Calendar Associates presented the district’s draft landscape master plan, a districtwide assessment intended to standardize irrigation equipment and plant palettes across 13 school sites.

Dave Rubin, principal at Calendar Associates, said the team visited every campus and produced site plans, an irrigation-systems matrix and plant palettes tailored for entrances, parking areas, foundations and naturalized slopes. "We put together an existing-conditions submittal and then proceeded to put together a draft landscape assessment," Rubin said.

The plan recommends simplifying controller and valve types for easier maintenance, using low-water, climate-adapted species and providing site-specific priorities for future bond-funded landscape work. Rubin highlighted examples such as Grant Elementary, where worn synthetic turf and aging irrigation infrastructure would be candidates for near-term replacement.

District staff said integrating landscaping into construction design — instead of adding planting after construction — will reduce ad hoc end-of-project work and improve outcomes for donated trees and long-term maintenance. Staff and consultants discussed the tradeoffs between planting larger, costlier shade trees at signature locations and using lower-cost younger stock more broadly.

The presentation also referenced stormwater treatment requirements when replacing impervious surfaces and suggested plant palettes that support stormwater management and wildfire-resilient choices on perimeter slopes.

The board did not vote on the landscape plan during the study session; staff indicated the landscape master plan is scheduled as an action item later in the evening’s agenda.