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Committee recommends surplusing Bright Park with conditions to protect Riverbank Elementary access
Summary
A district advisory committee recommended declaring the property adjacent to Riverbank Elementary (Bright Park) surplus and urged third-party acreage verification, a third‑party appraisal and priority access for the school; the board received the report and will consider surplus and sale at a later meeting.
Patrice Griffith, chair of the district advisory committee on surplus property, told the Washington Unified School District Board of Education the committee recommends deeming the parcel next to Riverbank Elementary — referred to in the report as Bright Park — as surplus and preparing it for sale.
"Our recommendation is that the property adjacent to Riverbank Elementary School known as Bright Park can be deemed as surplus property," Griffith said, summarizing the committee's findings and public feedback. The committee urged three principal protections: independent verification of acreage, a third‑party appraisal before sale, and priority access for Riverbank Elementary to use the grounds for academic and extracurricular programming.
Committee members reported conflicting acreage figures and said clarifying the exact parcel boundaries is essential before any sale. The report recommends a third‑party assessment on acreage and an independent appraisal to ensure the district and its students receive fair value. The committee also asked that any tenant improvements not reduce the assessed sale price if the city or another public entity were the purchaser.
Griffith said the committee's highest priority was protecting student access: "Priority access is given indefinitely, including after a sale and while land is under ownership to another party, given to Riverbank Elementary with a minimum of 6 months in advance of the requested date to book space on the property for academic and extracurricular use for Riverbank students and programs." Board members noted that indefinite access is a large concession in a negotiation and that final terms will be set by the district's legal team and any buyer.
Board members asked staff how the committee's recommendations are handled; staff said the recommendations will be considered by the board at a future meeting and that legal counsel and city negotiation would shape final terms. The board received the report and directed staff to add the committee’s letter to the agenda packet for subsequent consideration.
Next steps: the board must formally vote to surplus the property at a future meeting before the district may proceed with any sale or negotiation. The committee’s report will be part of the public record for that forthcoming decision.
