Grossmont High School District Ignores Monetary Value of Alpine High School

This note is in response to the on a petition drive to create an Alpine Unified School District and launch a high school in Alpine.

To the editor:

[The situation that led to the petition drive] is a Jim Kelly and Dr. Gary Woods-led farce, the declining enrollment. At Granite Hills High School, they are way overcrowded, at nearly 3,000 students—a school designed for 1,800 in the 1950s.

Is the Grossmont Union High School District replacing the many dilapidated portables with new Prop. H and U funded buildings and classrooms, or what?

Yes, Alpine and Blossom Valley have a legitimate beef! It is predicted that if the GUHSD itself builds an Alpine High School, there will be millions of dollars that will be gained by the GUHSD, via a recovery of current LOST students, and some gained new students.

If the GUHSD does not build it, and the Alpine Unified School District does, these millions from new student revenues will flow into AUSD. This revenue growth happens under the recovery predictions of the GUHSD’s own professional demographer.

Mr. Vince O’Hara, GUHSD demographer, also in 1996 correctly predicted Steele Canyon High School’s student inflow. He underpredicted to be conservative. Steele Canyon’s growth rate exceeded his predictions.

Steele Canyon Charter High School reached 2,000 students in only four years after it opened. Today it is about 2,300 students. Negotiating the divorce of Alpine from the GUHSD would entitle the community of Alpine to approximately $80 million to $110 million. That is Alpine’s reported share of Grossmont’s assets.

Alpine High School predictions are safely conservative also. See the 12th Alpine High expected student recovery report for yourself on the GUHSD website. Understand the increased revenue expectation to WHOMEVER builds a comprehensive Alpine area high school. Go to the Grossmont Union HS District’s own website homepage at www.GUHSD.net, then click on the right side near the top, below the header, on this titled link “School Boundaries,” then click “Boundary Committee Historical Documents,” then click the report titled “Estimated Impact_DistrictPop_Recovery.” (See attached PDF)

Here you will find much more detailed student growth info, and the conservative estimates or predictions. Ask this question: “Why has the GUHSD Governing Board ignored this data of gained students and revenue?”

Bill Weaver
Alpine