BUSD has
announced, "The District has been deficit spending since the 2011/12 fiscal year, a total of six years; this structural imbalance of revenues versus expenses ... is an unsustainable trend. ... The multi-year projections show the District ending the 2019/20 fiscal year with an ending balance available for reserves of 0.4%, far below the legally required 3%."
Anyone who believes this tiny, almost bankrupt, school district is on the wrong track will be particularly interested in these August 9, 2017
Agenda Items
:
9.1 New superintendent
David Jones' contract will be discussed.
We hope Jones is a proponent of slow/smart growth, committed to the community and dedicated to restoring fiscal health to the district.
9.3 Update on construction process for proposed high school for 1,500-student and performing arts center which the district is attempting to build on on Gird Road in Fallbrook. This project continues to move forward even though
BUSD projects only 352 high school students by 2019/2020 and already has a high school with a capacity of 350 and Fallbrook High School can take several thousand more students at its campus. Add in the square footage planned for the new Palomar Campus at the 15 and 76 and you can see why we are clearly overbuilding using taxpayer dollars. Keep in mind that this August 9 construction update will be given by David Metcalf, BUSD's Facilities Manager. Metcalf is a former Erickson-Hall construction company employee and is paid $173,000/year, with a good portion of that amount tied to moving construction forward on the proposed Gird Road site, in spite of the community's opposition. Amazingly, BUSD budget
reduction ideas include cutting the Facilities Manager's position entirely or taking it to part time.
10.3 Discussion about establishing a committee to look at various possible high school sites. If approved, this will be the second such committee this year. After months of work by dedicated volunteers, the
first committee delivered its report to the board in July. In addition to committees, BUSD has a real estate agent out looking for properties even though he has not been tasked with selling the Gird Road property. Selling the Gird Road property would solve virtually all the district's financial woes and the State and County told BUSD to sell this land when it went through its unification process, advice BUSD ignored.
10.10 Permission to hire workers to clear the Gird Road site, currently in the middle of a very expensive and lengthy Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
process. The site was cleared by goats and mechanical means in 2016 before the EIR began but here we go again. This is an important point since the
Initial Study done in preparation for a full EIR noted the landscape was good habitat for a range of creatures and federally-designated critical habitat for the endangered arroyo toad. How much of California's flora and fauna was left after the first clearing? After two clearings within a year? Goodness!
Please attend the BUSD meeting on August 9, urge others to attend, spread the word! Thanks!
According to the Planning and Conservation League (PCL), "
Kevin Johnson is a CEQA Attorney and civil litigator with law offices in Carlsbad, California. He has been a member of the PCL Board of Directors since 1987 and serves on a number of PCL Board Committees. ... Mr. Johnson's law practice emphasizes representation of national, state, regional and local environmental organizations and citizens groups."
The Planning and Conservation League (PCL) was formed in 1965 "to protect California from the destruction caused by fast-paced and poorly planned developments. For over 50 years, PCL has been working in the halls of California's Capitol to promote cutting-edge policies that safeguard our lands, air, waters, and communities, while building strong coalitions and empowering the public."
It is very important for as many of us as possible to attend this CEQA workshop!
Please take advantage of this opportunity and attend. We'll let you know when the date and time is set but you can also contact us at
[email protected] and we can all carpool!
So, in a nutshell, three out of the five BUSD board members (Coen, English, Riddle)
continue to vote to spend more money on the Gird Road money pit, moving forward with construction agreements and preparations for building on the Gird Road site, completely ignoring Measure DD's loss at the ballot box last year,
the fifth time
the community has rejected funding to build a school on Gird Road. Two board members try to represent the community (Tucker and Olson) and work toward finding a site that actually works for a high school when, sometime in the future, it is actually needed. In the meantime, there is no capacity crisis at BUSD since its own projections reveal only 352 high school students are expected by 2019/2020 and it already has a brand new high school built for 350.
