswood students - 40% at last count - are homeless or housing insecure. Many of the income-eligible Ravenswood staff have students in the school district. Access to affordable housing would benefit both Ravenswood staff and students.
Would this bring in revenue to the district? And what would those funds go towards?
* Accounting for student need and excluding existing leases or one-time funding sources, Ravenswood has the lowest per-pupil funding in the county. Using that same calculation, Ravenswood has less than half as much spending as Menlo Park City School District. Because of these funding gaps, a teacher in Menlo Park could make more than 35% more per year than a Ravenswood teacher.
* To address these inequities, Ravenswood is exploring leasing two sites: the Flood Site and a site in East Palo Alto.
o The site in East Palo Alto will bring in significantly more overall funds, and will largely cut the existing per-pupil fundraising gap by a third.
o The former Flood School Site would bring in closer to half a million per year - a material amount of funds, but only about 1-2% of the district's total budget.
* While these funds are not earmarked for a specific use, the intent is for them to go towards closing the salary gap in salaries, especially teaching salaries, between Ravenswood and surrounding districts.
* Note that this approach - which would allow non-district employees to live on the site - is what makes this approach financially feasible. Other districts, such as Jefferson Union High School, have issued public debt in order to fund these types of projects. This approach doesn't require additional taxation while still closing existing funding gaps.
Are there alternative entrances?
* There are two alternative entrances being explored for the site. The first is through the reimagined Flood Park and the second is adjacent to Haven House. Both entrances are being actively discussed with the County of San Mateo which controls much of the surrounding land.
Is there engagement happening from the school district?
* In addition to discussing this initiative at various public school board meetings and numerous articles, District staff has been happy to respond to every email, join meetings, and do site walks. Members of the public can always join school board meetings or reach out directly to district staff with their questions.
What is the history of the site?
* The site is the home of the Flood School, which operated primarily as a K-8 from 1980 to 2011. It served approximately 300 students per year and had approximately 30 adults working on the site.
o While there is no record of the number of cars and school buses going in and out of the site at the time, similar sized schools in Ravenswood see approximately 100 cars, trucks, and buses coming in and out of the site at each morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up.
* Numerous uses have been proposed for the site - leasing to a private school, leasing the site to another school district, a park, and district sponsored teacher housing. All of those uses have, at various times, been deemed infeasible.
o Note that the site cannot be a public school due to proximity to the highway (although it could be a private school). That does not mean that the site is unsafe - it has similar particulate matter levels as the homes along Hedge adjacent to the highway. The development will meet all Federal and State health and safety code requirements for residential occupancy - that means that depending on the required noise and air quality studies the housing could include thicker windows etc.
Does the zoning need to change?
* The District explored teacher housing at one point, but further analysis found that the project was not economically feasible at the current level of zoning (R-1). In the District's effort to solicit bids for a ground lease which involved outreach to dozens of possible developers, no bids came in at the current proposed zoning level. All of the bids assumed a higher level of density (R-2).
* If the zoning does not change, this project will not be able to proceed.
What are alternative uses for the site?
* The District is not interested in selling the site or transferring it to another local governmental entity.
* If the District is not able to develop the site for housing, it is not clear what the next best use would be for the site. As the site could not be used as a school, it would likely be utilized for other District purposes. Given the limited possible uses for the site, the most plausible alternative would be to use the site as a bus and van depot.
Questions or comments?
* You can use this link to provide feedback or ask questions.
