San Benito High School and Gavilan College are working out the final details in an agreement that would allow the college to lease classroom space on the high school’s freshman campus, on the south side of Nash Road.
The San Benito High School board of trustees gave Superintendent Stan Rose and Debbie Fisher, the finance director, the go-ahead to hash out a contract to lease space to the college at the Dec. 7 board meeting.
“The meeting before we took it as an information item,” Fisher said. “We reused the same agenda item and they gave Dr. Rose and myself the authority to try to move forward on an MOU.”
The two schools plan to run a pilot program for Spring 2012, with Gavilan classes starting on Jan. 31.
“My board was just very concerned in financial (hard) times that we are covering the cost of something,” Fisher said. “We are just ironing out the kinks to see if it will be beneficial” to both parties involved.
Fisher stressed that the high school is not looking to profit off the lease agreement, but is looking at a way to partner with the college so that it is a mutually beneficial agreement.
The agenda item before the high school trustees called for Gavilan to use eight classrooms on the freshman campus, sometimes called the new campus, including a science lab and a computer lab. There is also a desire to use the administration building for two five-hour periods each week. The college-level classes would be offered during evening hours.
Fisher included a breakdown for San Benito trustees of the costs that would be charged to the college. Though the joint-use agreement and lease may be updated, the numbers presented before the trustees included maintenance and operational costs as well as rental fees. The cost for maintenance and operation was calculated as $2,945 a month with a rental fee of $2,044 a month.
“From the district’s standpoint, this partnership would help cover the current expenses on vacant and underused facilities, as well as provide opportunities for both our staff and students,” Fisher wrote in the agenda item before the board.
Jan Bernstein Chargin, the director of public information for the college, said that the two groups do not yet have a memorandum of understanding for the long term, but that the college will proceed with a lease agreement for a pilot semester.
“This partnership concept is something that is happening throughout our community,” Fisher said. “We are looking at trying to partner, ways to partner with the YMCA and different people. It is kind of the way of the future.”
Chargin said that Gavilan College has had classes at some local high schools through a program called “High Step.”
“The classes were open to anyone, but they were targeted at high school students,” she said. “These additional classes will really be targeting everybody. They are later in the evening.”
Chargin said the access to a science lab will allow the college to offer lab-based classes that they have not been able to offer in Hollister in the past due to the limited facilities available at the Briggs Building.
“The purpose of the partnership is to increase opportunities and make higher education more available,” Chargin said. “We have not had the ability to offer laboratory classes in Hollister before.”
Chargin said registration for the spring semester is available now. For students who have not taken classes before, they will need to get an application form in and it will take about 10 days to get the process completed. They will schedule an assessment and complete orientation to prepare for meeting with a counselor to register for classes. She said students can get applications and complete the process at the Briggs Building.
The space at San Benito High School will allow the college to expand student services.
“Initially we will plan to have computer lab services and some registration assistance and support,” said John Pruitt, the Gavilan College vice president of student services. “As we become more familiar with student use and needs at the San Benito High School location, we will assess the possibility of adding additional services.”
