District to Make Improvements at Parkway

The is planning improvements to following a .

Superintendent Alejandro Hogan said three main concerns arose during the discussion: technology, the school's playing field and food in the cafeteria.

During Thursday night's school board meeting, that need to be addressed in order to pave the way for improvement in the classroom. Parkway Heights is in Program Improvement due to test scores that fail to meet state standards.

Hogan said he's instructed the school district's director of food services to work with the principal to improve the food. Next month, they're planning a tasting session with the students.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier, , is working to raise money from South San Francisco-based companies to fund technology and computer upgrades.

Hogan said he would like to fix the playing field, which is currently unsafe and unusable due to an uneven surface ridden with gopher holes, using deferred maintenance funds. This would cost between $15,000 and $18,000, according to Jeff Bonner, facilities director.

But board members questioned giving preference to fixing Parkway's playing field when all district playing fields are in need of upgrades. Trustee Maurice Goodman said the priority should be fixing the high school athletic fields for the safety of student athletes.

"We put this on the agenda as a safety issue in anticipation of a track season that's going to be starting soon," Goodman said.

Bonner said upgrading the track would cost between $80,000 and $100,000.

Goodman also questioned the merits of improving Parkway's field while the district is still considering building a new school site for Parkway, which could include construction on the field.

Board Vice President Philip Weise said he supported improving Parkway's field, but the board should have been notified in advance of a decision.

"They have a blacktop where kids were playing, but if you're playing on the blacktop and you fall down, you can have some serious injuries," Weise said. "For $15,000, that would be within the superintendent's authority."

"We have to start somewhere," Hogan said. "I wish we had money to deal with all the fields."

"Isolating one school over another is a concern for me because we should be equal through our district," said Board President Judy Bush.

After the meeting, Hogan said he would still like to upgrade Parkway's field, but he'll consider the input of board members before making a final decision. Staff will also follow up about safety measure for the upcoming track season at the next board meeting.