Author: SaveGirdValley.com

JAN. 8, 2018 (updated Jan 27, March 7, April 23, 2018): The Agenda for the January 11 BUSD Board Meeting is online and it includes item 9.4, the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee (SAC)  Presentation. There is no mention of the results of the last committee which determined that slowly building out on the 1,400-acre Ocean Breeze property, centrally located in the core of Bonsall, made the most sense. You can read that report, which was presented to the BUSD Board in July 2017, here.

We assume BUSD didn’t like the results of that report because it established a new committee, SAC, in November 2017 to review potential high school site. AGAIN. The SAC met six times in closed session (observers and the press were not allowed to sit in and there are no public recordings of their meetings). They were told, incorrectly, that the County Office of Education does not offer assistance with such planning. It does. All BUSD had to do was ask. They did not review the results of the first committee.

The report notes that the Committee was presented with eight sites of raw land for use as a high school. Without a five-year plan to guide them, the volunteers started the process with a goal to select a high school site, not to evaluate the needs over the long term.  They did not review any developed properties that could be repurposed. There was no attempt to look at the big picture, such as do we need two middle schools (requiring less acreage) with the high school centrally located (as the County and State advised BUSD during its unification process). SaveGirdValley.com’s Draft Environmental Impact Report comments includes comments on the inadequacy of this process (pages 15, 16).

Keeping to its limited mandate, the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee reviewed and ranked five large sites for building a high school. The other three were reviewed but tossed out and details why were not shared with the public via the ranking system. For example, if the committee thought a site was in a poor location or would be too too costly, a 0 would tell that story. An X would indicate no info. Removal from the entire report communicates nothing. We’ve requested the SAC share the rankings for all eight properties, even ones that got 0s for whatever reason (lack of utilities, topography issues, imagined cost, etc).

After tossing out Sites 1-3 without ranking them, the SAC then ranked the other five sites (Sites 4-8).  Site 8 on Gird Road (located at the north-eastern end of BUSD in a residential area within the County’s Master Plan for the San Luis Rey River Valley, next to one of North County’s golf courses/wedding venues) came in first. Second was Site 5, located on Old River Road, south of the 76, west of Olive Hill. The other sites were all within a few points of Site 5.

The Committee used a weighted ranking system, with points adding up to 100. There are various Rating Factors. For example, Location can receive a total of 15 points. The Ocean Breeze property, located next door to BUSD’s current state-of-the-art High School (completed in 2016), would offer a cost savings from combined services. It received 11 out of 15 points for Location. The Gird Road site, located in Fallbrook (which already has a high school) and would require whole new costs for separate services, received 13 points for Location. The December 2017’s Lilac Fire resulted in evacuation of the Sullivan Middle School Campus in Bonsall, located next to the Ocean Breeze property which lost 2 points as a result for Safety (18 out of 20). But the Gird Road site was not docked any points (scoring 20 out of 20 for Safety) even though the Lilac fire burned just a few hundred yards to the south of the site and Gird Valley was evacuated (for the second time in a decade). Hmmm. It does all make one scratch one’s head.

Public Acceptance for a site triggered only 3 out of a total of 100 points. Considering that the public votes on financing such endeavors at the ballot box and is THE key component to any community school project, it’s odd that Public Acceptance only receives 3 points. Site 4 on Mission Road received only 1 of 3 points in the Public Acceptance section and all the other sites received 2 points. Keep in mind that the Gird Road site in Fallbrook has lost five times at the ballot box so we think it should have clearly earned 0 points here, not that that would make much of a difference in this weighted ranking system. But imagine if Public Acceptance had been weighted with 15 or 20 points, not three, how different this report would be!

The report places the Gird Road property in the lead as a building site (not a big surprise for the politically jaded among us) but the other four sites are neck and neck in the running. The runner up is Site Number 5, located off Old River Road is the “second preferred site”.

Beyond property analysis, the Committee was supposed to represent the Community. Not included in the report is any detail as to how those serving on the Committee met the criteria set by the Board. So let’s go over the guidelines BUSD established for serving on the SAC:

“Committee shall be comprised of one representative and one alternate from each of the following geographic areas who are residents” in the BUSD: Pala, Bonsall West, Bonsall Elementary, Sullivan Middle School , Gird Road and Rancho areas. The map included is handy since most of these school-focused descriptions do not tie in to geographic area names. It’s school speak.

