August 14, 2007 > Letter to the Editor - Cities can help school districts Letter to the Editor - Cities can help school districts Your statement in your editorial in your Vol. 6, No. 26 issue, about how municipalities other than the City of Fremont form close ties and develop cooperative ventures with their school districts is 100% on the mark. I served as Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City of Sunnyvale in the '80s and '90s. Sunnyvale encompassed three school districts within its boundaries. The City entered into agreements with all these districts which provided for $2 million dollars in improvements to their school athletic fields and open space areas. The City took over the maintenance of the fields so they could better serve the students and the public. In exchange, the districts allowed the public the use of the fields during off-school days and hours of the day when the districts weren't using them. The City was also granted the right, apart from state law, to purchase these sites at a fraction of their fair market value (with one exception) if the districts decided they wanted to dispose of them. These agreements, which I prepared, are living proof that cities and school districts can work together to solve mutual problems in highly constructive ways. Theodore R. Bresler Fremont