Residents get update on high school progress

By Chuck Taylor
The Alpine Sun

     ALPINE — Last week, well over 100 Alpine and Harbison Canyon residents crowded into the Alpine Elementary School Auditorium to hear a report on the status of the new Alpine High school.
     Grossmont Union High School District Superintendent Bob Collins was on hand along with the new schools architectural team to report on a variety of subjects.
     Collins covered several points including one that many local residents have voiced concern about — the capacity of the Alpine High School. The bond language for the new school specifies building to a capacity of 800 students, but many local residents have pointed out that just three years of Joan Mac Queen 8th grade graduates will push the high school over design capacity.
     Collins said that the district is aware of this restriction and would be undertaking a very complex redistricting study. Based on the results of that study, there is a possibility of building a larger school, but he cautioned that this scenario is only a possibility and not a guarantee.
     The architects presented a power point visual representation of tentative plans for the Alpine High School. They pointed out that the plan was designed so as to add additional facilities in increments of 400 up to a 2,000-student capacity as the need arose.
     Many residents in attendance were impressed with these preliminary drawings, noting that most of the small hills and many of the Oak trees were going to be preserved.
     Another plus was that the frontage on Alpine Boulevard will not simply be an asphalt parking lot, but rather include a tree lined driveway into the school property.
     Most of the negotiations with the present property owners at the Lazy A site have either gone to escrow or escrows are pending.
     One of the reasons that the school is not projected to open until the fall of 2013 is that the site development and buildings must be approved by over 12 different agencies, and many of these approvals take months if not years to be completed.
     The Grossmont District promised to return to Alpine for another public progress report as various hurdles are overcome.

Locals raise concerns about Alpine High School capacity
Grossmont Solution Report with Bill Weaver

     On Wednesday, Oct. 28 the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) brought to the Alpine Elementary School auditorium, its first public information forum about our new 12th GUHSD high school to be built here in Alpine at the old Lazy A Ranch site. The District Superintendent, Mr. Robert Collins was the first speaker.
     The Superintendent acknowledged how long Alpine has worked and waited in our quest to obtain a local high school. He was very upbeat about how far this effort has progressed. The district is in the midst of negotiations to acquire the land upon which our new 12th GUHSD campus will be constructed.
     The entire design team for the new school was introduced. The formal introductions were handled by Dena Johnson, GUHSD Facility Planner, who is designated to be the lead person at the district charged with orchestrating this new 12th district high school campus project. She introduced the four architects, whom represent two different architectural firms, both of which have been hired by the GUHSD to design the 12th HS campus and school buildings.
     Other contributors and members of the GUHSD 12th high school Education Specifications and Design Teams were introduced. These are GUHSD Staff members including the Principal and Vice-Principal of Granite Hills High School, and our own community members who are also designated as members of the Ed Specs and Design Teams. Alpine is represented on these teams by the Kumeyaay Nation and designees from the Alpine High School Citizens Committee. I am one of these members representing our local area’s interests.
     The planning process up to this point in time was briefly explained; including the EIR process, the land acquisition process, the need to bring in other regulatory agencies having jurisdiction such as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Authorities, Various County Agencies, and State Agencies. The involvement of the Division of the State Architect (DSA), and the Army Corp of Engineers jurisdiction was explained.
     Why was it important that we understand the complexity of this process? Because it is a sensitive, and time consuming endeavor; with many levels of red tape, agency review, and there are many project acceptances required, even before the four architects can actually start to design the campus layout, its grading requirements, and plan the education facility buildings.
     This Lazy A Ranch site is beautiful, and problematic. It is home to a creek bed, protected wildlife species, and biologically sensitive plants and trees. It is because of the school campus site’s beauty and desirability that makes our on-going patience worthwhile. The various agencies will all be doing their reviews simultaneously in most respects, which should culminate at about the same time frame.
     At the forum last Wednesday, the architects introduced to us to the conceptualized lay of the entire campus and its education facility buildings, including athletic fields. The main impediment the architects have encountered, preventing them going ahead with the actual design work, is the existence of the Viejas Creek, and the potential to fill its banks and flood. Because of Viejas Creek, drainage, and runoff are significant considerations, and the buildings will be required to be set back and away from or above any exposures to rising water levels.
     This is simply all a part of what must be considered and engineered to mitigate hazards when a project of this size and scope moves forward. The realistic time line remains that this High School will open in September of 2013, if all goes well, and the agencies involved are efficient in performing their duties.
     Are there any hitches that we citizens could anticipate, that may loom under the radar? Yes, there are some. The most significant hitch is spelled out within the language of the Prop U bond itself. Prop U contains some language that leaves many community members uncertain and dubious about GUHSD’s plan regarding just whom our local Alpine/Blossom Valley area HS will ultimately serve. As the Prop U bond now stipulates, the new high school will not be capable of serving all of the Alpine or Blossom Valley area’s high school students. It will only serve 800 area students.
     Superintendent Collins is aware of this confusion that exists, and at the Oct. 28 community forum, he briefly touched on this issue and the confusion it has created. The 800-student limitation straps the GUHSD administration’s hands in dealing with the re-distribution of students to the new 12th high school. How will this dilemma be addressed?
     Superintendent Collins stated that the entire GUHSD is in need of an attendance area or boundary study. He said that this problem isn’t just an Alpine or Blossom Valley issue, but one that affects all the attendance areas of the entire GUHSD.
     “It will be dealt with,” was how Superintendent Collins ended his acknowledgment of the issue.
     The greatest part of this dilemma is that we are actually engaging in a conversation and discussing, “How are we going to populate the new 12th GUHSD high school campus that will be ready to open in September of 2013!”
     Remember... It was just one-to-two years prior to now, it was thought by many, that we would never see the Proposition H planned 12th new GUHSD high school campus built at all. We should all be thankful that we will soon be deciding who will be attending the new Alpine High School.

     Bill Weaver is the Chairman of the Alpine High School Citizens Committee and a resident of Alpine. His opinions are not necessarily those of the AHSCC He can be reached at 445-1234; or e-mail him at b.weaver@usa.com. The Grossmont Solution Report is an opinion column written for The Alpine Sun. Opinions stated within are those of the writer, and not necessarily the staff of the newspaper.

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