“Of these residents (if possible depending on applications submitted): At least two retirees who do not have children living at home; At least one with a child enrolled in BUSD secondary schools (middle or high school) living at home; At least one with a child enrolled in BUSD elementary schools or younger children living at home.”

We have asked, several times, for info on those selected and how they met the parameters set out. No response.

BUSD President Timothy Coen said in December, “This Advisory Board is the community, the whole community…we have to depend on them to represent the community, that’s their job.” 

Since BUSD did not supply any detail on how those selected to serve on the Committee represent the “whole community”, we did  our own research. We were bit surprised at how many committee volunteers actually make their living from BUSD and are dependent on the good graces of the Superintendent.  Superintendent David Jones said, “The board is interested in giving the public a voice,” and promised, “We welcome the community involvement and input. The advisory committee and the people on the committee will be people from the public within our community.”

We assumed this meant the committee would be members of the general public, the community at large. NOT a BUSD inner circle or a BUSD-dependent community.

Next time BUSD establishes a committee to represent the public, we will have to stipulate that these volunteers have no financial ties to the school district and actually represent the public and the community at large. 

Feel free to let us know what we’ve missed but here’s what we have so far:

Area 1, Pala – Eric Ortega (Pala Tribe which was a major donor to failed Measure DD, the fifth failed attempt to build a high school on Gird Road. While entitled “Bonsall Taxpayers for Schools, YES on DD campaign”, zero campaign contributions came from district residents. DD was fully funded by only three entities: Erickson-Hall Construction Co., Pala Band of Mission Indians Political Contribution Account and LHR Investment Company LLC , aka Accretive Investments/Lilac Hills Ranch.), No Alternate; Area 2, Rancho – Tom Flanagan (another public supporter of failed Measure DD who also supports widening Gird Road), Alternate: David Toney;  Area 3, Gird – Eric Nordeen (wife Michelle is a BUSD teacher), Alternate: Kara LaRussa (vocal supporter of failed Measure DD, 2016, the fifth unsuccessful ballot attempt to build on Gird Road and BUSD substitute teacher); Area 4, Sullivan – Kassandra Costa (BUSD teacher), Alternate: Larissa Anderson (highly vocal and visible Yes on DD 2016 spokes-mom Larissa Scors Anderson was actually “Yes on DD”‘s paid Campaign Manager,); Area 5, Bonsall – Jeff Johnson, Alternate: None; Area 6, Bonsall West – Brian Olson (Brian spoke out after serving on the Committee in support of the Gird Road site noting that he’d voted against Measure DD. He and his wife Elizabeth Covarrubius Olson protested against Measure DD in 2016, noting that the pro DD forces were out of line during the protest. Brian’s mother-in-law, Teresa Covarrubius, is a BUSD employee and works for the union as Treasurer of California School Employees Association’s Bonsall Chapter 703 along with her long-time friend Teresa Suarez who serves as the union Chapter’s President and the office manager at the Vivian Banks Charter School located on the Pala Reservation. Brian and Elizabeth Covarrubius Olson own Clear Intentions Window washing located at 4217 Kari Lane, Bonsall 92003, a residence owned by the Luis H & Theresa A Covarrubias Living Trust 02-24-01.), Alternate: Eric Ford.

Just to make sure enough BUSD-dependents were included on the SAC Committee, BUSD  added two BUSD staff members: BUSD High School Principal Lee Fleming (Yes, BUSD has a high school, just built in 2016. Fleming earned $152k in salary/benefits/pension in 2016) and Assistant Superintendent William Pickering ($179k salary/benefits/pension in 2016), along with Bonsall Teacher Association President Julie Urquhart, a BUSD teacher. (Julie’s husband also teaches at BUSD, making this a $200,000/year BUSD-dependent family).

While the Bonsall Community Sponsor Group (Margarette Morgan) was included, the Fallbrook Community Planning Group (where 100% of Gird Road is located) was excluded. The County Office of Education (SDCOE), which offers support for Districts with site selection, was not invited to help and the Committee was told, incorrectly, the SDCOE didn’t offer this service anymore.

