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Posted on Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 3:09 p.m.

Is the Mello-Roos that we pay being used toward the building of our Stevenson Ranch Schools? If it is, does anyone know where to find a financial summary in black and white so it isn't hearsay?

Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 11:22 a.m.

Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2007 at 11:20 a.m.

Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2007 at 3:40 p.m.

The "Board Packet" for the meeting to be held this Wednesday, February 21 at 7:30 p.m. includes the 2 pages below, "Consideration of 2007/08 Enrollment Options - West Ranch High School". (page 23)

Click here to see the entire Board Packet.

Posted on Friday, February 16, 2007 at 12:51 p.m.

To answer a question that was asked in the comments section. The board will be voting on Wednesday night to give the Open Enrollment status to Hart High School, Golden Valley High, and Valencia High School.

Also a point that I was not aware of until I attended the Tuesday meeting is that there are currently 25 empty portables at Valencia High School right now. Those are the portables that they are considering moving at a cost of 3 million! When the Castaic students went to Valencia High School those portables were in use. I hope it will be the board's decision to put them back to use!

Julia Hicken

Posted on Friday, February 16, 2007 at 2:32 a.m.

A couple of follow comments on our Talking Points - all very sound.

Regarding the $3MM spend to move the portables, we need to make our argument in the context of a return on investment and opportunity costs. If the $3MM cost would significantly improve the educational environment for our children, one could argue that the return justifies the spend. However if there is no such return than how can one support spending that money. Secondly, what are the opportunity costs for that $3MM. It would be interesting to find out the average cost of a text book and the average salary of a teacher and restate the $3MM in terms of these opportunity costs - we could supply WRHS/Hart/Valencia with x years worth or new text books and/or x number of new teachers as an alternative to moving the portables.

My only other comment is that one of us, whom ever is given the opportunity to speak at the next meeting, should focus on the decision criteria and decision making process rather than the merits of a particular option. The decision making criteria should be those objective measures that are common denominators to all residents of every community: what is the impact to the educational environment, what are the logitic/security issues, is the money invested properly. It should not be based on the more "emotional" criteria (we made a promise, our children will be separated from some friends, we've already changed schools before, which building is old or new, etc.) I think someone speaking to the decision criteria rather than a particular option may carry a significant amount of weight with the Board. We must also emphasize the Boards responsibility - that they need to have the courage to make an objective decision and not one steeped in the emotions of their respective communities. They must be willing to make the right decision, albeit maybe not the most popular decision. We as parents have the luxury of an emotional response/opinion to this issue. They as Board members do not have that luxury.

Ben Hope

Posted on Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 9:44 p.m.

How about proposing an open enrollment scenario for the Castaic parents. Many of the siblings already attend Valencia HS and seems to me that it would make more sense to keep siblings together. Has the school board even researched the # count of how many parents would prefer to have their kids attend VHS?

Nicole Wilkin

Posted on Thursday, February 15, 2007 at 2:54 p.m.

West Ranch High School Update
 

Next Meeting:  Feb. 21st @ 7:30pm Hart High Auditorium

Please plan to attend for the future of our school!!! 

Do not be complacent! We need your presence!!

Overview:  The Hart District School Board is currently reviewing options for managing the inevitable overcrowding at West Ranch High School beginning with the enrollment of the 2007/2008 class.  This overcrowding is due in large part because Castaic High School will not be built until 2010 (at best).  If all Castaic students stay at West Ranch High (capacity 2,600 students) until the Castaic High School is completed, West Ranch HS will have approximately 3,800 students by 2010.  If construction of Castaic High goes even one more year beyond projection, then West Ranch will go up to more than 4,000 students.

The Hart District Board is making a decision on how to best deal with the overcrowding issue at the February 21st Meeting.

Three possible options (among many) that the board has discussed are:

1. Redraw the boundaries so that students “South of Pico Canyon” and the Wiley Canyon/Calgrove area go to Hart High School.

2. Place 11-22 portables at West Ranch HS to accommodate all students. This will cost the district $1.9 - $3 million dollars over the next few years and put 3,800 students on the West Ranch campus. That is still 700 students over capacity.

3.  Split Castaic students into two high schools, but allow the entering classes to stay together.  All incoming freshmen from Castaic for the next 2 years would attend Valencia HS until they graduate. The next 2 years of incoming Castaic freshman would attend West Ranch HS until they graduate. This would allow 2 high schools to share the burden of the excess numbers. According to district staff, this is a cost free solution that requires no facility modification and allows the students of Castaic in the same grade to remain together.

