By Kathleen Acuff

The run-down Bullis-Purissima campus sought by Bullis Charter School will house three commercial preschools in addition to the district’s special education preschool center this year.

When subcommittees from the Los Altos Hills City Council and the Los Altos School District meet today, the subject will be the district’s prospects for operating a public school on the Bullis-Purissima campus again. Matters concerning Bullis Charter School will not be discussed, despite reports to the contrary in other local newspapers, according to a district source.

A district official, speaking last week on condition of anonymity, said the district’s subcommittee “does not have any intention of discussing charter issues with the Hills.” The official said the district subcommittee plans to discuss only the possibility of someday reopening Bullis as a district school.

Trustees Duane Roberts and Jay Thomas are the district’s subcommittee, and Councilmembers Emily Cheng and Dean Warshawsky are the town’s.

Some supporters of Bullis Charter School have expressed outrage over the district’s 10-month leases of Bullis-Purissima to three preschools for a total of $135,000. The charter school offered to pay $300,000 for the school year.

District Superintendent Marge Gratiot said last week, “Since we are using the school this year for our autistic preschool service center, the site as a whole is not considered ’surplus.’ However, according to the education code, the district is allowed to negotiate leases of unused classrooms at an existing school site for educational purposes. It greatly benefits our special ed preschool students to have children of the same age on campus, so … I’m delighted we’ve reached agreement with some preschools.

“The leases for the preschools were written for one year at a time in order to protect the district’s flexibility.”