“Amuck, amuck, amuck!” This is one of my favorite lines from Sara Jessica Parker in Disney’s “Hocus Pocus” movie and the only word that truly describes the recent actions of the Grossmont Union High School Governing Board’s behavior.
“Amuck, amuck, amuck!” This is one of my favorite lines from Sara Jessica Parker in Disney’s “Hocus Pocus” movie and the only word that truly describes the recent actions of the Grossmont Union High School Governing Board’s behavior.
At last weeks Governing Board meeting the District voted 4-1 to break up the district into five areas, which will each elect its own trustee. Trying to evade its plan of attack, it also voted to waive the requirements for the public’s ability to vote on the redistricting map chosen, by requesting a waiver from the San Diego County Committee on School Board Reorganization so that this plan never makes it to the ballot.
And this is an attack on the community of Alpine and its strongest supporter of a new school in Alpine, Trustee Priscilla Schreiber. Her support for the community and high school students from Alpine who have to travel outside of their own community to attend a high school is the root of this new redistricting plan. Living within the same proposed District 4 area, Schreiber will be automatically kicked off the board as her term ends this November, and Board President Robert Shield is safe until 2018 elections.
This appears clearly as a way to get Alpine advocate Schreiber out of the Board’s hair so it can continue with its unwillingness to fulfill the promise made to build a high school for the community of Alpine.
This story goes well beyond my time here, and I have depended on the people of Alpine and the District to let me know their thoughts. The fact is that Alpine met its enrollment requirements for GUHSD to build the new high school, but has refused to do so. Now, the District is spending thousands of dollars in legal fees as they fight the community of Alpine, which is now ready to recede from the District and demanding the money to build the new school. If this were to happen, the District would lose all of the California ADA (average daily attendance) monies for the students that travel to schools well outside their homes. And also, there are many that believe that if Alpine is successful in receding from the District and creating its on its own, that the public belief of the District’s maleficence use of bond funds leaves no money left for Alpine’s new high school.
This madness has to stop, and it is my prayer that the County will see through this rouse of “representing the District equally” as it is—a joint effort to not own up to its promise and get rid of anyone that opposes them.
The GUHSD Governing Board needs to stop creating lines of division and start building bridges. None of this would be in action the way it is today if it had only kept its promise to Alpine. This is a thriving and lovely community that deserves its own high school. Whether or not enrollment from Alpine is increasing or decreasing at this time is of no matter. It met the requirements, and the Board should stop reneging on its promise to the people of Alpine. In speaking with students in the district that believe that money can be better spent on their own schools, I propose them this. Move to Alpine for a semester and take the daily trek by whatever means necessary and then tell me what you think.
Alpine will benefit from a new school, and it has large community supporters that will make it happen one way or another, and the GUHSD will be left out, and its coffers severely invaded. A wonderful community, Alpine has lots to offer. But for new families that would love to move to the area, the fact that there is no high school has to be a big deterrent in making a final decision to become part of that community. And if enrollment numbers are low now, if you build it, they will come.
This board needs to go back to the drawing board and quit attempting to circumvent this issue. Alpine is as important as any other community in its District and should not be treated as an outsider. Do the right thing and move towards a path that is inclusive of Alpine’s needs.
It is the right thing to do, and in the long run, the best thing to do for the student population. All constituent groups, whether by ethnicity or student population need to be served. It is fine if the District moves to district areas for future elections, but not on the backs of the students from Alpine and those that support their need for a high school.