Actions taken: 

Over the last week West Ranch residents have made their voices heard. 

·          On Monday a group of 75+ Southern Oaks residents attended a meeting at IHOP to review the issues and support the signing of a letter that is being presented to the board

·          Also on Monday, a group of West Ranch residents appeared before the Board at a meeting at District headquarters to speak against redrawing boundaries and against overcrowding.

·          On Tuesday a group of over 100 spoke with Board Members Dennis King and Paul Strickland as well as Superintendent Castellanos at IHOP to ask questions and voice our concerns.  Board Member Gloria Mercado-Fortine was also in the audience.

·          We have been sending emails and have been making phone calls to the board to voice our concerns.

Concerns of West Ranch residents:

Residents of Stevenson Ranch (including Southern Oaks, Sunset Point, Westridge, Wiley Canyon and Calgrove) have united to present the board with the following concerns: 

·          Boundaries – We do not want the boundaries changed for West Ranch in order to keep the Castaic students together (a group that will be leaving for another high school in 4 years).

·          Overcrowding – Adding 22 portables and having a student body that will reach at least 3,800 students will have a negative impact on the quality of education for all students. Competition for AP classes, sporting teams, band, cheer, clubs, etc. will be extremely fierce. Students need these extracurricular activities to grow as young people as well as increase their chances of getting into college.

·          Safety/Traffic - The congestion of traffic and pedestrians in the area is already unbearable and at times unsafe. The addition over the next four years of approximately 1,400 plus students being driven into a school with only one-way access is unsafe and intolerable. There is also great concern in the event of emergency situations.

·          Misuse of Funds – Spending 3 million dollars on moving portables to a campus that is not truly equipped to handle this number of students is unacceptable. This is spending long- term dollars on a short-term problem.

We have one last opportunity to voice our concerns by being present while they decide what to do about the future of West Ranch High School. This affects all of us. Please make every effort to attend the next meeting!

Meeting:      Wednesday, February 21^st

                   7:30 pm

                   Hart High School Auditorium

CONCERNED CITIZENS OF STEVENSON RANCH

Posted on Wednesday, February 14, 2007 at 8:01 p.m.

Dear friends,

Ricci Wheatley

From: KARYN MALCHUS [mailto:]
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2007 12:39 PM

BIG NEWS

Please bear with us - we are getting info. out to you as soon as we know it and therefore things can change frequently.  Here are some meetings that we know are for sure.

DISTRICT MEETING  MONDAY, FEB. 12th 6-9pm

LOCATION: DISTRICT OFFICE

REPRESENTATIVE MEETING TUESDAY, FEB. 13TH 7:30PM @ IHOP RESTAURANT

DISTRICT BOARD MEETING WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21ST.  TIME/LOCATION TBD

SHOW UP - DO NOT LET ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY PASS UP OUR COMMUNITY!!!

Monday Board Meeting:

We need a huge turnout for this even if you don't want to speak.  Please attend for the future of our students. Do not let another opportunity get by our community.

This meeting is not about our agenda.  However, on the agenda is "public comments."  After talking with Paul Strickland it seems we are allowed to speak on any district matter during this time.  Speakers are only given two minutes to speak.  The district office will be informed Monday morning that we will be in attendance.  There are already plans to have speakers from Southern Oaks, Stevenson Ranch and Wiley Cyn areas.  These speakers will cover the following issues:

1.The impact on the quality of education for the students at West Ranch.  The fact that the classes are already overcrowded.  The fact that there will be a ridiculous amount of competition for sporting teams, band, ASB, and the multitude of other clubs on campus.  The fact that there may be more teachers and a variety of classes offered does not negate that the high school experience is about more than just classes.  Students involvement in the student government, the different committees and clubs are what help to prepare them for their next step into adulthood.  These opportunities for most students will be lost.

2.  The danger of having more than 5,000 - 6,000 students between Rancho Pico and West Ranch being driven daily in and out to schools that have only one access road.  The dangers in case of an emergency. 

