BUSD extends lease with Vivian Banks Charter School

In 1999, the Bonsall Union School District leased part of the Mission San Antonio de Pala church on the Pala Indian Reservation. The school district utilized its relationship with the Pala tribe to create Vivian Banks Charter School, which was named after a Pala tribal member who served on the Bonsall school board.

The initial lease was for a 64-month term from March 1, 1999, to June 30, 2004, but included a clause that the lease could be renewed by mutual consent of the parties.

In 2014, the Bonsall Union School District became the Bonsall Unified School District. On April 14, 2016, the Bonsall Unified School District board voted 5-0 to extend the lease which otherwise would have expired on June 30.

"That is something that makes sense," said BUSD superintendent Justin Cunningham.

The new lease is for a 36-month period from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2019. "We were going year-to-year for the last several years, so we thought we'd go to the three-year," Cunningham said.

The update of the lease also reflects the school district's new name.