Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Some Sycamore Ranch residents not in favor of DD or future high school

Members of the Sycamore Ranch community hosted a meeting with Bonsall Unified School District (BUSD) officials Oct. 20 in the club house of the Golf Club of California to discuss Measure DD. Those in attendance learned – much to their dismay – they are going to have a high school as a neighbor whether DD passes or fails.

The BUSD announced earlier this year that it had selected the Gird Road site as the future home for the new Bonsall High School. The decision was made after an Optimal High School Site Study evaluated 12 sites based on uniform criteria and identified the Gird Road property as the most favorable.

Measure DD, which would raise property taxes at a rate of $60 per $100,000 of assessed value, authorizes $58 million in bonds to help construct and equip the new school. At the start of the Oct. 20 meeting, Sycamore Ranch resident Peter Kunasz, who helped organize the assembly, polled the audience and asked if anyone was in favor of DD. When no one in the audience raised their hand, Kunasz said, "Good, we'll avoid any confrontations then."

Some in the audience thought if Measure DD was defeated, the high school wouldn't be built. During the course of the meeting, BUSD superintendent Justin Cunningham informed the audience that isn't the case.

"There will be a high school here," said Cunningham, adding that if DD is defeated, "what we will have to do is start with smaller steps, like portables (portable buildings) and that kind of thing."

"Why are we here, if it's going to be a high school anyway," shouted one man in the audience. "What a waste of time this was," yelled another. Near the end of the nearly two hour meeting, two ladies chanted bull----, bull---- while angrily exiting the room.

Cunningham kept his composure throughout a meeting that often had hostile overtones and tried to answer all questions. BUSD board president Lou Riddle also fielded questions, and Bonsall High School principal Lee Fleming also spoke to the crowd.

Audience members repeatedly asked: "Why this site. Why can't the high school be built elsewhere in the BUSD?"

"There has been a comprehensive site study," said Riddle. "We looked at over 11 different sites over the last several years. The fact is this site has been dedicated as a high school site since the 1960s by the state of California and by the county of San Diego.

"So, there is not another site in our district that meets the criteria," continued Riddle. "We also need 50 relatively flat acres in order for any type of high school to work. After a comprehensive and exhaustive search, I can tell you there is not another site within our district that meets the criteria."

Cunningham said the high school project will use less than half of the 50 acres.

"There's 50 acres we can use, and we want to use about 24 of them," said Cunningham. "We want to leave a lot of the beauty that's there. This can be a beautiful learning environment, a nice addition to the community. We don't want it to be the institutional model that schools have been."

The question of noise and light pollution from a high school, and how that could affect property values, was also brought up more than once.

"This high school is not like the classic high school situation that you're thinking about," said Cunningham. "You're not going to have to worry about stadium lights. We have no plans to have a football stadium. We don't even have plans for a football team. We have no plans to have a marching band."

"When you start going into lower property values, folks, the only lower property values that happens near a school is if it's a lousy school," continued Cunningham. "That's when it's bad on property values. When it's a good school, it's good on property values because that attracts people who want their kids to go to school there."

Cunningham explained how the new high school will be state-of-art for students, and also include a fitness center that will be available to the public when students aren't using it. "You don't have a fitness center here, so it can be a positive addition to the community," said Cunningham.

Despite Cunningham's best efforts, many members of the audience didn't appear to be buying what he was selling.

"You've done a marvelous job of trying to put lipstick on a pig as far as we're concerned," said one man. "It's a matter of traffic. You're going to have an increase in cars and buses, and it's really going to change the face of this community. That is something that can't be addressed because that's going to happen. And that's what everybody is concerned about because we live here."

One woman in audience asked Cunningham: "If it was you living in this community, and something like this was happening, would you be in favor of it?"

"In a heartbeat, because I know what a good school does to a community," replied Cunningham.

Only people who live in the BUSD can vote on Measure DD, which will be determine how fast the new high school gets out of the gate.

"The last thing we want to do is start off with portable buildings," said Cunningham. "You want something that is going to be attractive."

 
 

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