3.  The sheer cost of moving the portables to our site when they are already up and running on another location that is better equipped to handle the volume.  The board announced that it would cost 1.7 million to move the 11 necessary to handle next years numbers.  Then 11 more would follow the following year bringing this to a total cost of 3 million just to move them to West Ranch from Valencia (they have to be hooked up w.electricity, bathrooms,etc.).  We all know that once the portables are put into place it is a license to overcrowd the school on a continuous basis.  We are still trying to confirm the number of acres of land on Valencia and West Ranch campuses. 

We are brainstorming more issues, but these are the main concerns.  Our objective is to show why putting portables on the West Ranch site is a very bad decision. We are not there to alienate the Castaic community. This is a terrible position for all of us, no matter what community you are from.

We need as many people as possible in attendance.  However, please be a good, "professional" :) citizen.  These board members are in a horrible position and are working hard for all the students whether we agree with their position or not.  We must be succinct, efficient and well spoken in our points.  So, if you are planning to speak, please represent with our communities best interest at heart. 

Tuesday IHOP Meeting 7:30pm

We are very pleased to have Mr. Dennis King as well as Mr. Paul Strickland attending this meeting.  Please know that this also is a critical meeting.  Monday's meeting there will be no question asking.  So, this is your opportunity to get informed and ask questions.  These representatives are going to be voting on this issue.  They are representing you at the decision making meeting Feb. 21st!  We need to get with them personally to express our views and concerns. 

Please don't think this does not affect you.  Our elementary schools are full, the Jr. High and High school are full.  They have to know our expectation that our children be able to go to this school for the duration and that we won't stand for a horribly compromised education. We know this is an issue we are all going to face as long as the building keeps going like it is today.  So, show up and get involved - it IS in your own backyard!!

Thanks to everyone who has put lots of hours in this week trying to organize a way to get heard by the board.  LET US SHOW THEM A UNITED COMMUNITY ON MONDAY FEB. 12TH, TUESDAY FEB. 13TH AND WEDNESDAY, FEB. 21ST!!!!!!!!!!

From: Hope, Ben (NBC Universal) [mailto:]
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 4:51 PM
To: luck4us@.com

Dear Mr. Strickland,

Your positive responses to inquiries regarding the potential redistricting of West Ranch are very much appreciated by the residents of Southern Oaks and Stevenson Ranch.  They are making the rounds among all concerned parents in these neighborhoods.  We are glad to see that there is at least one Board member who supports the need to honor existing boundaries.  We also share your opinion that the people of Castaic created this mess for themselves, by protesting the construction of a school at the Halsey Sloan site, and it should be their responsibility to clean it up, not ours.

Unfortunately, the residents of Castaic had an opportunity to organize prior to Wednesday's meeting.  Their voices drowned out those of the few attendees from Stevenson Ranch and Southern Oaks.  The sense from those who attended was that the "Castaic Movement" had gained an enormous amount of momentum among Board members.  The proposal to add 22 portables to the West Ranch campus, increasing the student population to over 3500 children, is completely unacceptable.  It would significantly deteriorate the learning experience for all that attend.  In addition to exacerbating the nightmarish traffic situation that already exists, it would put an unbearable strain on the school support services, to include: extra curricular activities, special needs curriculums, guidance counseling, janitorial services, etc.

Please note this issue is now at the forefront of nearly every home in Stevenson Ranch and Southern Oaks.  I have scene more than a dozen emails from concerned residents that are not only willing to join the protest but lead it if necessary.  Board members should expect to be inundated with correspondence from myself and my fellow residents.  We will be demanding a special meeting of the board, prior to the next scheduled meeting on February 21^st, so that the voice of Stevenson Ranch and Southern Oaks can be heard over the din of the Castaic residents.  The Board can not make an informed decision until they have heard form all residents/parents who will be impacted by these decisions.  If a special meeting is not granted, the Board should be prepared for further actions for the Stevenson Ranch Southern Oaks residents, to include legal actions if necessary.  We will not sacrifice our children's education to clean up a mess that the residents of Castaic created themselves.  Might I suggest that the Board proactively schedule another hearing as soon as possible, and notify residents on a timely basis so they can make arrangements to attend.

Thank you for your continuing support on this very important issue.

