The Murrieta Valley Unified School District board voted Thursday to revise high school attendance boundaries to make way for Murrieta Mesa High School, which will open in 2009. Photo by Steve Thornton - Staff Photographer Sell
Research and Tools
Parts & Service
- Auto Parts
- Service & Repair
- Quick Searches
- Auto Repair
- Oil Change
MURRIETA: Board approves boundaries in split vote
Students between I-15 and I-215 to attend new school
By RANI GUPTA - Staff Writer | ∞
The Murrieta Valley Unified School District board voted Thursday to revise high school attendance boundaries to make way for Murrieta Mesa High School, which will open in 2009. Photo by Steve Thornton - Staff Photographer MURRIETA ---- A divided school board Thursday approved attendance boundaries that will take effect when a new high school opens in 2009, opting for a plan that supporters say would better balance enrollment in the district's three high schools over a proposal that would send some students to schools closer to their homes.
District trustees voted 3-2 to assign students between Interstates 15 and 215 to Murrieta Mesa High School when it opens in August 2009 off Los Alamos Road near I-15.
Trustee Robin Crist said the plan would more evenly divide the student population among the new school and the district's existing high schools, Vista Murrieta and Murrieta Valley.
"Some of the other scenarios were already stacking Murrieta Mesa from Day One," Crist said.
Trustee Margi Wray said the plan also provided "the cleanest division and the most logical division" by using the highways as dividers.
However, Trustees Kris Thomasian and Kenneth Dickson voted against the proposal, favoring a plan that would send students living south of Murrieta Hot Springs Road and east of I-215 to the new school instead of Vista Murrieta.
That plan, developed by Thomasian based on a previous proposal, would have given Vista Murrieta those students living west of I-215 and north of Clinton Keith Road, and would have kept some living south of Clinton Keith in Vista Murrieta.
Thomasian said the proposal that was approved will have some students attending schools that are farther away and cost $54,000 more in busing than Thomasian's proposal, according to district estimates. Thomasian said the boundaries favored by the board majority would likely cause many families to request transfers.
"If we don't look at the proximity issue first, we're looking at some other issues down the road," Thomasian said.
She also noted that her proposal would provide the new school with a similar population ---- about 2,300 students after five years in a school built for 2,200 ---- to the plan trustees ultimately approved.
Trustee Paul Diffley said Thomasian's belief that the district would be "bombarded with transfer requests" was "speculative." He worried that Thomasian's plan would overload the new school with students from apartments and cause an 11-point drop in average Academic Performance Index scores.
"I don't want to see Mesa become the poor kid on the block in terms of intellectual capacity," he said.
Thomasian said a difference wouldn't be "statistically significant" and said she believes apartments are "spread throughout the community." She said any disparity among the school's populations could be solved by adding programs to one or more of the schools.
The boundaries will probably be phased in so older students may continue to attend their current schools. All students may request transfers to attend a school out of their attendance zone.
Contact staff writer Rani Gupta at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or rgupta@californian.com.
More Stories
matt wrote on May 9, 2008 12:05 AM:i definately think the plan they approved of is the most logical plan and will hopefully aleviate some of the traffic on the clinton keith-215 bridge because they wont need to cross it now to get to school..very good choice murrieta valley school district!!
are you serious wrote on May 9, 2008 12:08 AM:are these people so closed minded that they think only stupid kids live in apartments?? you have got to be kidding me...how ignorant are these people working for our school district??
mary wrote on May 9, 2008 7:02 AM:are you serious is so right. Their concerns reveal a lot. And people with this mindset are in charge of educating children for the future? Once in a while we get a glimpse into how people REALLY think, not the carefully phrased responses to issues. This was one of them. This mentality was just one of the many factors that have led to our housing meltdown. If you don't own a home and heaven forbid you rent an apartment because you're fiscally responsible, you're somehow considered deficient, and now so are your kids. I wonder who they have ties to?
