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By Miriam Raftery
January 7, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – A petition has been launched by residents of the Grossmont Union High School District asking the Board to rescind boundary changes that impact approximately 3,675 current students as well as many more future students. Gregory Kerrebrock, who launched the online petition, says many homeowners and parents were never notified. “Our voices were not heard in the original decision making process,” the petition reads. “Do you know how this may affect you or your school children or property value?”
The District did send notifications to local media. But opponents of the plan contend that’s not enough, and that homes that were in the areas proposed to change school districts should have been mailed notifications.
The District has contended the changes were done to address population imbalances, since some schools were overcrowded and others had student populations that have diminished to the point that some lacked enough students to offer AP courses or other important offerings.
“We bought our home on Mount Helix specifically because it was in the Grossmont District, which has a good reputation,” one homeowner who asked not to be named told East County Magazine. “We almost opted against buying the house, believing it was in the far less desirable Monte Vista District. But after checking with the school district, we were thrilled to find out our realtor had it wrong, so we purchased the home. We sacrificed a lot to buy a home in this district, because we wanted the best we could afford for our children. Our kids have graduated, but we fear this will make it harder to sell our home and reduce our property values since other parents will have the same concerns that we did. That’s wrong.”
In Blossom Valley, many residents are bitterly opposed to having their teens shifted from Granite Hills to El Capitan, which has lower academic test scores and is farther away for some. “Due process did not occur in this matter. Residents were not informed that these changes were being considered,” Robin, a parent, wrote on the Blossom Valley Network.
To view the old and new boundaries, and get additional boundary information from the District, visit http://www.guhsd.net/index.php/attendance-boundaries.
The petition urges concerned residents to take two actions.
First, sign the petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/grossmont-unified-school-district-voice-of-the/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend
Second, contact Board members and the Superintendent to let them know how you feel:
Dick Hoy – hoygrossmont@cox.net
Jim Kelley – jameskelly@allstate.com
Priscilla Schreiber – pschreiber@guhsd.net
Robert Shield – robshield@hotmail.com
Dr. Gary Woods – gwoods@socalsem.edu
Ralf Swenson (Superintendent) – rswenson@guhsd.net
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