Lest we forgot, another group of community residents (none financially dependent on BUSD) gave time and energy working with BUSD staff reviewing sites in 2016. Superintendent Cunningham treated them shamefully when they delivered their report to the Board. They determined that expansion as necessary onto the Ocean Breeze property, located next door to the existing Bonsall High School, located in Bonsall, made the most sense. Here is that report. Interestingly, the owners of the Ocean Breeze property have offered some of their 1,400 acres to BUSD for no money down, payable via developers’ fees over time. BUSD projects that 30% to 34% of its high school and middle school children will come from the Ocean Breeze development when it it eventually built. How nice if they come walk to school!

Since the SAC report included metrics on enrollment, let’s quickly address that: BUSD currently has  328 high school students in its new high school (completed 2016) located on the Sullivan Campus in Bonsall, next door to the Ocean Breeze property. The SAC report projects another 375 for a total of 703 high school students for 2021-22. It projects 480 high school students in 2019-20. This raises eyebrows since BUSD just recently projected only 352 high school students for the years 2019-20. This is not the first time we’ve seen conflicting numbers or read reports with overly robust projections for high schools in Fallbrook or Bonsall (see the History section of this website). There is no mention in the SAC report that BUSD enrollment for grades K-3 and 4-6 has declined or that BUSD is currently operating at less than 80% of capacity. No mention that Fallbrook Union High School District’s enrollment has plummeted by more than 20% over the last decade or that San Marcos and Valley View have announced they’re laying off teachers (overbuilt, overstaffed, under-enrolled). There are  32 high schools in the area built and maintained by taxpayer dollars; plus another 15 privately funded high schools. 

Moving on, the Agenda for Jan 11 includes Item 9.1, a $100,000+ contract for bond advisors to provide a survey and campaign services so it looks like BUSD will try to barrel on forward and attempt to pass a bond in 2018.  This will be attempt #6 to pass a bond to build a high school on Gird Road. (Update Jan 11: Due to the efforts of financially conservative board members Tucker and Olson, the board approved $3,500 for a limited contract for  Step One: a 400-person survey to determine if there is any support for passing a bond in 2018 and if the location on Gird is why this issue has lost five times in the past. Board members requested input into the questions. Here are the questions we’d like to see asked.)

BUSD Superintendent ’s 2016 salary and benefits were $281k (TransparentCalifornia), more than the Governor of California! 

Wow! Tell us more!

In 2015, The San Diego Union Tribune commented  on Justin Cunningham’s Superintendent’s salary, benefits and pension ($191,000) in an article entitled “Some superintendent salaries rising to the extreme.” Here’s a snippet from the article:

In 2015, Superintendent Justin Cunningham signed a 3 year contract in for approximately $170k plus benefits. In 2016, the Board approved raises for staff, increasing the Superintendent’s base pay to $178k.

However TransparentCalifornia reveals BUSD Superintendent ’s 2016 salary was almost $228k and salary and benefits were a shocking $281k in 2016, more than the Governor of California!

It took SaveGirdValley.com six months and dozens of emails to BUSD to finally see the correct figures uploaded to TransparentCalifornia. Cunningham retired in 2017, saying he had a bad knee. His pension will be based on this very high base salary. Interestingly, pensions for County employees with 25 years on the job max out at 40.5% of their salaries (recently reduced from 57.5%) but the Village News reported Cunningham’s taxpayer-funded pension will be 80 to 85% of his salary.

So how did Superintendent Cunningham manage to take $281k out of a financially struggling small school district in 2016, bumping up his pension in the process? How did this happen? That’s a good question.

BUSD Board has selected volunteers to serve on the Superintendent’s Site Advisory Committee, broken down by region: Area 1, Pala – Eric Ortega, No Alternate; Area 2, Rancho – Tom Flanagan, Alternate: David Toney;  Area 3, Gird – Eric Nordeen, Alternate: Kara LaRussa; Area 4, Sullivan – Kassandra Costa, Alternate: Larissa Anderson; Area 5, Bonsall – Jeff Johnson, Alternate: None; Area 6, Bonsall West – Brian Olson, Alternate: Eric Ford.

