By Miriam Raftery

October 22, 2018 (Alpine) — Recently, East County Magazine published an article revealing that a gag order in a legal settlement with the Grossmont Union-High School district prevents Alpine education leaders from speaking out in political discussions on the Alpine High School. The nondisclosure clause may also have had a chilling effect that prevented Alpine candidates from challenging GUHSD trustee Jim Kelly, an opponent of the Alpine High School who is running unopposed.

By Miriam Raftery

File photo: Students testified to GUHSD board on behalf of an Alpine High School, before board reversed its decision to build the school.

March 2, 2018 (Alpine) – In a joint press release, the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD), Alpine Union High School District (AUSD) and Alpine Taxpayers for Bound Accountability (ATBA) announced a resolution to end the prolonged legal battle over the never-built Alpine High School.

The AUSD and ATBA have agreed not to appeal to the state Supreme Court, after an appeals court ruled on behalf of Grossmont that an enrollment requirement to build the school had not been met and that therefore, Grossmont is not obligated to build the school.  In exchange, the GUHSD has agreed not to seek recovery of its court costs from the Alpine district or the Alpine taxpayers group.

By Miriam Raftery

January 9, 2018 (Alpine) – Two key hearings that could determine the future of students in Alpine are coming up: a court appeal and a State Board of Education hearing  January 19 at which the Board will consider a recommendation by the Department of Education to deny a unification petition, and a January 11 appeal of a lawsuit over funds to build the long promised Alpine High School.

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.

By Miriam Raftery

June 9,2016 (Alpine) –The Alpine Union School District’s board has voted unanimously to file an appeal of a decision by Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman, who ruled against the AUSD and Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability in their case against the Grossmont Union High School District. The taxpayers group has previously announced that it will also appeal the ruling.

The groups argue that Grossmont should turn over Prop H bond money that voters approved with the intent to build a high school in Alpine. Judge Pressman sided with Grossmont, finding that the bond measure allowed but did not require construction of the school.

Updated May 11: Plaintiffs issue statement saying they will appeal the ruling.

By Miriam Raftery

May 6, 2016 (Alpine) – A preliminary ruling by Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman would set aside a preliminary injunction against the Grossmont District. If the ruling stands, it will allow Grossmont to keep $42 million that had been set aside for an Alpine High School that the district never built. The money is a portion of bond measure funds approved by voters in part for the long-promised school.

The suit was filed by the Alpine Union School District and Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability. The groups have 15 days to file an appeal.

By Miriam Raftery

December 23, 2015 (Alpine) – Just in time for Christmas,  Judge Joel Pressman issued a decision in the Alpine high school case that gives neither side what it wanted. 

The Judge denied the Grossmont Union High School District’s motions to dismiss the case but also denied a request from Alpine Union School District and Alpine Taxpayers to issue a summary judgment in their favor.

Judge Pressman did determine that the Appeals Court found Grossmont made a promise to build a high school that is binding. However, that promise hinges on whether or not the enrollment trigger was met or not.

East County News Service

November 9, 2016 (Alpine) – In the latest turn-around involving a suit filed against the Grossmont Union High School District over construction of an Alpine High School, Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman has set a new hearing date for December 17^th at 9:30 a.m.

By Miriam Raftery

October 29, 2015 (Alpine) – For Alpine parents, it sounds like a Halloween horror story.  But it's an unexpected treat for the board majority at the Grossmont Union High School District.  Today, Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman (photo) issued a tentative ruling granting Grossmont 's motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Alpine parents and taxpayers. 

The suit sought to  force the district to turn over funds to build an Alpine high school, which voters twice voted to approve in Propositions H and U. The board's action drew scrutiny from the County Grand Jury, which issued a scathing report titled "Fool us once, fool us twice?"

The tentative ruling comes as a shock since Judge Pressman  previously denied an attempt by Grossmont to dismiss the case and set a trial date for early December, as ECM reported. In his earlier ruling, the judge rejected Grossmont’s arguments that it did not have a contract commitment with Alpine to build a high school and that the text of Prop U did not compel the district to build the long-promised school.

