Village News reports on BUSD’s Attempt #6 to build in Gird Valley

May 5, 2018 Village News reports on BUSD’s Attempt #6 to build in Gird Valley

Hoping that it is more palatable to the voters, The Village News reports that BUSD will place a bond for $38M on the ballot this fall for building 1/3 of a massive 1,500-student high school proposed for Fallbrook’s Gird Valley. This would be Attempt #6 to build in the location which is located about a mile south of the northern edge of the district boundary, inconveniently located for most parents and students.

Superintendent David Jones was quoted, “We’re asking for 20 million less than the 2016 bond. My hope would be that people would understand that and support that we’re being reasonable and conservative with what we’re asking. We are being as reasonable and conservative as we can be in constructing the high school. We’re not asking for all three phases.”

Not yet. But they will.

Consider paying 30 years via your property taxes for a $38M bond x three, that’s $114M (double that to include financing costs), for a high school most district residents will never use. In slow growth North County, developers are hoping taxpayers shoulder the burden of paying for school sprawl, which contributes to urban sprawl. But voters are no longer buying it. It is a wonder that BUSD continues to waste money on the Great Gird Money Pit.

CATE volunteer Jeff Egkan was also quoted in the Village News article. CATE, Citizens for Accountability in Taxation and Education, issued a report in 2016 on the high school issue, supporting the centrally-located Ocean Breeze location. The State and the County also supported a central location when BUSD unified in 2012 and recommended the sale of the Gird Valley property. Since then Fallbrook Community Planning Group has also voiced strong opposition to BUSD’s proposal to build in Gird Valley.

“I think the question is how many times do the voters in this community need to say no before they move on,” said Jeff Egkan.