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Student enrollment up in Grossmont district
By Lori Bledsoe
The Alpine Sun
EL CAJON — Grossmont Union High School
board of trustees called their meeting to order on Thursday,
Sept. 11; inviting President Larry Urdahl’s daughter, Kimberly,
who has recently joined the U.S. Army, to lead the Pledge of
Allegiance. Also, Urdahl called for an honored moment of silence
dedicated to the thousands who lost their lives in the historic
9-11 tragedy in 2001.
Katy Wright, the Proposition H Project Manager,
presented her monthly report, with Scott Patterson introducing
the news that the district is now in the final phases of the
Prop H funds, or the “3BR” modernization phase. Patterson
initiated the idea of allocating $45 million of the $65 million
reserve to “let the planning process progress.” He said that
they will await the board decision on this.
Wright had good news for the board when she announced
that there was an increase in state funds of $15 million, which
upped the amount of the project to $469 million. However, she
reiterated that they are in the “home stretch” of this project
and as the Prop H funds are depleted; they must consider
demobilizing their teams, unless the new proposition passes.
“So we’re hopeful that you are successful with the new
bond.” In closing, she told the board, “We are moving forward,
and we are really pleased with our progress.”
Scott Patterson then presented the board with more good
news regarding the annual legal costs for the district. His
presentation included many comparisons from past years, and this
year the legal costs were down by about 26 percent. Patterson
said that this was due to more discretion when contacting legal
council, as well as luck.
This year there were less legal feed regarding
construction and charter issues. Urdahl questioned how our
district compared to other districts, and Patterson said that
this year we were just under average.
Superintendent Robert Collins then made a comprehensive
presentation on the Character Education Summit that is scheduled
for Sept. 22 at Cuyamaca College.
“We want to be as proud of the character of our
students as we are of their academics,” Collins said.
The district has selected the Character Counts Program,
at the Josephson Institute for Ethics as its partner in making
Character education par of the culture of the school district.
The program teaches young people to practice and adults to model
the universal values of Trustworthiness, Respect,
Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship.
“We want to be able to infuse these values into what
kids do everyday. We don’t want to accept that cheating is a
normal part of what happens, or being disrespectful,” Collins
said.
At the Summit, Michael Josephson, who was the official
conduct trainer for the U.S. Olympics team, will conduct an
all-day training for employees and students. A general session
will include community, faith-based, education, parent, and
civic leaders to begin at 8:45 a.m. at Cuyamaca College. Collins
said that it is the district’s commitment to ensure that this
program is a total community effort.
Collins also presented new figures for the projected
district enrollment. Last year, the projected enrollment was
decreasing, but with programs that have been put into place, the
actual projection and enrollment as of Sept. 8 shows an increase
of 123 students. Also due to recovery efforts, the district has
gained back over 150 students, which is a net gain over
projections of 274 students.
The reasons for the district enrollment increase
include strong efforts made by district and school staff to
recover students, new enrollment and check out procedures, an
expanded Home Choice program, the opening of a Learning Center
at ECREC, direct mailers to parents, enrollment of seniors for a
fifth year, programs for students with disabilities on our high
school sites, and immigration from the Middle East.
This increase in enrollment will affect the district’s
budget in January, but the impacts are unclear as of yet.
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