Regards

Ben Hope

From: Elwood [mailto:]
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 10:33 AM

Great letters Karyn and Violet,

I have a current school board member as a neighbor and I have the opportunity to discuss this issue with him last night.  His name is Dennis King and he is quite concerned about the current direction for a number of reasons.  The overcrowding that we will experience will be a huge compromise to our kids education.  Imagine over 3500 kids on the campus.  Dennis has met with Castaic PTA to tell them the problem created by this overcrowding but they seem to more concerned with the building that their kids attend school in, than with the quality of their education. In addition, the money that will be spent on portables must come from somewhere, again compromising the education we can expect for the kids.  Imagine how early we will need to leave home to get our kids to school on time each day.

It is clear that many members (Dennis indicated two especially) are greatly influenced to vote the way the majority of the people attending the meeting wish.  As I understand the final decision is set to be made at the next school board meeting on February 21st.  I think we still have time to influence this decision.  Everyone should call and write their school board and plan to attend the next meeting.  We must go to the meeting with clear arguments for why the plan originally proposed to the board to put incoming 9th graders from Castaic in Valencia High for two years and then at West Ranch for 2 years is the best plan.  We cannot go asking questions but must come to let the board know our views.  They need to do what is right and we will need to be organized to make that happen. 

Please keep all the information and e-mails circulating and make sure as you hear new information you send it along.  I know the parents at Pico have started a petition drive but we must also come out in numbers.  If anyone wants to help organize something I would be willing to help.  If you can and want to get this going, let me know.

If anyone has the address and e-mail for the school board handy it would great to distribute it to all. 

(I am just copying distributions from other's e-mails so if you get this twice in error, please forgive me.)

Linda Johnson

From: Jodi Goodman [mailto]
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 11:26 AM
To: Otomamayl@
Subject: Fwd: Stevenson Ranch

Hi Linda - I was forwarded the letters from Violet et al from another parent and thought you could send this back to all of those you have on that very long list. It starts at the bottom with my letter to Paul Strickland last night and ends with his second response to me this morning. We do need to get to other board members and let them know where we stand and why.

Jodi Goodman

Begin forwarded message:
From: "P/R Strickland" < >
Date: February 9, 2007 9:43:07 AM PST
To: "Jodi Goodman" < >
Subject: Re: Stevenson Ranch

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, please feel free to pass it along. Thanks for asking if you could do so.

One other, somewhat sore point for me occurred when I mentioned The Oaks during my discussion about the Calgrove/Wiley options. The Oaks tract is located on Calgrove near the Hidden Valley tract. I live in HV, and have lived here 9 years. My son just graduated from Hart in 2006 along with a number of his neighbors, including many from Stevenson Ranch whose seniors were still attending Hart High in 2006. This area, HV and the Oaks, also was assigned to WR when the District-wide boundaries were recently changed. Some people at the meeting from Southern Oaks thought The Oaks meant Southern Oaks. That was not the case. An administrator, later, was talking about Sunset Pointe and the Pico Canyon area, which inferred Southern Oaks, although he did not mention it by name. It was confusing

Thanks again,

Paul

From: "Jodi Goodman" < >
To: "P/R Strickland" <>
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 8:31 AM
Subject: Re: Stevenson Ranch

Hi again - Thank you. I do understand what you were trying to do and I truly appreciate the time you are taking to respond to each of us (even at 10:30 p.m.). This is a no-win situation; someone will be unhappy and all of you will bear the brunt of any decision made.

If it is alright with you, I'd like to pass your response on to others here. It may quell the frenzy.
 

JJodi Goodman 

On Feb 8, 2007, at 10:35 PM, P/R Strickland wrote:

Hello, 

I was just providing information about the history and trying to explain the options presented to the board. I did not intend to imply that I or any board member was in favor of a particular option. I can only speak for myself. I am not suggesting any boundary changes. These were options discussed at the meeting. No written option suggesting any group of West Ranch students other than Castaic students has been given to the board.

I know that we committed to send all of Castaic students to WR until Castaic High was built. It is really important that the school be built by 2010. This issue of overcrowding at WR came about at our Jan.17th. meeting when we were discussing the cost of moving portables on the West Ranch campus at a cost of 1.9 million dollars for 11 portables. The administration presented a written option regarding busing Castaic students to Golden Valley.. Clearly, the Board knew that WR was built for 2600 and that by the 2007-2008 class that the capacity would be exceeded, necessitating portables. Because of the cost of the portables and the increased staff, other options were suggested by the administration. 

