Decision on Bonsall high school plan may be 4 years away, officials say

By: DARRYN BENNETT - North County Times | Saturday, January 12, 2008 8:31 PM PST ∞

BONSALL - A state education official said last week it could take up to four years before the state considers Bonsall Union School District's bid to build its own high school because of state staffing shortages and burgeoning caseloads.

The county Board of Education voted 3-2 last month to endorse the district's proposal to "unify" - essentially adding a high school so it can serve kindergartners through 12th-graders. Currently, Bonsall schools only serve students through eighth grade.

Larry Shirey, the official who processes unification requests at the state Department of Education, said new proposals could take years to reach the state Board of Education for a vote. He added Friday that the process could drag out even longer because of the nearly 10 percent cut to the education budget proposed Thursday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, which Shirey said would exacerbate department shortages.

"It's going to be a long haul," said Carole Parks, a business services consultant for the county Office of Education. "The state is backlogged and right now (Shirey) is the only staff person processing these matters."

Shirey said he had at least a dozen petitions to process before Bonsall's.

Even if the state board does eventually back Bonsall's bid for a high school, area residents would still have to approve the plan in a ballot measure and a site for a new high school would have to be identified, officials said.

Bonsall and Fallbrook school district administrators said last week they weren't surprised by news that it could take until 2012 before the state weighs in on the controversial plan.

Bonsall officials have been pushing for unification because area parents have complained for years about the quality of education at Fallbrook Union High School District campuses, which most Bonsall teenagers attend. Fallbrook administrators have argued that Bonsall's unification proposal would drain educational resources and siphon hundreds of students and staffers from their campuses.

The 88-square-mile Bonsall district serves nearly 1,800 students from Bonsall, Pala and parts of Fallbrook and Oceanside. Of Fallbrook High School's total enrollment of approximately 3,000, about 20 percent are students from the Bonsall district.

Bonsall Union Superintendent Jeff Felix said that while he's disappointed by the long approval process, the county board's vote Dec. 3 to endorse unification was still a giant step forward.

"I had first heard it would take somewhere between 18 months and three years for a decision," he said.

Meanwhile, Chester Gannett, assistant superintendent of business for the Fallbrook district, said last week he wasn't discouraged by either the county's endorsement or delays at the state Education Department.

"We'll monitor (the proposal's) progress and respond as necessary," he said.

After reviewing a report on unification prepared by an independent consulting firm, the county board voted to support Bonsall's bid, but acknowledged that the plan fails to meet at least two conditions for school redistricting required by the state education code.

According to the board's decision, the proposal could increase school building costs and financially hurt one or both of the Fallbrook and Bonsall districts. A 600-student Bonsall high school would cost the Bonsall district $25 million to build, and both districts would probably "expend more funds than they would receive" if redistricting occurred, according to the report.

County Board of Education President Robert Watkins, who cast a dissenting vote, said the county's endorsement was financially irresponsible.

"When I looked at this and reviewed the finances it just showed me districts going into deep water financially," he said. "As much as people in Bonsall may deserve a school, that doesn't justify going into debt."

The report states that moving a chunk of taxpayers from the high school district to the Bonsall district would leave those still in the Fallbrook district with 48 percent higher tax payments on Fallbrook's bonds.

While Felix acknowledged that administrative changes could take place while the proposal is stalled at the state level, he said that he and the Bonsall board plan to push ahead with unification plans.

Specifically, he said the district will survey the community to determine what residents desire in a new high school and continue talks with Fallbrook administrators to improve services to students in the meantime, Felix said.

"We want to get (Fallbrook officials) on board (with the unification process) and we want to be a good neighbor," he said. "If there are ways we can improve services to students while we're working to get a high school, we're open to that."

Felix added that negotiations with the Fallbrook district have been stymied since early December when Superintendent Tom Anthony's negotiated resignation - technical language for a buyout - took effect.

Contact staff writer Darryn Bennett at (760) 740-5420 or dmbennett@nctimes.com.