By Miriam Raftery

June 11, 2015 (Alpine) – Alpine residents seeking to force the Grossmont Union High School District to turn over $70 million in bond funds and land acquired for construction of an Alpine High School will finally have their day in court.  Judge Joel Pressman ruled against Grossmont on Friday, refusing to dismiss the case and requiring that the money be set aside pending outcome of the trial.

The proceeding will be an administrative trial before Judge Pressman set for December 4^th with the Alpine Union School District and the Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability squaring off against the GUHSD. A 3-judge appellate court panel previously denied Grossmont’s request for a stay to stop the proceedings, a move affirmed Friday by Pressman. The County Grand Jury also found that the district did not live up to its obligation to Alpine taxpayers and recommended that the district build the high school or turn over the money to the Alpine Union High School District to build the school.  The district's board majority defied the Grand Jury and did neither.

The plaintiffs contend that Grossmont misallocated millions of dollars from Propositions U and H,  spending much of the $700 million measures approved by voters for projects not listed in the bond while refusing to build the Alpine High School that was a priority project in the bond measures.

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?”

By Miriam Raftery

January 23, 2015 (Alpine) – The Grossmont Union High School District must set aside $14 million in bond money immediately and another $28 million by January 2016 to fund building a high school in Alpine. Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman issued the ruling Thursday, granting an injunction sought by Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability.

Priscilla Schreiber, the only member of the Grossmont Board who has consistently supported building the high school in Alpine, told East County Magazine, “I’m thrilled.” 

But a statement from the district claims that other schools in the district will not get needed improvements due to the court’s decision.  The district indicates it will be back in court January 28 filing for a stay in hopes of halting the injunction.

East County News Service

November 22, 2014 Alpine) – Alpine Union School District (AUSD) and the Alpine Taxpayers for Bond Accountability are seeking an injunction to stop the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) from spending money that plaintiffs contend should be set aside to build a high school in Alpine.  The case will be heard on December 5 at 1:30 p.m. in San Diego Superior Court, Dept. C-66 by Judge Joel Pressman.   View the lawsuit here.

The suit contends that the Grossmont district is “unlawfully wasting school bond revenues approved by the voters for an Alpine high school” by spending the money from Prop H or U on other unauthorized projects.  However the Alpine plaintiffs seek only to block bond fund use on any new or future construction projects – not interrupt any pending or contracted for construction projects.

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: GUHSD Superintendent Ralf Swenson

September 18, 2014 (Alpine)—The Grossmont Union High School District Board (GUHSD) has passed a resolution opposing the proposed Alpine unification initiative.  Now, Superintendent Ralf Swenson has issued a statement to media voicing disappointment that a County committee has approved the unification measure and sent it on to the State Board of Education to take action. He wants to see all voters in the district have a say on unification, not just voters in Alpine. 

In his letter, Swenson claims a unified Alpine district won’t be able to afford to build and operate a high school offering programs comparable to those in the Grossmont district but insists that the GUHSD can’t afford to build the school, either.  Moreover, he  claims that the GUHSD remains 2,400 students below the “trigger” that the district has set for enrollment and that further declines are projected, making the likelihood that the district would ever build the promised 12th high school for Alpine appear to be virtually zero.

His letter has sparked a heated response, including a rebuttal from education leader Bill Weaver debunking dubious claims made by the Superintendent. Weaver has previously co-chaired education and business commitees for both the East County and Mountain Empire Chambers of Commerce.

By Nadin Abbott

April 10, 2014 (El Cajon) --Think of it as a contested divorce.

With a vote of four to one, the Grossmont Unified High School District (GUHSD) board made its intent clear. The majority does not wish to allow Alpine parents and students to leave the GUHSD and join forces with the Alpine Union School District. Board Members Robert Shield, Richard Hoy, Jim Kelly and Jim Stieringer voted against unification, while Board Member Priscilla Schreiber cast the lone vote in favor. 

Unification would allow the Alpine district to become a K-12 district, adding high school students so that the AUSD could build the long-promised high school that Grossmont has failed to build.  Not even a scathing Grand Jury report has been able to prod GUHSD members into taking action. The Grand Jury admonished the board to either agree to build the high school by the end of last year, or cooperate with unification efforts. Instead, the board has done neither.