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

Rotary hears from Platt

FALLBROOK – Teresa Platt was the speaker at the Fallbrook Village Rotary meeting, June 5.

Platt, who worked to save Gird Valley from high-density development following the closure of the Fallbrook Golf Club, shared her thoughts on the Bonsall Unified School District's proposal to build a 1,500-student high school at the northern edge of the district in Fallbrook's Gird Valley.

Platt said the proposed site has lost at the ballot box five times since 1978, most recently in 2016. A sixth attempt is scheduled for November 2018.

Platt shared the research she did for http://www.SaveGirdValley.com. She said BUSD has been pushing for large-scale development and is out of sync with district residents in rural North County.

Platt said Lilac Hills Ranch interests, for example, contributed heavily to BUSD's unification campaign which expanded programs from K-8 to K-12 in 2012 and to a $58 million bond for Measure DD and tied the debt to property taxes which failed at the ballot box in 2016.

Platt said BUSD's superintendent was seen aggressively lobbying the county board of supervisors in 2015 and 2016 to approve Lilac Hills Ranch, which failed at the ballot box in 2016 but is back again this year.

The Bonsall Unified School District covers 88 square miles from Oceanside to Pala and is ringed by 32 public and 15 private high schools. Platt said enrollment at Fallbrook High School is down 30 percent, and Valley Center-Pauma has a closed K-8 school. She said BUSD's 2018 graduating class is just 56 students, down 30 percent from 80 ninth-graders enrolled in 2014.

Platt said enrollment at other grades has declined, and BUSD's 2017 audit report found that, since unification, enrollment has increased by just 169 students districtwide while debt increased $14.5 million.

Platt said that she feels BUSD is wasting money on the Gird Road site and noted that the BUSD board approved $242,000 on design work for the high school it proposes to build in Fallbrook's Gird Valley. She added that a 2017 property report done by volunteers recommended BUSD build out slowly in conjunction with the development of Ocean Breeze Ranch, 1,400 acres located adjacent to the BUSD Sullivan campus in the core of Bonsall, conveniently located for district residents.

 
 

Reader Comments(1)

SaveGirdValley writes:

Thanks for publishing this. Edited out was Platt's recommendation that Mello Roos fees be used to pay for large infrastructure projects such as schools. She also urged those opposed to sprawl to run for the BUSD school board this fall. There will be four seats open. You can read more at SaveGirdValley.com