Message from the Superintendent: District Surplus Properties

Message from the Superintendent District Surplus Properties

Dear San Rafael City Schools Community,
 
Our District’s school campuses and other staff sites are bustling daily with student, teacher and staff activity. Additionally, the District owns other properties that are either currently under short-term leases or are not being used by the District or its schools: McPhail, Undeveloped Glenwood Site, Old Gallinas and the North Corporation Yard. While not being used for SRCS school purposes for the foreseeable future, we understand these properties are an important part of our District and greater community. 

It has been many years, decades for some, since the District has gone through a formal process to gauge interest from the community on these properties. We recognize the sites are assets to the District, and they also hold value and use to many of our respected partners, community groups and other users, whether through formal agreements or otherwise. It is crucial to us to renew our engagement with the community, as input is vital in shaping the future of these sites. 

As an initial step, the SRCS Board of Education reaffirmed the surplus designation of the four properties at its meeting on March 11. Board action declaring a property surplus, or reaffirming that a property continues to remain surplus, does not mean that it necessarily will be leased or sold; the Board must take subsequent action declaring its intent to lease or sell a surplus property if it determines it wishes to do so. The Board has not taken such action, and at this time, the Board is simply reaffirming that these properties remain surplus. 

This action did open the door for the District to do due diligence and solicit interest in the properties, but we must follow a statutory process. This process outlines various ways the District could move forward (lease, sale, lease with option to purchase) to potentially provide the Board with numerous options to consider if they choose. This will allow the Board to make an informed decision about if and how to move forward with one or more of the sites. 

As part of this process, the District voluntarily sent priority offering notices to nonprofit charitable / public benefit corporations and public entities, including City and County park and recreation departments. It is important to emphasize that the Board is solely seeking interest from public entities and eligible nonprofit entities at this time to determine current interest and facilitate informed decision-making in line with previously expressed community input regarding future use of the sites.

The District also understands that there may be many outcomes per individual property, including maintaining status quo; enhancing existing partnerships in new ways through leases; entering into a new agreement with a public entity or nonprofit; or other. We look forward to receiving written responses from public entities and nonprofits who are interested in using or acquiring these sites, and engaging in further conversations with them about how these properties might potentially be used to benefit our students, our community and the financial health of the District.

We are committed to keeping our community informed through this process. You can visit our website to learn more, which contains more background; a frequently asked question document; details for each property; recordings from public Q&A sessions; and more. This webpage is frequently updated. Moreover, we are dedicated to transparent decision-making and community input and participation if we come to a point where we are considering any significant changes or new uses for these important sites. 

Sincerely,

Carmen Diaz Ghysels
Superintendent 
 

San Rafael City Schools www.srcs.org  |  communications@srcs.org 310 Nova Albion Way San Rafael, CA 94903