The Site Advisory Committee will deliver a report about various available sites in January. We look forward to reading it.

The BUSD Board meeting on November 9 featured two bond measure experts. Both noted the lack of community support for a bond measure (to build a high school on Gird Road) but Dale Scott’s presentation was extremely frank and detailed. Mr. Scott advised the Board to avoid attempting a bond measure in 2018 since BUSD simply does not have enough community’s support for passage. He shared a chart on 2016’s failed Measure DD (to build a 1,5,00 student high school on Gird Road), noting that those opposed to Measure DD turned out in record numbers. Over 80% of the voters located in Bonsall and Fallbrook voted No to the Gird Road site. Not surprising since Measure DD represents the fifth time the site has failed at at the ballot box.

Mr. Scott stated that to counter community resistance in the areas with high turnout and No votes, BUSD would have to move other precincts by 10 points, impossible to do! Both experts recommended  BUSD not attempt a bond in 2018 due to lack of community support. We’ll post the full reports as soon as BUSD shares them but the meeting is worth listening to [BUSD Board Mtg Nov 9, 2017, bond experts’ presentations are at 0:43 to 1:18].

Update: January 2, 2018: Oddly, Mr. Scott’s presentation is not included in the attachments to the meeting minutes (9.1). We have asked BUSD to correct this. In the meantime, here is the report..

Thank you to everyone who attended the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Workshop on September 30th and the Bonsall Unified School District (BUSD) Board meeting on October 12.

We learned a lot at the CEQA Workshop, hosted by environmental attorney Kevin Johnson and the Planning and Conservation League (PCL). In 1965, a group of concerned citizens formed PCL “to protect California from the destruction caused by fast-paced and poorly planned developments”, a worthy goal. For over 50 years, PCL has worked to “safeguard our lands, air, waters, and communities, while building strong coalitions and empowering the public.” Thank you to Kevin and PCL for sharing so much information!

We learned that CEQA, which generates the Environmental Review Process (EIR), pushes citizens, developers and public agencies to engage in a community brain storming process. It forces us all to mitigate damage caused by development and to explore alternatives fully.

… Read more

A status report on the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and design information for a  high school for 1,500 students proposed for a site on Gird Road in Fallbrook was presented at a special board meeting on September 28 at the new (opened Fall 2016) 18,000 square foot 350-student high school. This high school is located at the Sullivan Middle School Campus (current enrollment 328). Ten classrooms upstairs are designed to serve 27 students each, reported Facilities Manager David Medcalf. The upper floor also hosts a large lab space, the Principals office and a separate office for the administrative assistant. Downstairs is broken into additional large rooms/labs with a very large meeting space.

Phase I of the design, to accommodate 500 students, will include all the parking (200,000 sq. ft.) plus 85,000 sq. ft.  of the proposed full build out (150,000 sq. ft.).

The EIR is expected to be released in 30 days for a 45-day comment period. There was no mention about the 16.14 acres of federally-designated critical arroyo toad habitat and it is reported the the three unnamed tributaries to the San Luis Rey River located on the site (see Initial CEQA study, October 2016) have mysteriously been reduced to one. There are no plans to mitigate for any destruction of habitat.

Julie Zimmerman of BakerNowicki Design walked the audience through the steps to complete prior to submitting to the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) for Proposition 51 Funding:

1. Complete the Draft EIR and Submit for Public Review
2. Respond to Public Review comments
3. Finalize Environmental Impact Report
4. Approve Site Selection – Gird Road or Other
5. Commence Design Development Documents – January 2018
6. Complete Construction Documents
7. Submit Construction Documents to Division of State Architect for Review and Approval – October 2018
8. Receive DSA approval – approximately July 2019
9. OPSC places BUSD application on the unfunded list – August 2019
10. BUSD provides District match using GO Bond funds or other financing
11. Complete / Resubmit eligibility requirement forms that are required by the State to confirm present day eligibility
12. State Proposition 51 Bond Sale provides State matching dollars
13. Date order and compete for funding – OPSC to certify District has match and can begin construction within 90 days of apportionment by State Allocation Board (SAB)

If the Board authorized Design Development Documents to begin January 2018, the remaining items 5-12 would likely be completed within 3 to 3-1/2 years or about July 2021. At that time construction of the new high school could commence with students occupying the campus beginning 2023/24 school year. The 2-story building is currently at capacity. It would be sound facility planning for the District to provide additional high school facilities to meet its growing high school student needs prior to the 2023/24 school year.”

