We, the undersigned community members and neighbors of the Glider school campus, respectfully request that the Board of Trustees of the Oak Grove School District REJECT OFFERS from developers to buy the Glider school property for the purpose of building dense and/or multi-family housing. We urge the Board to REJECT the current offers as being not compatible with neighborhood use, and due to lack of public disclosure, awareness, and input.

Glider is not a good site for a dense housing development because:

1. The property is set deep into the neighborhood with no thoroughfare built to handle high traffic. Increased traffic will burden previously quiet streets.
2. Lot lines connecting with existing homes will infringe on privacy and increase noise for residents, especially if new development is higher than two stories.
3. The neighborhood uses the school yard for public park space.
4. The proposed development style will not match the look and feel of this established neighborhood.
5. Our neighborhood has recently experienced district-induced trauma related to the closure of the elementary school.

Further, we ask the board to

1. Fully explore selling the district office property before selling any fill-in neighborhood school, and move the district office to a school property. The district office site is better suited for “opportunity housing” due to its location directly on Santa Teresa Blvd., proximity to the VTA light rail & bus station, and no shared fences with existing homes.
2. Create a committee including community members to explore other income producing activities beyond a lease of the property.
3. Notify the neighborhood by mail, and host a community information meeting including the presentation of the environmental impact, and a public input meeting before considering a sale of the property.
4. Present a clear plan for community approval on how proceeds from the sale of any capital asset will be used before a sale agreement is entered. Proceeds from sale of a school property should not be used to fund perpetual budget deficits. Significant cuts and changes need to be made at the district level before asking for such a significant and permanent sacrifice from the community.
5. In the event of a sale, divide the Glider property to preserve 50% as green park space for the community, or as agreed to after a detailed and specific community benefit agreement.
6. Based on the lack of transparency and community input that we have experienced with the Glider property, our community will start the process to recall all current members of the OGSD Board of Trustees who do not oppose the sale.