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GUHSD board accepts driver’s ed resolution
By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
EL CAJON — Grossmont Union High School
District board honors outgoing Citizen’s Bond Oversight
Committee members, hears update on Proposition H bond and
supports local man’s resolution to reinstate driver’s education
in schools.
Chuck Muse, acting president of the CBOC, made a report
on the committee’s last two meetings and brought the board’s
attention to a presentation from Gafcon/Harris, as well as the
new Prop H Program Recommended Recommendation Tracking Tool.
This is a lengthy document from the new program manager, that
keeps the CBOC up to date and on track with the demographics of
Alpine regarding a future school.
Two outgoing members of the CBOC, Bill Wells, and
Harold Hilliker, were honored, and Muse also asked the board to
select and fill existing vacancies on the CBOC as quickly as
possible. Applications can be found online at
www.guhsd.net, at the
district administrative offices, at any at district high school
administrative office or click here
to download a copy.
Alpine resident Chuck Taylor presented Zachary’s
Resolution, Driver’s Education to the board members, asking that
a full Driver’s Education program be put back into the high
schools. He reminded the board of his grandson, Zachary’s, death
on March 22 of this year in a single car accident, due in large
part in inexperience.
This resolution is requesting a program that requires
30 Driver’s Education classroom hours and 40 behind-the-wheel
hours for student drivers, instead of the current six hours that
students spend behind the wheel before receiving their license.
The resolution asks that insurance companies and parents to pick
up the extra cost for the education.
Click here for more
information about Zach's Resolution, and to show your support.
Zach’s Resolution has already been passed unanimously
by the Alpine Union School District, the Mountain Empire Unified
School District and the Steele Canyon High School board. It is
also on the agenda for both Poway and Sweetwater School
Districts.
Before passing this resolution, Priscilla Schreiber
said she was, “honored to do our part to help students be aware
of their driving capabilities and incapabilities.” She said it
was their job to educate. She also requested that the district
place this on their web site stating that GUHSD is in support of
this resolution, up and down the state. Zachary’s Resolution
passed unanimously.
Mike Lewis introduced Mary Beth Caste, Elaine
Swat-Nicky, and Sharon Newman who spoke about the upcoming
College and Career Fair, called “Got Plans?”
This career and college fair is a district-wide effort
where all the schools comes together to coordinate all their
efforts to present future opportunities to students. This year’s
fair is on Oct. 23, at Valhalla High School. About 100
presenters will be on-site from a variety of agencies.
Bob Kiesling presented on district construction that is
currently underway, reporting that construction at Grossmont
High School and El Cajon Valley is 20 percent complete. Kiesling
showed the new air-conditioning installations that are in
progress, which as he said, “is a very important component of
this project.”
The Gafcon/Harris team has been working hard as the new
Project Manager on the Proposition H Bond projects. Kiesling
congratulated them as they negotiated design for the future
science buildings, saving the district approximately $400,000 on
this project. Gafcon/Harris is currently reviewing and
validating the Proposition H Project by reviewing the bond
language, the scope of work, the current budgets, cost
estimates, processes and procedures, completion percentages,
roles and responsibilities, project schedules, financial
reports, cash flows, district standards and pubic reporting via
the internet.
The Environmental Impact Report for the 12th high
school is moving along with Essentia. The Notice of Preparation
was released on Oct. 8, to publicly announce a draft of the EIR
that will soon be released. This notifies all interested parties
of a public scoping meeting that will be held Tuesday, Oct. 30
at 6:30 p.m. at the Alpine Community Center.
The meeting’s purpose is to solicit input from
regulatory and trustee agencies and the public regarding the
scope and content of the Draft EIR in accordance with the state
CEQA Guidelines.
Alan Grulich reported on the current attendance at the district.
His report stated that current overall attendance is 19,974,
which is down 280 students from one year ago. Dick Hoy asked how
the 280 compared with the attendance study that was done a few
years ago. Grulich said that we actually did better than that
study which proposed a drop between 300-400 students.
He surmised that we did better because of the existing
programs that are in place to keep students enrolled. Grulich
said that they are now in the process of collecting data to
predict enrollment numbers for 2008-09.
Larry Urdahl asked during the appointment process of
the “Parent-At-Large” for the CBOC, that anyone who applies for
this appointment have the ability and knowledge of school
finances. He feels that there are many in East County who are
talented, knowledgeable, and capable, and would like members the
have the capabilities that are needed for this position. The
board is projecting appointments to be presented at the Nov. 8
meeting.
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