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million dollars. The developer got a $4 million dollar break with a discounted building fee. <br />Unfortunately, the School Board thinks that is now up for debate again. He did not understand <br />how the School Board can set aside an agreement the City Council voted on and delay <br />construction of the Neal school. The Agreement said it was to be built by August 2002. He does <br />not feel there is a spirit of cooperation between the City Council and School Board. He believed <br />the eastern portion of Pleasanton is being treated as second-class citizens. Students from that <br />area are distributed among six different schools. Children on the same street do not go to the <br />same school. <br /> <br /> Ms. Michelotti said she and Council have been very supporting of the concept of <br />neighborhood schools for all of Pleasanton. She urged Mr. Juarez to continue to address the <br />School Board, because the decision is in their hands. That agreement was not an easy thing to <br />accomplish. She noted the Vineyard infrastructure was to have been constructed by developers <br />at no expense to the taxpayers, but because of the economy it was necessary for the City and <br />District to advance the funds. The City has made its best efforts to continue to pursue this and <br />encourage construction of the school. <br /> <br /> Ms. Ayala suggested that this be brought up at the next School Liaison Committee <br />meeting on Thursday and perhaps ask for reconsideration of the District's motion. <br /> <br /> Ms. Michelotti indicated she has had questions about funding. She said people may not <br />be aware that historically, this is the lowest number of housing starts in the City. Some new to <br />the community may not think that because they see what is happing on the Bernal Property. All <br />the fees that would have come from that go to paying the debt to the City and County of San <br />Francisco. She reiterated Council's support of the community and hoped collectively they could <br />find a way to construct the school. <br /> <br /> Brace Torquemada, 3072 Alburni Court, said he has heard many statements about <br />declining enrollment in elementary schools. He gathered enrollment information and prepared a <br />spreadsheet. He produced a graph that clearly shows enrollment has gone up over the years. He <br />said he had spoken to School Superintendent Casey who said he had not heard from the <br />community that there was a need for another school and in fact heard the opposite. Mr. <br />Torquemada started making phone calls and more people started attending School Board <br />meetings to show their support for the new school as well as sending hundreds of email <br />messages. At the last Board meeting there were over a hundred people in support of the school <br />and six opposed to it. He did not feel the Board was listening to their position. The citizens <br />spend hours researching facts and the Board is paying no attention. He felt there was a breach of <br />the existing agreement because the Board is not using its best effort to construct the school as <br />soon as possible. He applauded the efforts of the soccer association but was dismayed that it <br />took thirty years to reach their goal. Neal School was committed to in 1998 and he hoped it <br />doesn't take thirty years to be built. He thanked Council for its assistance in getting the road to <br />the school built. The General Plan calls for 600 students per school and if that doesn't mean <br />anything, then strike it from the Plan. The School Board is not following the General Plan. He <br />believed the citizens lost $1.12 million in interest for a year and he said the actual cost is $2.24 <br />million. The Board is talking about operational costs yet it just wasted $2.24 million. He also <br />referred to the new winery in Ruby Hill that was just opened. He was shocked that a school <br /> <br />Pleasanton City Council 7 11/19/02 <br />Minutes <br /> <br /> <br />