In my opinion we should not be sending any students to schools other than their currently assigned schools. I do not think we should reset any boundaries. First, we should re-visit the costs of the relocatables, and at the same time we should institute an open enrollment policy for all of the students in the potentially affected areas. Valencia and Hart high schools each offer some unique and successful programs that certain students might prefer. Hart High has an incredibly popular and well established, award- winning Show Choir, for example. Since many seniors from Stevenson Ranch, Hidden Valley, etc. just graduated from Hart in 2006, I'm sure there are parents who might want to send their younger children to Hart because they like the school, the teachers, etc. The same potential situation exists for Castaic parents who may harbor fond feelings for Valencia.

I think that you and your concerned neighbors should attend the meeting. If you check the agenda for the meeting of Feb.21st., you will see what options will be presented to us to be voted upon.

Again, I was responding because I wanted to be helpful.

From: "Jodi Goodman" <>
To:
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 9:50 PM
Subject: Stevenson Ranch

Dear Mr. Strickland:

We have received copies of your correspondence with Southern Oaks residents regarding the West Ranch High overcrowding issue and discussion of possible (though unlikely) boundary changes. We are residents in Stevenson Ranch. We do not live in Southern Oaks nor will we have a child attending high school for 6 years. However, this issue matters to us because our community could be changed for the wrong reasons.

None of the historic details you describe in your correspondence address the current issue and instead serve to muddle what everyone in this area is angry about. Previous boundaries are no longer relevant because West Ranch and Rancho Pico were built to serve the Stevenson Ranch and nearby communities. There is no logic to overcrowding Stevenson Ranch schools with Castaic students and then solving the overcrowding by moving Stevenson Ranch and/or nearby community students to a high school outside the area. This is what angers Stevenson Ranch residents and I suspect the residents of the other areas you cite in your letters as well (e.g. Sunset Point, The Oaks, etc). The problems facing the Castaic community are not Stevenson Ranch's problem and the solution is not to displace students in one community by students from another. The simple and appropriate solution is to place incoming Castaic freshmen in the underutilized Hart High School. No displacement will occur by doing that. Finally, Castaic residents have no inherent right to determine which other community will bear their problems.

This decision is properly in the hands of the Hart District Board which must decide how the interest of all students are best served.

Jodi Goodman and Bill Josey

From: KARYN MALCHUS
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: Redistricting for West Ranch (meeting info) (and added comments!)

Hello Everyone –

Violet, thank you so much for writing such a comprehensive synopsis of what occured last night.  (See below if this is new to you.) I was at the meeting as well.  I did stay until at least two Ranch residents got up to speak.  They were boo'd.  Many of our neighbors didn't attend the meeting.  I don't think anyone of us realized what was at stake.  However, now we get the picture.  So, ignorance can no longer be bliss. 

No, the proposal of moving the Stevenson Ranch students was never on the table.  No one even knows how that one got started. However, that was not the purpose of the fliers/e-mails.  They were sent out to get our community together to rally against the overcrowding of our high school.  You see what we do now and how we act sets a precedence for how our school and our community will be revered.  Our behavior is exemplary of what we will and will not tolerate.  If you think this doesn't affect us you need to review what is happening right now in our own backyard - our neighbors can't get into their own school.  The people already attending or have siblings at West Ranch are the only ones guaranteed a spot.  As we've experienced the board can realign the boundaries at any given time.  The school board is in a huge predicament (I admire each of them for their hard work).  They are doing the best they can - but they are only heard from Castaic and those parents had a HUGE impact.  This problem will not go away if and when their school gets built.  It didn't go away for us when Pico opened their doors - it is a ongoing problem.  Whether it be Castaic, Newhall Land's 20,000 new homes going in or our own Phase 5 of the Ranch (which is bigger than all of the existing Ranch) it seems we may be in for the long haul of fighting for a decent number of students and an uncompromised academic future.

I have been in contact with Barb Sellers who is very well informed on all of this.  I spoke with her at length.  It is my understanding that the board had an alternative proposal that never got on the table because it involved diverting any incoming students from Castaic (current students would stay and sibs would grandfather in) to Valencia where the portable classrooms are already set up - the proposal was that this would be deemed the temporary home of Castaic High School until their school opened.  They never put it on the table because any such talk about diverting Castaic students was met with great hostility (and rightly so - this situation is horrible).  So, you can see their voice is getting results.  In the interim the possibility of 22 portables being moved from Valencia HS (which has 44 acres) to our West Ranch (which has 11/2 acres) was looking like it might be considered again!  Basically, the school board lost ground.  The fact that Valencia had to experience 3800 students at their location is appalling.  However, now they are going to try to sell that same idea here on 11 1/2 acres!!!???- all because it was done before (see the precedence).  Last night was our opportunity to stand up for our community and tell them we will not tolerate the safety of our children - traffic, too many kids in a school three times smaller than where they did this before, etc.  It was also our opportunity to let them know we will not sacrifice the current nor the future student's educational experience.

