GUHSD moves forward with three high school sites

By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun

     EL CAJON — Everyone is waiting for the new high school site selection to be made by the Grossmont Union High School board of trustees, if there is indeed going to be one. Essentia Management, Inc. reported at the March 8 board meeting that there are plusses and minuses to each of the sites here in Alpine for a high school.
     Darryl Hernandez made his presentation to the board, reiterating much of what has previously been said. He reacquainted everyone with the four sites that he highlighted at an earlier meeting, the Lazy A Ranch, Wright’s Field, Tavern Road, and The Chocolate Summit site. He did not have any figures yet to present, but he did say that the options at this time were to procure land only, or procure land and build.
     Hernandez said that the Lazy A Ranch, was the top choice in the voting that took place on the online community survey, verifying that residents favor this site. It also has the lowest site preparation cost and is close to the freeway, indicating that the access to it would be good.
     Wright’s Field has the lowest procurement cost but the environmental aspects of this site will make it more difficult to develop. The Tavern Road site is the most costly, but Hernandez said that there are utilities connections nearby.
Chocolate Summit is also a good choice, however, Bill Garrett, from the Site Selection Committee of the Bond Advisory Commission, said that the neighboring homeowners don’t seem pleased with the idea of the already existing middle school as well as another high school in the area. Garrett, speaking for the BAC Site Committee, agreed with Hernandez’s site recommendations.
     Hernandez ended his presentation with the recommendation that the GUHSD board move forward with the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) process on these sites. This brought up questions by board member, Larry Urdahl, regarding further delays in acquiring land. Urdahl’s concern centers on the delay in purchasing land, and whether or not this delay will affect what land will be left to purchase two years down the road.
     In an earlier report, Hernandez said that the EIR process can take anywhere from 18 months to two years to fully complete. Jim Kelly, in a round-about way, tried to divine from Urdahl if there were three board members who are already ready to make a decision on a certain site, saying that, if this was the case then maybe they should just go ahead and purchase land.
     Urdahl seemed to defer to Hernandez who indicated that the EIR process when completed, allows protection from future litigation regarding land acquisition. Hernandez also pointed out that the land can be acquired through eminent domain, so any existing or future plans for any of these sites should not matter to the site selection for a future high school.
     The district voted unanimously to proceed with the EIR process on three sites, Wright’s Field, Lazy A Ranch, and Chocolate Summit.
     The GUHSD Citizen Bond Oversight Committee also made a presentation to the board at the March 8 meeting. Bill Wells, the chairman of the committee, offered first the responsibilities of the committee and then offered praise for his fellow members. Superintendent Terry Ryan commented that this committee was more than cooperative with any information that was requested of them.
     Wells tried to clarify the bond funds, and the monies that have been spent thus far. So far, according to current reports, $31 million has been spent, and another $49 million is already allocated for next year. Many of the board members questioned this since it does not match what was said at the Feb. 3 board workshop.
     Scott Patterson added that along with this money that has been spent, and the money that is budgeted to be spent, there is also phase two of the district’s on-going projects, that have been put on hold, that make up the deficit of the numbers that were spoken of at the workshop.
     Board member Dick Hoy asked for definite figures regarding the bond funds. He said that after numerous attempts trying to get the actual costs and figures, he has never actually seen any of them. Robert Sheilds also asked for clarification regarding these funds, and Wells assured them that if they want hard figures; they will receive them.
     Wells made a commitment to the board that he would have a committee member at each of the meetings to answer any questions along with some kind of monthly report on the bond funds.
     As the meeting was winding down, Superintendent Ryan made his closing comments, announcing his own retirement with an attempted comedic air. His reasons for making this decision to retire, he said, were focused mainly on he and his wife’s intentions to retire together. He said she had retired four months ago, and he would be joining her this June.
     Ryan thanked all for his time as superintendent, and said that it was the highlight of his long career in education. He ended his statements by saying coyly, that when the district hires a new superintendent to think Irish.

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