Hard to believe wrote on May 9, 2008 7:20 AM:11 point drop in scores due to kids from apartments? Wow. What about condos? What about neighborhoods decimated by foreclosure? Sounds like if you really care about your kids getting a good education, private school might be the best option. Oh wait..that's right, there's nothing left after paying your mortgage.
Teacher wrote on May 9, 2008 7:26 AM:This is exactly what they think about people living in apartments. We here this all of the time at our staff meetings. They also blame all of the minorities moving into the district for anything under the sun.
Hard to believe wrote on May 9, 2008 7:37 AM:I just thought of something before going to work. If an apartment turns into a condo and you buy, do you or your child's IQ go up? If IQ is linked to equity then I would say a significant amount of people just got dumbed down.
mary wrote on May 9, 2008 8:25 AM:There has always been prejudice against someone or group perceived to be less than the one doing the discriminating. People always have to feel like they're better than somebody. Sounds like some of these school board people's ancestors came from Mississippi and they're just carrying on the family tradtion.
Rediculous wrote on May 9, 2008 9:37 AM:I work for the district AND live in a condo inside of an apartment complex to the tune of $2000 a month. My kids have A's and B's, so your theory, well you can shove it! I think this is a really low blow to people whom have lost their homes and now live in apartments or condos. By the way, I have friends who live in huge overstated houses in some of the nicest places and their kids aren't doing so hot in school. So again, you can shove the so called "statistics". 11 point drop... I laugh at that one!
What wrote on May 9, 2008 10:21 AM:This just proves my theory that the people who run Murrieta are CLUELESS. You are a semidescent town in the Inland Empire, get over it.
Are you kidding wrote on May 9, 2008 10:38 AM:Do you really think that because someone lives in an apartment or condo that they are less educated? Does this really make any sense? If you are saying that it will lower you 11 points, then maybe you should look at the teachers who are teaching these students and re-evaluate the situation. It is sad to hear that even teachers are conssistently talking about this? How unfair is it to these students. Did you say the same thing when Wolf Creek was opened with all the indians near by? You really need to open you eyes and see what is going on with our economy. Students want to go to school to learn, not to be discriminated against because they live in an apartment or condo. You really need to re-look this article and see what can of worms you are opening!!!!
Uh come again wrote on May 9, 2008 11:43 AM:Why do we elect public officials who perpetuate these embarrassingly igorant stereotypes about people who live in anything but a single family home? I remember a councilmember making the same type of disparraging comments when the city was considering the affordable apartments on Jefferson Avenue. First, were the comments about crime, then it was some concern that it would result in "cars with their hoods up." Now we have a school board member who has deduced that people in multi-family dwellings have lower IQ's. Good lord, who elects people like these two gems? Both of these public officials should be embarrassed. That being said, the majority of the board made the correct decision on the boundries.
Hey What wrote on May 10, 2008 10:26 PM:You spelled "decent" incorrectly...maybe you lived in an apartment while going to school.
Taxpayer wrote on May 11, 2008 11:05 AM:People from Murrieta are missing the point. It doesn't matter who goes to the school, you are wasting money even opening the school. There was an article by one of the superintedents which said we should build this school because construction costs are low - "It makes sense" - not. How much money do you think it costs to supply the school with supplies, books, and staff. It is a terrible waste of money in a time of budget cuts. It will affect the quality of education at the other schools in the district.
What wrote on May 12, 2008 9:56 AM:It will not matter how you split up the school district. Once investors start buying up the houses that have gone down in value in Murrieta, they will rent out to just about anyone. Including "Section 8" families. Apartments will be the least of your worries when Murrieta's illusions of grand jour are torn away.
What wrote on May 12, 2008 10:30 AM:And you can pick apart my misspellings....it does not take away from the truth of my words. Bye Bye Dream World!
Ashamed of our School Board wrote on May 17, 2008 9:03 PM:I have been in an ongoing disagreement with the MVUSD for some time now. I knew they were a group of arogant good 'ole boys. But this is too much!
Since they don't have enough sense to be ashamed of themselves, then I will feel the shame for them.
First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.
Submit Comment[-]
Today's Stories
Advertisement