I was desperate today to see if anything further could be done.  Could we start a letter writing campaign, etc....Barb Sellers will be getting back to me.  I know she is trying to get another meeting.  If not she and others are going to try to organize another way to communicate with our school board.  As soon as I know anything I will forward the information.  If anyone else knows anything please inform the community.  In light of all this, I know we will not make this mistake again.  We need to be active if we want our children to have a quality education.

Thanks for listening, Karyn

VioletJRein@ wrote:

Hi all,

My friend Marla and I, along with only a handful of other Stevenson Ranch families (at least from what I could pick out amongst the sea of Castaicans) attended last night's meeting (which was standing room only and overflowed well into the street), and was, not surprisingly, left with more questions than answers. 

Castaic families were at the meeting in insurmountable numbers and were represented by picket signs carried by students, families, town council, school administrators, etc.  I may be confused, but one thing I know for certain is that they are not going to accept anything other than attending West Ranch (WRHS). 

Although we left shortly before 10:00 P.M., and the board had not yet adjourned, we did not, however, hear anyone bring up the subject of the Stevenson Ranch students.  The gist of the meeting was as follows:

Stevenson Ranch is not being moved...at least not yet -- although consider the impact on school crowding and traffic into the Westridge area for drop off and pickup, if Castaic stays and phase 5 of Stevenson Ranch sells.  With that population in mind, they spoke of a student body that could possible (and not unlikely) exceed 3500!!!  That is insane!!!

Castaic is slated for a high school, dollars and all, and if all goes as planned, which we know rarely does, the school will not be ready until the 2010/2011 school year.  The hold up is, surprise, surprise, the developer's EIR (Environmental Impact Report) on the North Shores site.  The EIR is reportedly in the hands of the developer, Sun Cal.  (Sun Cal's rep is good at saying nothing.)  Mike Antonovich's office had a deputy something there, too, to say how ardently supportive they are of getting the EIR through once Sun Cal gives it to them, blah, blah, blah.  So according to them, the school will, at best, be ready in 2010.  At worst, is anybody's guess.

It does seems like they are leaning toward allowing the Castaic students continue on at West Ranch until their high school is built.  Those students, if they so choose, can electively transfer to Hart, Valencia, or Golden Valley schools, as long as there is open enrollment at those campuses.  One of the women on the board, is obviously very pro-Castaic, and she did not attempt to hide that fact, so she will fight the other members, tooth and nail, to allow those students to remain at West Ranch.  She definitely won the popularity contest last night!!! 

To temporarily reduce the overcrowding at West Ranch, one of the members of the board, introduced the possibility of routing the students from Wiley, Calgrove, and Sunset Point, currently attending West Ranch, to those 3 high schools mentioned above.  His plan (gee, I wonder why) was met with exuberant applause from the Castaic audience and enough support of the board to warrant instruction to gather information on its impact to consider being started as soon as this fall. 

The board had "taken off  the table", the option of busing Castaic kids to Golden Valley, and apparently, contrary to all those misleading emails that circulated, Stevenson Ranch kids were never considered for that school!  

However, the most debated proposal was the plan to spend 1.7+ million dollars on 11 portables and one restroom, with electrical and data hookups, for placement on West Ranch, with the possibility of 11 more to follow.  This was their possible resolution, in order to accommodate all those Castaic students until they have a high school.  

Alternatively, there is a bitterly disputed (by all those mobs of Castaic residents present at the meeting) proposal to have the Castaic kids attend two years at Valencia and two years at West Ranch.

The board confirmed that if the Wiley, Calgrove, and Sunset Point kids are redistricted (does the word Summit ring a bell, anyone?) they would be given the benefit of the grand-fathering and sibling rules (meaning if you are there you stay and if you have an older sibling in attendance you have an in also).  So that about sums it up.  For now, we all need to be on top of this!  

Violet Rein

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