Prop BB vote finalized by Registrar of Voters

The San Diego County Registrar of Voters officially announced December 4 that Prop BB, which would allow for the unification of the Bonsall Union School District (BUSD), was passed by county voters.

According to the registrar, the total number of votes were 19,996, with 52.83 percent (10,564) of voters voting 'yes' and 47.17 percent (9,432) of voters voting ‘no’ for the proposition.

Justin Cunningham, superintendent for BUSD was pleased with the outcome, and knew that the victory would not have been possible without the help of community members who showed their support at the polls.

"Now that the election is behind us, we are excited with the opportunity to develop an academy-style high school so the students in our area have another choice," said Cunningham. "Technology and the highly competitive global economy require a high school focused on helping students link their learning toward college and/or career. It's the last free education they are going to get and we want them to get every penny's worth."

According to Jennifer Leung and Robin Thayer, two of the representatives for parents in support of the proposition, this would finally allow parents to have a choice on what type of education they wanted their children to have.

"A Bonsall High School has been the hope of many for decades," said Leung and Thayer. "With this win, we would like to recognize all of those community members who came before us who wanted to achieve the same goal. Now that unification has been approved, we are excited about the future and the amazing opportunities ahead for all of our stakeholders, our students in particular. Our committee would like to thank the Fallbrook and Bonsall communities for their support. We look forward to working together, addressing any concerns, and making this new high school a success for all of our kids."

However, the process was not seamless, as some stated they had not been issued a ballot, while others wondered why the process had taken so long.

A representative from the registrar’s office was not available to comment on whether or not all local registered voters had received their ballots including the proposition, but a representative did state that it was required to withhold an official certification until Dec. 4.

Dale Mitchell, superintendent for Fallbrook Union High School District (FUHSD), who had originally expressed concern over the final outcome of the tally due to a possible problem with a voting discrepancy, clarified his current position after the final results were announced.

"There are 1,132 more votes supporting Prop BB than opposing it," he said. "It is not a reasonable expectation that of the 1,578 vote discrepancy that over 1,300 of those votes (1,356 at a minimum to be exact) would be in opposition to Prop BB. Therefore, it is not likely that FUHSD will contest the election results."

Cunningham stated that the BUSD is looking forward to showing the community of Fallbrook, De Luz, and Bonsall what its new school will provide the area.

The story above is a corrected version of the original that was published in the hard copy issue of the Village News on December 13, 2012.