President Cheri called the meeting to order at the stroke of 12:15. She then asked Alex Buljan to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.  She announced that long-time Hillsborough resident Ed Baldwin died recently of a heart attack.  Cheri asked for a moment of silence for Ed and his widow, realtor Donna Marie Baldwin.

 

Guests:  Rosemary Rayburn introduced Suzan Devletian for her first visit.  Suzan owns a women’s boutique here in Burlingame.  Emily Matthew’s guest was Neal Kaufman, a Burlingame parent and resident from whom we would hear later.

 

Announcements:  Cheri then recognized Julius Aires who is now back in the fold after a long absence.  Julius was a supporter of the Rotary Salon social meetings, one of which was held last night.  She then gave a shout out and thanked Cheryl Fama for helping to make Chuck Voltz’s efforts to create a Burlingame Memory Café a reality.

 

Speaker:  Dr. Kevin Skelly, San Mateo Unified High School District Superintendent, gave us an update of what has been happening in the district as well as plans for the future.  He began by announcing the re-opening of the Aquatic Center at Burlingame High School.  The pool, first constructed twenty years ago, had to be completely rebuilt due to construction errors with the original facility.

 

The high school district is comprised of six campuses in four cities.  Burlingame High has a current enrollment of 1500 students which is pretty much its capacity.  There is still room at Mills High School and Capuchino as these campuses have been losing students.  In addition to these facilities the continuation school, Peninsula High School, has relocated to Burlingame and will open in August of 2020.

 

Looking to the future needs, the district would like to build teacher housing on sites that the district owns.  This would help with the recruitment of top caliber instructors.  The salary and benefit structure are very competitive but housing affordability creates a barrier for attracting the best qualified teachers.  Dr. Skelly would also like to see cameras in the schools to improve security.

 

He then took questions.  Joe Galligan questioned how schools cope with the inability to discipline students as was done in his day.  Dr. Skelly felt that students were actually better behaved than in past years.  Drunk driving is way down and there is less bullying and more tolerance.  This is born out by the low population now in the juvenile detention centers in San Mateo and San Francisco.  Chuck Voltz voiced concern that those choosing to attend community college were not academically ready to succeed.  Dr. Skelly said that the schools are currently working to make certain writing and math skills taught are sufficient.  There is also talk of bringing college courses to BHS.  Julius Aires asked about Middle College which had helped his daughters.  Dr. Skelly said the program was alive and well at both CSM and Skyline.

 

After taking a few more questions, Dr. Skelly introduced Neal Kaufman.  Mr. Kaufman is an investment banker and the father of three children in the Burlingame school system.  He gave us an overview of Measure L, a bond issue that will raise $385,000,000 for improvements to the aging schools in the district.  If passed the funds will address items such as asbestos removal and other environmental issues.  It will provide technology, safety and security upgrades.  There are 10,000 students in the district who will benefit from these improvements.  Mr. Kaufman indicated that the major contributors of the property tax revenue will be some of the large companies in our cities.  For more information use the link below.

 

 

President Cheri then presented both speakers with Rotary certificates noting that five children would be inoculated against polio in honor of their visit today.  She then ended the meeting.