District Board Should Rescind Decision on High School Attendance Boundaries

Dated Jan. 6, 2012, this letter was sent to board members of the Grossmont Union High School District and shared with Patch.

To the editor:

I am a parent in the Grossmont Unified High School District. I was informed at a Christmas Party about the recent institution of boundary changes for high school attendance. This came as quite a surprise since I had not heard anything prior regarding potential changes to the high school boundaries.

I have since spent a number of hours trying to determine how this came to pass without my knowledge. As you well know, there was a boundary committee created in March 2011. After six months of work, they arrived at a recommendation which was presented to you and the board on Oct. 13.

Superintendant Ralf Swenson represented in that meeting to the board that three public meetings were to be held to get the input of the community. When queried as to how the meetings were to be publicized, Mr. Swenson stated the following: “Sending out mailers, putting things on websites, working with our feeder districts to get the word out through their schools.”

I have had recent conversations with the Office of the Superintendent and requested a copy of the information that was mailed out. It was indicated that no mailers were sent.

They indicated that the information was posted on community websites and that superintendents of the school districts which feed into GUHSD were informed.

However, they could not comment on what, if any, actions were taken by the feeder schools. I can tell you that no information was ever passed on to my family either directly or by way of my two children who attend Cajon Valley schools.

I also contacted Mr. Schwartzwald, a committee member, who confirmed that no information was mailed directly to the parents. He indicated that much of the notice amounted to postings on various websites. I asked Mr. Schwartzwald if he attended any of the three public meetings.

He indicated he attended all three. I asked how many people from the community were present. Mr. Schwartzwald said that approximately one dozen attended the first meeting, perhaps 70 at the second and around 50 at the final meeting.

Considering there are nearly 18,000 students in GUHSD and probably twice that number within the systems that feed into the schools, I find these numbers to be exceedingly low.

I do not believe this to be the result of parent apathy but rather the miserable failure of the school districts efforts to notify the affected parties. I also believe that the majority of those in attendance were there concerning the prospect of the Alpine high school.

The facts are simple. The recommendation was made on Oct. 13 with public meetings scheduled for 10/18, 10/25 and 11/1. There was basically an insufficient period of time allocated before the first meeting to inform anyone even if the board really wanted to. The committee was given six months to research and develop a proposal.

Your ratification of this took place in less than four weeks.

The public should be given the opportunity to review the data and findings of the committee. The public should be given time to have a question and answer period with the committee to determine if the data are factual and accurate.

The public should be given the time to voice recommendations and opinions. The public should include not only parents of students but home owners as well since school boundaries affect home values. Indeed, there are many layers of influence related to school boundaries.

A child’s opportunity for education is often the number one concern in many family households. Decisions regarding where to live can be determined entirely on this issue and plans are established which run over the course of decades. This is no small matter.

There are many very concerned parents within my neighborhood, and I imagine many more throughout the greater community who were equally surprised to find out what has occurred without their knowledge. Unfortunately there is probably an even greater number that are still unaware of these changes. However, that will not be the situation much longer.

I will be making every attempt to notify the community about what has occurred so that all the parents and property owners within the greater GUHSD area will have the knowledge they need to voice their opinion. Due process and representation of the community did not occur in this district remapping.

The superintendant misled the board on October 13th with regard to the notification process. This resulted in a decision which was made without input from a vast majority of the community.

I am requesting that the board rescind the ratification of boundary changes. I am asking that you allow a reasonable period of time to notify and educate the community regarding the proposed changes.

I am asking that you conduct a similar series of townhall meetings where the now informed public can present their opinions to the board. In this way you will provide the due process that the people of this community are entitled to. In this way the Board’s final decision will be the result of a democratic process where the people are truly represented.

Sincerely,

Gregory Kerrebrock
La Mesa