CSUS Development Agreement Submitted to City

The Crystal Springs Uplands School (CSUS) delivered a development agreement to the City of Belmont yesterday as part of its to Davis Drive. The agreement intends to address of the new middle school.

One aspect of the agreement states that the school will make annual cash payments of $75,000 to the City, as an accommodation for the school's tax-exempt status as a non-profit.

"This is an offer in the context of a non-profit," said Tony Stayner, the incoming CSUS Board of Trustees President. "We don't know of another non-profit school, especially of our small size, that is making a proposal this beneficial to a community."

The proposed annual payment of $75,000 exceeds the current annual tax revenue generated by the property by about 17 percent, according to Stayner. The development agreement takes into account the formula for increasing property taxes and has a factor to accommodate that increase over time.

Stayner takes issue with the idea that bringing CSUS to Belmont would be revenue neutral for the City. He believes the City's cost estimates for the school are "incomplete, inconsistent and inaccurate" because they fail to take into account certain precautionary measures the school will take related to fire risk and because they overestimate costs for programs CSUS would prefer to opt-out of, like the Safe Schools Program.

"The City will take the position that our school will cost Belmont $116,000 annually," said Stayner, adding, "and while we disagree, we plan to make up the difference between the $75,000 cash payment and their estimate with scholarships designed specifically for Belmont residents, and by providing public access to our soccer field through the Parks and Recreation Department."

Another aspect of the development agreement provides special admission preference for Belmont residents and sets aside $40,000 in scholarship money specifically for Belmont students. "We have never given preference to anyone in the admission process - except for siblings, which we don't even have a formal process for," said Stayner. "This is a big thing."

A petition with fifteen signatures in favor of bringing the school to Belmont was also submitted to the City yesterday. Nicole Sorger, a teacher at CSUS who said the school has not asked her to petition on its behalf, led the effort.

"I just love the school," Sorger said. "It really offers a protected environment for kids at a tough age - middle school - and it gives them a really strong academic underpinning."

Opponents of the proposed school development cite concerns over traffic and noise, while one supporter of CSUS moving to Belmont pointed to the benefits of having the school as a neighbor. "I like the idea that it is an environmentally sound asset and that it decreases the amount of impervious surfaces currently at the site" said Belmont resident Amanda Greco. She welcomed the proposed middle school as a neighbor while acknowledging that her own two-year-old daughter is likely to attend Belmont public schools. "An example of an aspirational educational environment is great for both the kids that go there and those who don't," she said.

Greco also highlighted the diversity of the students at CSUS, a point echoed by trustee Jill Grossman. "Right now 48 percent of our students are students of color and we expect to maintain and even increase that diversity," said Grossman. "We want to encourage continued socio-economic diversity and one of the ways we want to do that is by placing the school along the 101/280 corridor, where access to the school is even more acceptable."

Both the petition and the development agreement were sent to the City in advance of the Belmont Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday, June 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of Belmont City Hall, One Twin Pines Lane.

A Neighborhood Gathering & Discussion between CSUS officials and members of the Belmont community will take place on Wednesday, June 13, from 7:00-9:00 pm. The public is invited to attend the meeting at 6 Davis Drive in Belmont. The meeting will take place in the warehouse on the proposed site of the new campus.