The original plan presented in the unification documents was to convert the Sullivan Middle School campus into a high school which could easily absorb the projected 500-ish students BUSD was projecting would occupy it, before the new 350-student high school (how serving 328) was built in 2016 and projected changed to 352 for 2019/2020 in BUSD’s budget projections. However, now all parties (except for 2 board members, Dick Olson and Sylvia Tucker and thousands of district residents) appear to be pushing through plans to build a 1,500-student school on Gird Road in two phases, in spite of serious financial hurdles.

During an exchange with board members Timothy Coen and Erin English, Ms. Zimmerman stated, referring to the new Bonsall High School built at the Sullivan Middle School campus and its request for over $3 million of state funding, “We actually submitted it as Sullivan Middle School to preserve your high school eligibility.”

What this means is unclear. 

“Fallbrook and North County residents are invited to attend a one-day workshop on Sept. 30 on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and its Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process,” reports Village News. “Hosted by respected environmental attorney Kevin Johnson, this workshop will help us all gain an understanding of the law, its purpose, power and the CEQA process for protection of the environment.”

Read here our latest call to action for this important meeting.

Fallbrook and North County residents are invited to attend a one-day workshop on September 30  on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and its Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process.

Hosted by respected environmental attorney Kevin Johnson, this workshop will help us all gain an understanding of the law, its purpose, power and the CEQA process for protection of the environment.

Fallbrook and North County residents treasure our agricultural heritage and open space. We work hard to maintain the beauty of our area, giving countless hours and our hard-earned money to community endeavors designed to protect the environment. California state law supports these efforts via CEQA. Enacted into law in 1970, most California residents are unfamiliar with CEQA. The September 30 workshop is our opportunity to empower ourselves by improving our understanding of this very important law.

CEQA requires us to measure the impact of projects on the environment (Environmental Impact Report/EIR process) and to adopt all feasible measures and alternatives to mitigate those impacts. CEQA has made environmental protection a mandatory part of every California state and local (public) agency’s decision making process and gives citizens the right to petition the courts regarding decisions made regarding public and private projects.

Registration for this must-attend workshop includes a CEQA Guide and lunch for a $45 donation. Attendees should bring writing materials, a notebook or your tablet/laptop. Registration starts at 8:30 AM with the workshop starting at 9 AM, finishing by 4 PM. Since the workshop will be held in Carlsbad, carpools are being arranged.

If you care about the environment and preserving it, we urge you to register and attend this important workshop on September 30.

NOTE: The Notice of Preparation (NOP) for the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for BUSD’s the 1500-student high school proposed to be built on Gird Road is a: https://savegirdvalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/eir_notice.pdf  You can sign up to receive info by clicking on the first link at http://www.bonsallusd.com/apps/pages/eir 

SaveGirdValley.com submitted initial comments on the NOP for the EIR and will submit more during the 45-day comment period, once it is announced (most likely sometime in late October/early November. 

Thank you to everyone who took time from their busy schedules to attend the Bonsall Unified School District’s (BUSD) August meeting. Please make an effort to attend the September 14 Board meeting at the Bonsall Community Center. You also need to attend a Workshop on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) on September 30. Mark your calendars now!

For those of us who care about Gird Valley and North County, we’ve been distressed to see the Bonsall Unified School District (BUSD) going broke (deficit spending over six years) as it attempts to build a huge 1,500-student high school and performing arts center on what is at the northernmost end of the district on Gird Road, a site that has failed to win funding at the ballot box fully five times. This is in spite of the fact that taxpayers built BUSD a 350-student high school (a building that is now less than a year old!) and BUSD projects only 352 high school students enrolled by 2019/2020.

Since we became involved in this issue, we have learned that the school district has spent itself into a financial tailspin and its Superintendent has been replaced by new Superintendent David Jones.

Read more …