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Board approves Mount Madonna culinary expansion amid questions about overlap with community programs
Summary
Trustees approved item 7M to bring chef-led culinary instruction on campus at Mount Madonna High School, using restricted funds for that site; trustees debated paying for services similar to free community programs and stressed the need to ensure elective credit and bargaining compliance.
The Gilroy Unified School District board approved item 7M to expand culinary Career and Technical Education (CTE) on the Mount Madonna High School campus, despite trustee concerns that similar culinary offerings already operate in the community.
District staff said the program brings Chef Carlos and equipment on campus to increase access for Mount Madonna students, that the work is being funded from educator-effectiveness/equity-multiplier dollars restricted to Mount Madonna, and that staff are working on an MOU with Gavilan College and with union leadership to resolve assignment, ADA and teacher-of-record issues.
"We're working on coding that credit to be able to attain it on their transcript," a district official said, adding that elective credit was a work in progress and that the funds cannot be transferred off the Mount Madonna site.
Some trustees and members of the public pushed back, saying Rebecca's Children's Services and Gavilan College already provide community culinary programming at low or no cost and asking whether district funds should instead support staff positions on campus. Trustee Kim said on-campus access was a selling point for busy students; Trustee Baker emphasized that coding for elective credit and bargaining logistics make adding full CTE pathways complex.
The motion to approve item 7M passed after public discussion and trustee debate. District staff noted they are pursuing a broader CTE strategy across sites and cautioned that without this step Mount Madonna might have no culinary programming in 2026'27.
What happens next: staff will continue working on MOU and credit coding with Gavilan College, coordinate with GTA leadership regarding bargaining implications, and implement the on-campus program for the coming year.
