Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD)

PARENTS SPEAK OUT OVER DEMOTION OF SANTANA EDUCATORS

By Kirsten Andelman

March 11, 2024 (San Diego’s East County) -- Close to 100 people came before the Grossmont Union High School District board meeting February 22, eager to hear -- and be heard -- regarding disciplinary action taken against four educators at Santana High School after a teenager was sex-trafficked in 2021. 


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GROSSMONT UNION DISTRICT BOARD SET TO CONSIDER CUTTING DOZENS OF JOBS

By Times of San Diego, a member of the San Diego Online News Association
 
A school bus at Grossmont High School. Photo by Chris Stone, Times of San Diego
 
March 11, 2024 (El Cajon) -- An East County school board will consider two items Tuesday that could lead to the elimination of teaching, administrative and classified positions.
 
Eighty-six jobs are on the line, according to two human resources items on the agenda for the Grossmont Union High School District.

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THERESA KEMPER NAMED GUHSD SUPERINTENDENT

Kemper assumes new role effective July 1

Source:  GUHSD

July 20, 2020 (El Cajon) - The GUHSD Governing Board unanimously appointed Theresa Kemper as Superintendent of the Grossmont Union High School District effective July 1, 2020.

Theresa Kemper began her career in education as an English teacher at El Cajon Valley High School. She was promoted to educational administration in 1995, serving as Assistant Principal for three years at Granite Hills High School, followed by Principal of Grossmont High School for nine years. For most of the past decade, Ms. Kemper served as Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services in the Grossmont Union High School District.


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STAY ISSUED TO DELAY CLOSURE OF THREE CHARTER SCHOOLS IN GROSSMONT DISTRICT

By Miriam Raftery

July 6, 2019 (San Diego’s East County) – Three nonprofit charter schools operating within the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) have been ordered shut down by a judge, but now a stay issued has been ordered for one year until an appeal can be heard. 

The schools at risk of closure are Diego Valley East charter in El Cajon and San Diego Workforce Innovation High charter schools in Lakeside and Lemon Grove. 


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GROSSMONT HEALTHCARE DISTRICT SUPPORTING HIGH SCHOOL HEATH CAREERS PROGRAM

 

East County News Service

 

Photo:  from left to right: GHD board members Randy Lenac, Gloria Chadwick; from GUHSD --  Paul Dautremont, Mary Nishikawa, Heather Peterson, Dr. Tim Glover (superintendent); GHD board members Michael Emerson, Virginia Hall, Robert “Bob” Ayres

 

October 9, 2017 (La Mesa) -- The Grossmont Healthcare District (GHD) has awarded a $202,500 grant to the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) in support of the GHD Health Career Pathways Initiative. The grant will provide curriculum materials, support and instruction for approximately 2,500 high school students interested in pursuing healthcare careers during the 2017-2018 school year. 


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LAWSUIT AGAINST GUHSD AND SUPERINTENDENT OVER REFUSAL TO TURN OVER EMAILS AND TEXTS ON PERSONAL DEVICES GETS BOOST FROM STATE SUPREME COURT RULING

 

By Miriam Raftery

July 2, 2017 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diegans for Open Government (SDOG), a government watchdog group, filed a lawsuit in January against the Grossmont Union High School District and Superintendent Tim Glover.  It alleges that the defendants “intentionally used personal e-mail accounts and text-messaging devices (e.g., mobile phones and tablets) to communicate about illegal political activity they were conducting—without being subject to public scrutiny—on Measure BB appearing on the November ballot.”


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ALPINE SCHOOL DISTRICT, TAXPAYERS FILE APPEALS

 

By Julie Pendray

May 15, 2017 (Alpine) -- In the latest move to get Grossmont Unified High School District (GUHSD) to build a high school in Alpine, appeals have been filed in the Fourth Appellate Court in San Diego, with oral arguments expected late summer to early next year.

Alpine Union School District (AUSD) and Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability (ATBA) are disputing a 2016 decision by a trial judge who found that Grossmont is not mandated to construct the Alpine school because an enrollment trigger of 23,245 students in the Grossmont district had not been reached “at the time of release of request for construction bids.”


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UNIFICATION PROCESS FOR ALPINE TO SPLIT FROM GROSSMONT SCHOOL DISTRICT DRAGS ON; FUTURE OF HIGH SCHOOL HANGS IN THE BALANCE

 

By Julie Pendray 

May 15, 2017 (Alpine) -- When construction of a high school in Alpine was delayed indefinitely following passage of bond measures in 2004 and 2008, Alpine Union School District (AUSD) decided to seek unification. Reorganizing the district would enable it to operate K-12 schools and build the high school without waiting on Grossmont Unified High School District (GUSD), which is responsible for the school’s construction under Props. H and U. Alpine’s proposal was given the green light by the County Office of Education, which forwarded its recommendation to the state Board of Education (Board) in 2014.


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PUBLIC HEARING OCT. 20 ON ESTABLISHING GROSSMONT SECONDARY CHARTER SCHOOL IN GUHSD

 

East County News Service

October 13, 2016 (El Cajon) -- The Grossmont Union High School District board of trustees will hold a public hearing regarding a petition to establish Grossmont Secondary Charter School Under Oversight Authority of Governing Board of Grossmont Union High School District under Education Code 47605(b).


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GROSSMONT UNION HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT COMPLETES $33 MILLION MODERNIZATION PROJECT AT VALHALLA HIGH SCHOOL

 

Source: Grossmont Union High School District

October 13, 2016 (El Cajon) -Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) announced the completion of renovation and modernization work on the main building and theater at Valhalla High School in El Cajon. A re-dedication event was held on Oct. 12 to unveil the new facility to the community.

