By Traci Newell

Negotiations to allow Bullis Charter School to use the Bullis-Purissima Elementary school site in Los Altos Hills may come to a head this week.

The Los Altos Hills City Council’s redistricting bid will be put to rest if negotiations with local school districts suceed at a meeting scheduled this Thursday.

Included in the negotiations is a proposal that the charter school give Los Altos Hills students special preference for enrollment regardless of whether they reside in the Los Altos School District or the Palo Alto Unified School District.

Mary Frances Callan, Palo Alto superintendent, said the funding for Bullis Charter School students would come from their respective districts.

“All students attending the charter school come with money,” Callan said.

She said if Los Altos becomes a basic aid district, then the negotiating committee is trying to reach a regional agreement for the school districts to send the state amount designated for charter schools with each child who attends the charter.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to do,” Callan said. “We’re still talking.”

Marlin Miller, spokesperson for Bullis Charter School, said that Palo Alto funds those of its students who attend the charter school. He said those students bring the basic state funding amount for charter schools, around $5,500 per student.

Callan also mentioned that putting the charter school on the Bullis site is the only negotiation on the table.

“There are no other plans, nothing else,” she said.

On Monday, past press deadline, there was a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. in the library at Gunn High School for Los Altos Hills families served by the Palo Alto district.

Los Altos School District board member and negotiations committee member David Pefley said he believes everyone is doing their best during the negotiations.

“I think everyone is trying to explore a reasonable compromise that everyone can live with,” Pefley said.

Pefley also stressed the importance for the community to remain informed.

On Monday, past press deadline, Los Altos School District trustees held their board meeting where they were scheduled to address the alternative to redistricting. They planned to review components of the plan being explored by the redistricting committee.

Los Altos School District Superintendent Tim Justus could not be reached for comment last week.

A newly formed group, Los Altos Hills Citizens Against Redistricting, has scheduled an informational meeting to address residents’ questions and concerns about the city council’s recent vote to redistrict Los Altos Hills into a separate school district. The public meeting will be held 7-8:30 p.m. Monday in the Bullis multipurpose room.

Group member Mindy Ryan said the group is upset over the possibiliy that families in the Hills will lose their choice of where to send their children to school.

The Los Altos Hills City Council voted to form a new school district March 23 in response to Hills’ residents upset about not having a school in the area since the closing of Bullis in 2003.

A 15-member committee was formed to forgo the redistricting proposal by coming up with a compromise that would please all affected parties.

The committee includes officials from the Los Altos Hills City Council, the Los Altos, Palo Alto and Mountain View-Los Altos Union High school districts and the Bullis Charter School.