Category: Blog Posts

Looking back a few years …

Less than five years ago, the official line from Bonsall Unified School District (BUSD) was, “We do not want, nor do we need a massive brick and mortar high school ……Nor do we need fifty acres of dirt to accomplish our mission.” 

Only five years ago, here were the plans and promises:

July 2012: California Department of Education (CDE) recommends that SBE adopt the Negative Declaration …. which finds that there is no substantial evidence that the project (proposal for the Bonsall School District to expand to include a high school) will have a significant effect on the environment.

The State Board of Education issued a report on the subject and BUSD declared: “In a development planned to begin in the next 2–3 years, Palomar College will be across the street from the future site of a Bonsall School.  We are exploring the possibility of this becoming a future site of a high school using a 2 plus 2 program where students in high school can graduate with up to two years of college credit. With an increased use of technology to serve the digital learner, our educational program will be flexible enough to adapt to a variety of settings.”

Continue reading “Looking back a few years …”

A+, Five Fails and Who’s Driving The School Bus?

A+ to everyone who packed the house on March 14 for SaveGirdValley.com‘s first official meeting. What a great showing! You’re terrific!
The website is up and running and our Project List is shaping up nicely, a good starting point for community work. We are looking for volunteers, those willing to lead projects and serve on the steering committee, to help with fundraising and provide creativity! Don’t be shy! Let us know what you’d like to do to help Save Gird Valley.
Beyond the basics of getting a group formed, we have been compelled to direct a lot of effort to the proposed high school on a site on Gird Road. Even though North County voters have voted this down fully five times, the issue keeps coming back.

A Tale of Two School Districts

(Printable email release)

As part of a 2012 reorganization of school districts, Fallbrook Union High School District (FUHSD) transferred a surplus site on Gird Road (which it had declared as “not suitable” for a high school) to the newly formed Bonsall Unified School District (BUSD). It is important to note that FUHSD lost four bond measures to fund building on that particular site before it passed into BUSD’s ownership. Clearly the community was united in its opposition to a school in historic and much-loved Gird Valley. In November of 2016, BUSD would lose the fifth attempt.

BUSD made various statements about the site over the years, ranging from building a small school of a few hundred students to selling or trading the property.
In 2016, BUSD announced it would build a beautiful $56M to $70M state-of-the-art permanent high school and would pass a bond measure to do so (Measure DD on the Fall 2016 ballot). The school would serve 1,500 students, 60 teachers plus administrators, staff and parents. Its recreational facilities and performing arts center would be open after hours to the public. READ MORE…

Gird Valley is organizing and needs you!

(Printable email release)

When development threatened the fallowed golf course in Gird Valley in early 2016, neighbors organized to save the property. The 116-acre property has been the heart and soul of Gird Valley since the 1960s and its loss would have been a tragedy for Fallbrook.

After months of false starts and broken deals, escrow closed on the property on November 15, 2016. The new owners, Jade and Julie Work, are long-time Fallbrook residents. They have begun the transformation of the neglected property into a working vineyard with an Italian-themed restaurant and wine-tasting room. Single sycamores are becoming groves, trellises are being constructed and soon the vines will be planted. The Works have also committed to preserving the property from future development through the use of conservation easements, a great gift to the community.

Against this backdrop, SaveFallbrookGolfCourse.com has transitioned into SaveGirdValley.com and is interested in adopting a selection of beautification projects for Gird Valley. The projects involve working with private and public organizations and the Gird Valley, Fallbrook and North County community. To this purpose, we are looking for volunteers and fiscal sponsors committed to the future of Gird Valley.

We’ve received several suggestions and look forward to hearing yours! Some of the beautification project ideas for Gird Valley we’ve compiled so far include……read more…