School Board Elects New President, Delays Action on School Rebuild Plans

The Albany school board tonight, Tuesday, unanimously elected current board Vice President Jonathan Knight as its new president.

The board also voted 4-1 to name Allan Maris as the new vice president.

At the same meeting, the board postponed an agenda item on okaying $2.8 million in architectural contracts for replacing seismically deficient Marin and Ocean View elementary schools.

Superintendent Marla Stephenson had recommended that the board waive the RFP (Request for Proposals) process and go forward with contracts for architectural services from WLC Architects, which has already been working with the district on its overall Facilities Master Plan, including options for addressing the seismic problems at Marin and Ocean View.

But at tonight's meeting, she requested that consideration of the contracts be postponed until the board's Dec. 19 meeting, outgoing board President Paul Black announced at the beginning of the board meeting.

Stephenson "feels we need to make sure that we followed all the proper procedures before we vote on those, specifically whether it's required to go out and do an RFP for an architect," Black said.

In other action, the board also agreed to consider whether to submit a measure to voters to ask permission to use remaining funds from Measure E (the pool project) to pay for replacing out-of-code MacGregor High School with "portable" classrooms. There is some uncertainty about the whether Measure E as presently written would allow such use.

The MacGregor possibilities include demolishing the school building and leaving the site vacant for a year, except for the three portables that are on the site and do not have the same code deficiencies as the main building, Stephenson said. 

In the election for the new board Vice President, the dissenting vote was cast by Black. Black that although Maris "is highly qualified to be Vice President," choosing him would risk a break in continuity on the board.

Black said the terms of three board members, including Maris, are expiring at the end of next year, while the district also will have a new Superintendent, and that he felt it is "very important to have some continuity in the officers. So I'd like to be sure that the Vice President is someone who is guaranteed to still be here the following year."

Correction/clarification: The original version of this article said the board will consider a possible new bond measure to pay for portables to replace MacGregor High School. The possible ballot measure would ask voters permission to use remaining funds from an existing bond measure already passed by voters, Measure E. 

Published Dec. 10, 2013, 9:27 p.m.; updated Dec. 11, 11:34 a.m.

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