Grossmont, Borrego and Ramona districts may fail to meet financial obligations

February 23, 2012 (Sacramento)—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson warned today that the latest review of school district budgets shows that one-third of public school students in California attend a district in financial jeopardy. That includes seven districts in San Diego County—three of them in East County. 

Take our poll: Should the GUHSD have notified all residents by mail before changing school district boundaries? 

By Miriam Raftery

January 21, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – At a Grossmont Union High School District board of trustees meeting on October 13, trustee Priscilla Schreiber asked Superintendent Ralf Swenson how workshops on proposed district boundary changes would be publicized. Swenson replied, “We are sending out mailers, putting things on websites, and we are working with our feeder districts to get the word out through their schools…”

But no mailers were ever sent to district residents. Nor did feeder schools (middle and elementary) notify parents of future high school students. Yet the district approved boundary changes November 10 that will affect thousands of students. Now a clamor has arisen among parents who had no idea such changes were in the works—and want the action reversed.

January 21, 2012 (La Mesa) -- Next week, the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) and the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) Boards will hear action items on the development of community gardens on school district properties, including Helix Charter High School in La Mesa as well as schools in San Carlos and San Diego.

San Diego Roots, an organization which supports community gardens, is encouraging the public to attend meetings January 26 for the GUHSD and January 24 for the SDSUSD to show support for the gardens, which would benefit community residents as well as students.

October 14, 2011 (San Diego's East County) -- The Grossmont Union High School District has announced three public information forums on proposed changes to boundaries for schools in the district.  Meetings are set for October 18, October 25, and November 1.

 Proposal that could halt Alpine high school construction will also be heard by board

July 11, 2011 (El Cajon) – The Boundary Committee for the Grossmont Union High School District has adopted recommendations for shifting high school boundaries throughout the distirct.  The recommendations will be presented Thursday, to the GUHSD Boardat 6 p.m. in the East County Regional Education Center, 924 East Main Street in El Cajon.

Lines will be changing across East County. For example, on Mt. Helix many students now in the Grossmont High School district are proposed to shift to Monte Vista, a school with a far poorer academic record, to ease overcrowding at Grossmont. In Blossom Valley, proposed new lines would similarly shift some students to a poorer performing school, in Lakeside sparking protests from parents.

May 27, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Two proposed options for new boundary lines in the Grossmont Union High School District will be presented by the District’s Boundary Committee at a public meeting on Thursday, June 2 from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Instructional Resource Classroom, 301 North Mollison Avenue in El Cajon.

One plan, Model 12, includes redrawn boundaries to include a 12th new high school planned in Alpine. An alternative plan, Model 9, provides a contingency in case the Alpine High School is not built and redraws boundaries for the District’s nine existing non-chartered high schools.

“This is a watershed meeting,” said Doug Deane, chairman of the committee. “If there are different viewpoints, people need to speak June 2 at our meeting….Every high school will be affected, whether or not there is a twelfth high school built.”

March 17, 2011 (San Diego's East County) --The 2011 Grossmont High School District Cheer Competition will be held on Wednesday, March 23, at 6 p.m. in the El Cajon Valley High School Football Stadium.

The competition will feature teams competing at the Junior Varsity, Varsity, Varsity Advanced and Varsity Co-ed levels. There will also be a Best Jumper and Best Tumbler award.

March 2, 2011 (Spring Valley) -- Monte Vista High School in Spring Valley was placed in lockdown briefly shortly after 10 a.m. this morning after a teacher reporter overhearing students talking about a gun in a bush.

“It’s all over now,” Lt. James Bovet with the San Diego Sheriff informed ECM at 11:15 a.m. “There was no indication that the gun was on or even near the school, however they did a search but did not find anything.” Ten patrol cars were dispatched to the school is located at 3230 Sweetwater Springs Blvd.

Multiple locations on district campuses were available, but GUHSD chose to use church instead, ECM research reveals

By Miriam Raftery

Jeremy Los contributed research for this report

February 18, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a national nonprofit organization, says that it’s “problematic” and likely unconstitutional for the Grossmont Union High School District to host a school event at Sonrise Church, a fundamentalist place of worship in Santee.

February 5, 2011 (El Cajon) – The Grossmont Union High School Board of Trustees will hold a special session from 5-5:45 p.m., immediately following it’s regularly scheduled 3:30 p.m. meeting on February 10th. The special session will include interviews, selection and appointment of three members to fill vacancies on the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee for Proposition H/U.

January 31, 2011 (El Cajon) – The Grossmont Union High School District has announced that it will hold a special budget study session on Thursday, February 3 at 2:30 p.m.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at the Instructional Resources Meeting room at 301 North Mollison in El Cajon.

By: Jeremy Los

January 19, 2011 (Alpine)--The proposed 12th high school in Alpine continues to face hurdles as the push for its groundbreaking soldiers on. The latest obstacles facing the potential campus are the potential missed enrollment trigger as well as the prospect that the school will not service all the students in the area.

Something new, different, and state-of-the-art

By Bill Weaver

December 1, 2010 (Alpine)--It is widely acknowledged by most experts that our classrooms of today are outdated. We are not offering a state-of-the-art education to our current young generation, nor meeting the technological needs of students. They say that we are sending our kids into the world under-educated and not well prepared. Experts argue that our system of education at the primary and secondary level is in dire need of reform.

November 6, 2010 (El Cajon ) – Grossmont Union High School District’s board has announced a special budget workshop on Tuesday, November 9th upstairs in the Cuyamaca College Student Center, 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway. The public session will begin at 5 p.m., with discussion of the new Alpine High School at 7:30 p.m.

Budget cited as key challenge; District faces $15 million deficit