School District Addresses Concerns Over Recent Deal With City, Housing Authority

The Alameda School District Superintendent Kirsten M. Vital released a letter to the community addressing concerns and questions regarding the recent agreement between the City of Alameda, Alameda Unified School District (AUSD), and the Alameda Housing Authority. 

[Related article: City and School District Strike Deal They Say Will 'Resolve Longstanding Issues']

Read the full letter below:

Dear Alameda Community,

As many of you have heard, two weeks ago, three public agencies in Alameda announced a proposed agreement to exchange land and money. The deal is complicated, as it involves five parcels of land and about $6.5 million. But its intention is simple: to get money and land into the hands of the agencies that can make the best use of them today.

Many community members are excited about this proposal, as it will allow us to renovate the EHS Swim Center, thereby creating a spacious and modern facility that all members of our community - young and old, recreational swimmers and student athletes - can enjoy. The proposal also allows us to obtain property on Alameda Point on which we can construct a school when residences are built there and our enrollment increases. As a superintendent, being able to take care of today's urgent needs (i.e., our dilapidated pools) and tomorrow's potential needs (i.e., another school site) fills me with optimism.

Some community members have questions about the proposed agreement, so late last week we posted an FAQ about the proposal on our website (http://ow.ly/uGco2). My hope is that this FAQ will answer those questions and give all our community members a better sense of what this agreement, taken in its entirety, offers to our community as a whole.

I cannot emphasize enough how important this partnership with the City is to us and how beneficial this agreement will be to the three agencies and the communities they serve. It is not always easy for public agencies to work together. In this case, all of us worked long and hard to come up with an agreement to solve some long-standing problems (including the deterioration of our pools and potential needs for another facility). I look forward to continued collaborations with our partners in city government. As the saying goes, "it takes a village to raise a child," and in this case, our village came together not only to provide for our children but for our entire community.

If you have questions about the proposed agreement - or anything happening in our district -- please feel free to contact me at 510-337-7060 orkvital@alameda.k12.ca.us. I am always happy to hear from community members.

Sincerely,

Kirsten M. Vital

Superintendent