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GUHSD to release results of high school survey
By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
EL CAJON — Grossmont Union High School
District has promised to include an agenda item for its next
regularly scheduled governing board meeting, Sept. 14, to
announce the results of the Twelfth High School Survey that was
recently conducted online.
According to Catherine Martin, the district’s Director
of Public Affairs, per Terry Ryan, GUHSD Superintendent, no
information regarding this survey will be released until then.
Martin also said that GUHSD has not made any decision on a
particular site, and the information to be released is only on
the results of the survey.
The survey, that was conducted to gather community
input, was only a part of a larger study to determine the best
possible site to build the next GUHSD high school campus.
Essentia Management Services, LLC was hired by GUHSD in
November of 2005, in compliance with the Environmental
Development Act.
Essentia’s job is to help the district define and
answer the needs of the three major parties in this future
project, the needs of the State of California, the needs of the
district, and the needs of the community of Alpine.
Darryl Hernandez, project manager for Essentia, said,
“The district knows what their needs are, and we’re the experts
that know what the state needs, we’re the experts that are able
to find out what the community needs, and we’ve been charged
with helping to define the best possible site for a high school
campus.”
Defining the best possible site is not an easy task to
accomplish. Hernandez reiterates that there are 12 study areas
that are under consideration. Essentia calls these sites study
areas, because they are not considered sites; only areas being
studied for a possible site selection.
These areas are being studied for their environmental and
financial impact on the project.
Issues that impact the project include building and
land mitigation issues, traffic circulation, site access, and
affected community members.
Essentia is about to start writing the Environmental
Impact Report. One of the goals of the EIR process is to define
what mitigations will be required for the project, if any, which
will lead to site selection.
Mitigations are concessions or reparations that are
required of developers and builders, by the county and the
state, when a new building project takes place.
“At this time, the mitigations for the future high
school project are complete unknowns,” Hernandez said. “Until
the proposed campus is actually designed and the building site
is actually chosen, complete mitigation cannot be assessed.”
There are many different forms of mitigations,
according to Hernandez. He says some mitigations are
construction requirements that might include installing
dual-paned windows, windows that don’t vent, and lighting for
baseball fields. Then there are environmental mitigations that
require the developer to purchase more land.
Larry Urdahl, GUHSD board member and Alpine resident,
mentioned that because the district is in fact a school, and a
government entity, they might not be held to the same land
mitigation requirements as a land developer would.
This is false according the County of San Diego
Planning and Land Use Department. Devon Muto, a San Diego County
planner, says that a school district is required to comply with
the same Environmental Development Act that a developer is held
to.
Muto said that when a developer files an application
with the county, the county is responsible for their adherence
to the EDA. But in the case of a school district, the school
district is it’s own lead agent and they are responsible to hold
themselves in compliance with the California EDA.
The EDA includes all habitat and land mitigation that
is determined by studies that are paid for and carried out by
the district and set forth by the California Department of Fish
and Game.
It is then, Essentia’s job to define what land and
which habitats will be effected by any future building of a high
school, and the county promises to watch them closely.
Muto mentioned other entities that might be watching
the project closely are the U.S. Official Fish and Wildlife Game
Service, and the California Department of Fish and Game, as well
as active wildlife groups such as the Sierra Club and the
Endangered Habitats League.
 E-mail
Christy Scott
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