General meeting was called to order at 7pm on October 18, 2017.

Agenda:

General BCA updates included noting that at the March 21, 2018 meeting new board members will be nominated and elected. For more information on volunteering or getting involved with the BCA Board, please email board@burbankscc.org.

Dr. Ortiz – Luther Burbank School Superintendent and Principal

  • Dr. Ortiz gave a brief history of the K-8 school located in the Burbank. They have made progress with making historical data more accessible with their new website at https://www.lbsd.k12.ca.us/.
  • Reviewed some of the high level elements of the 3 year Strategic Plan that they are working on
  • He mentioned that there were Board seats opening up – for more information: https://www.lbsd.k12.ca.us/site/Default.aspx?PageID=88
  • Dr. Ortiz fielded some questions from the audience. Some more notable questions were:
    • How does a school like Luther Burbank “manage debt” as part of a balanced budget? Dr. Ortiz reviewed some of the ways that schools in the district request and manage budgets. It was a helpful overview that showed how debt could be managed effectively, but he was also clear that if they were not fiscally responsible, corrective actions would be taken by the District.
    • How does a “whole child” focus work in reality? The presentation provided some slides on educational goals for the “whole child” – this was just another way of ensuring that education addressed both the academic and social aspects of students.
    • What long term student success metrics are there? Dr. Ortiz mentioned that prior to his tenure, long term student outcomes were not aggressively tracked. He has worked closely with the feeder schools that take in Luther Burbank graduates to ensure more data gets back to the Luther Burbank administration for better real-world results and verification.

Kieran Kelly – Santa Clara Supervisor, Ken Yeager’s Office

  • Reviewed current state of fire safety. As part of mutual aid agreements with other local communities, he mentioned that some fire services/resources are elsewhere in California assisting with fire and recovery efforts.
  • Reminded the community to look at BART Phase 2 – as it is an active project being researched for various impact studies: http://www.vta.org/bart/stationsphaseII
  • Notable audience questions:
    • How is the water district/County working to prevent flooding this winter?
    • San Jose Urban Village: It looked like there was some confusion regarding the Urban Village proposal and how it would impact the Burbank area. Kieran did clarify that the map that was sent to residents may not have been clear. He re-iterated that any property annexation would go through normal channels and that the Urban Village plan (http://www.sanjoseca.gov/index.aspx?NID=1738) was not there to subvert standard policy.

Deputy Valdivia – Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office

  • Gave a brief overview of current efforts in the Burbank area. He mentioned that with the holidays coming up to be more aware of package thefts and gave a reminder about Patrol Check Requests. For residents away on vacation, the Sheriff will check on your property while you are away and may provide some added peace of mind while you are traveling.
  • Reminded the audience that reporting incidents was still very important – posting something on social media or Next Door is not the same as calling the Sheriff. They rely on reports from the community – so it was a good reminder to let the Sheriff know what was going on and not assume that social media was visible them.

Alisha Schoen – Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office

  • Gave an update on Tip Top Liquors – the changes they had made to their store was helping keep loitering minimized
  • Massage parlor abatement is ongoing – contact Alisha if there suspected parlors in the Burbank that should be checked out.
  • The department is working with Luther Burbank on a new K-5 truancy pilot project
  • The department is working with SJPD regarding homeless encampment issues
  • There is some research being done to see how to increase pedestrian visibility on Bascom Avenue – especially at night
  • Reminder that with holidays come delivery thieves – so be careful!