I live on Talbot across from Cornell School. I am looking for someone who would support speed bumps on my block and enforced no U-turn laws on either side of Cornell School. I want someone who will promote walk/bike to school days. As I said, I live across from Cornell, and student drop-off/pick-up is a dangerous undertaking at best. Note: the idea proposed last year of making the 900 blocks of Talbot and Cornell one way (and apparently supported by your mentor, Miriam Walden) is a terrible idea, which would make the street an unsafe speed corridor between Solano and Marin the 23 hours Mon-Fri and 24 hours Sat and Sun when people are not bringing their children to and from school, so please don’t suggest this as an option.

My kids graduated AHS in ’98 and ’02. At the time, the attitude in the district toward non-college-bound kids was disdainful at best. I inquired into the ROP program Albany is affiliated with and was told, “if the kids can get themselves there, they can participate.” Is this still the attitude? Where I worked, In the Castro Valley USD, bussing was provided. This provided an option for those students who found they needed something different from a high-pressure academic track. What counseling and other help are available in the AUSD for students who won’t be ready – and may never be – for a four-year college (or even a two-year college) when they leave high school? These students also deserve a program which prepares them for the future.

Are you the person I am looking for to champion these causes as a school board member?

Sue Douglass
P.S. I was horrified at your approach to “outing” students sneaking into Albany schools from elsewhere, as reported in the Journal.

Mayor Robert Lieber