With a construction cost of $33 million, the 14-month project completely transformed and modernized the 40-year-old main building and the theater, while preserving some of its historical elements.


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ALPINE TAXPAYERS TO APPEAL GROSSMONT RULING

 

East County News Service

Image from the Alpine High School Citizens Committee that has worked for years to get a high school built.  Now a judge’s ruling could deprive Alpine of bond money that voters approved for the school.

May 15, 2016 (Alpine) — An attorney representing the Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability has told East County Magazine that his client is prepared to file an appeal if Judge Joel Pressman’s preliminary ruling setting aside a preliminary injunction against the Grossmont Union High School district stands. 


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LEMON GROVE RESIDENTS, PARENTS AND STUDENTS SHOW ENTHUSIASM FOR BY-TRUSTEE AREAS FOR GUHSD

 

By Janis Russell

Photo:  Mt. Miguel High School Principal Hedrick

April 9, 2016 (Lemon Grove) - A public hearing was conducted April 6th in Lemon Grove to inform the public and let them voice their opinions for the by-trustee area election for GUHSD.


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ALPINE RESIDENTS SPEAK OUT AGAINST GROSSMONT REDISTRICTING PLAN

 

By Janis Russell

“We have the appearance of political gerrymandering.” – George Barnett, Alpine Education Foundation director, speaking against the redistricting plan.

Assigning Jim Kelly as Alpine’s trustee through redistricting “is like putting a hungry, vengeful fox in charge of an unprotected henhouse.” – Mark Price, past president of the Alpine Union School District..

“We have exercised zero influence…please look past the irrelevant rhetoric on building a high school...” -- Trustee Robert Shield,  who voted for the plan.

“Funds spent on litigation would be better spent on children in our classrooms.” – Mike Fowler, Granite Hills principal, speaking in support over fear of a Voting Rights Act violations  lawsuit.

April 7, 2016 (Alpine) - In the third of six meetings on the Grossmont Union High School District’s proposed new election system for trustees, dozens of Alpine residents attended the meeting and voiced strong criticisms of the plan to the County Board of Education’s Committee on School District Organization. 


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EL CAJON PUBLIC HEARING FOR NEW GROSSMONT ELECTION SYSTEM HAS SPEAKERS MOSTLY IN FAVOR

 

By Janis Russell

April 7, 2016 (El Cajon) - At the El Cajon public hearing held March 28, many speakers expressed their support for the new election system for the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD).  The hearing was the second in a series of six public meetings convened by the County Office of Education Committee on School District Organization regarding Grossmont’s plan to shift to five trustee districts elected by voters within each district, instead of at-large elections voted upon by all voters district-wide.


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JUDGE DENIES GUHSD REQUEST FOR STAY OF INJUNCTION

 

East County News Service

March 4, 2015 (Alpine) – A panel of three appellate court justices have denied a request by the Grossmont Union High School District, which had asked the justices to issue a stay halting an injunction ordered by Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman.


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READER'S EDITORIAL: THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT!

 

Another stinging defeat for Grossmont.  Court orders $42M to be set aside for Alpine High School.

By Sal Casamassima, Chair – Alpine High School Citizens Committee

February 17, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - On January 22 Judge Joel Pressman of the California Superior Court, delivered a huge victory to the supporters of a high school in Alpine.  Judge Pressman issued a preliminary injunction that requires the Grossmont Union School District (GUHSD) to set aside $42 Million of Prop U bond money that would be used toward the construction of the long-overdue Alpine High School.  GUHSD must set aside $14 Million immediately and another $28 Million on January 15, 2016.  Although the $42M is less than the $70M needed to build a school on the Lazy A site it nevertheless represents a major victory for Alpine.  This article will discuss why the court issued this injunction and its importance in preserving our ability to fund construction of the high school.


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SHOULD CRIMINAL CHARGES BE FILED AGAINST THE GUHSD?

 

By Miriam Raftery, Editor

East County Magazine

February 10, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) --The scandal over Grossmont Union High School District’s misuse of bond funds has now made national news. Recently a Superior Court Judge issued an injunction requiring the district to set aside money from a portion of bonds and state funds to build the long-promised Alpine High School, after a Grand Jury previously found that the District spent money from voter-approved bond measures on unauthorized projects, while failing to build the promised Alpine High School.

Now a Forbes magazine article titled Regulators Way to Easy on Muni Bond Investors  is calling the District’s actions a “classic bait and switch scheme.” Author Marilyn Cohen, one of the nation’s top bond managers,  asks, “Why aren’t the people involved sent to jail?”


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ALPINE HAS ITS DAY IN COURT-- AND A CHANGE OF HEART FROM GUHSD BOARD MEMBER STIERINGER

 

East County News Service

December 25, 2014 (Alpine)—There are two major new developments in the battle over a high school for Alpine.  At the December 11 meeting of the Grossmont Union High School District, trustee Jim Stieringer stunned fellow board members by announcing his support for unification—the effort by Alpine parents to break from the GUHSD and unify Alpine Union School District (AUDS) to include K-12 grades, so that it can build the high school that the GUHSD has failed to build.


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GRANITE HILLS HIGH SCHOOL EARNS STATEWIDE AWARD FOR EXCEPTIONAL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN AND PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION

 

C.A.S.H., AIA California Council Recognize Projects Funded by Proposition H, Proposition U School Bonds

March 19, 2014 (El Cajon) -  Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) announced that one of its schools, Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, Calif., has earned an Award of Honor in the new-built category as part of the 2014 C.A.S.H./AIACC Leroy F. Green Design + Planning Awards Program. The award was announced at the 35th Annual C.A.S.H. Conference in Sacramento on Feb. 25.


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