BAC recommends Alpine high
school construction

By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun

     ALPINE — The Bond Advisory Commission ran through miles of research, met methodically for three months, reported on figures, and fretted over the capability of the Grossmont Union High School District’s ability to build a high school in Alpine. They promised to dig deep and find a feasible way to complete this task in 100 days, and they have completed this Herculean effort in less time than they promised.
     At the June 14 meeting of the GUHSD board of trustees, the BAC will give an in-depth report and comprehensive recommendation to build the Alpine high school.
     The commission was made up of interested parties who signed up for this huge task after being forewarned that it would be a huge undertaking, with some reservations that it may not be completed. But in spite of those warnings, many signed up and rose to the task that was set before them. Many had resonant backgrounds in the education field, and the finance committee boasted a sub committee full of people who make it their life’s work finding answers to financial difficulties.
     The long list of members on this commission included college professors, high school teachers and administrators, a director of accountability, a senior energy administrator, attorneys, business owners, and many others who tirelessly put in their valuable time for this worthy cause.
     The beginning goal for the BAC was to determine if Alpine had a valid need for a high school, what kind of high school was necessary to fulfill that need, how could the GUHSD board of trustees build this school with the money that they had, and where would they put it and how they could complete all of the already necessary repairs and renovations on the existing high school buildings in the Grossmont district.
     These were the main dilemmas that faced the BAC, and these were the questions put to the four sub committees formed, the finance sub committee, the facilities and curriculum sub committee, the site sub committee, and the research and renovations sub committee.
     The finance sub-committee has already gained some ground with the district. When the GUHSD board of trustees voted on their previous recommendations, and passed them with a vote of 3-2, the BAC was gaining ground to reach a better future for the whole of East County.
     The commission, through hours of research discovered however, that the downward trend in student population that the district has been faithfully touting as a reason not to build another high school was found to be statistically faulty. There are several reports schools study, and the district is no different, that project enrollment trends over the next five years.
     Taussig and Associates is a company that prepares one of these reports, and this report shows that the student population is having a downward trend at the GUHSD feeder schools, which will indeed impact the district with declining enrollment. This figure however is only over the next five years and doesn’t take into consideration that a high school will take eight to ten years to build, and in that time, the Alpine area is expected to grow.
     This means that as of 2006 the number of students in the Alpine area aged 15-19 is approximately numbered at 1,642. In the year 2020, the student population will grow to 1,774, and by 2030, the population will reach over 2,000. This is not a declining enrollment.
     Also, the BAC has formulated what kind of high school is needed to serve the Alpine area. A full and comprehensive high school is different things to different people, so the BAC defined this term in detail.
     The BAC says that a full and comprehensive high school will ensure the students eligibility to university, will provide a path that lead to careers directly after 12th grade graduation, will offer courses that meet the needs of a changing population, will provide service delivery options that include full inclusion for students with special needs, will offer opportunities for community service and involvement, will be a foundation of continuous learning, will have co-curricular activities, and will accomplish these services in partnership with the community, local government, institutes of high learning and all divisions of the GUHSD.
     The BAC is strongly recommending that the GUHSD board of trustees build a new high school that is consistent with its own Educational Specifications as well as continue studying demographics that reach out beyond 10 years. They are recommending that when the time comes for curriculum to be instituted, the district form a committee of teachers, community and educational experts to help make decisions regarding curriculum that takes into account the most recent innovations in education.
     Also, the BAC recommends that the district utilize joint development and partnering projects for the new high school to close the funding gap and increase student interest and curriculum opportunities as well as community involvement.
The BAC’s final report along with all of their recommendations will be presented to the GUHSD board of trustees at their next scheduled meeting, which is on Thursday, June 14. Stay posted with updated information by visiting the BAC web site at www.markprice.com/guhsd.html, or at the Alpine High School Citizens Committee’s web site at www.ahscc.com.

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