(San Diego) GRAND JURY CRITICAL OF DISTRICT FOR NOT BUILDING HIGH SCHOOL

By Karen Pearlman, U-T San Diego -

Alpine voters OK’d 2 bond measures, but still no campus

East County

The San Diego County Grand Jury took the Grossmont Union High School District school board to task Tuesday for not coming through on construction of a high school in Alpine despite passage of two bond measures.

A grand jury report found that “the residents of GUHSD and the greater Alpine area deserve clarity from the School Board regarding the proposed 12th high school.”

Since 2004, voters in the district have approved two bond measures, totaling nearly $700 million, that include funding to construct the high school in Alpine along with upgrades to existing schools.

School officials say the high school is on hold because available bond funds are insufficient, that enrollment projections do not support a new school and that the school would not be economical to operate.

“The district will give serious consideration to these recommendations and will develop a timely response following a thorough review,” said Catherine Martin, a spokeswoman for the school district. She noted the district has 90 days to respond.

The district serves nearly 25,000 students. Most students living in Alpine attend Granite Hills in El Cajon or Steele Canyon in Jamul, said Al Haven, one-time Alpine Union School District superintendent and one of three chief petitioners to the grand jury.

“We started this in 2002 because Grossmont was not providing a high school for our kids, some of whom need 60 to 90 minutes one way to attend school,” Haven said. “We have kids spending 10 hours a week traveling to school, whereas for other kids in the district it’s 20 minutes at the most. And we’ve had kids being killed on the road.”

The grand jury recommends that the board make a final decision by Dec. 31. If it decides to build, funds should be placed in an escrow account and a timeline established. If it does not commit to the school, the board has been asked to support a unification effort in Alpine so voters can decide whether to have a high school built as a part of the Alpine Union School District.

Board members Priscilla Schreiber and Jim Stieringer, both of whom have supported the building of the Alpine school, were heartened by the report.

“I have made my statements for 10 to 12 long years, and the grand jury report and findings should confirm my fight for the Alpine community plight and the total disdain and disregard for the Alpine community,” Schreiber said.

Stieringer said he agreed with the report’s argument that “the district has consistently made promises to the residents of Alpine that it either could not or would not keep.”