Update March 11:  Trustee Dick Hoy provided this update on the vote.  

"The item involving issuing layoff notices was split in two.  Librarians were voted on separately.  The vote to issue layoff/reassignment notices to teachers and Vice Principals passed 4-1--Hoy dissenting.  The vote to reassign librarians passed 3-2--Hoy and Schrieber dissenting. .. It should be posted soon.  They were difficult decisions for each member of the board."  A video of the meeting will be posted soon on the GUHSD website, he advised.

“…Schools with librarians have their students achieve better on standardized tests than those that don’t.” – Nancy Everhart, president, American Association of School Libraries

By Jeremy Los

March 7, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – High school libraries across East County will soon be losing services of trained librarians, if proposed budget cuts are approved Thursday by the Grossmont Union High School District board.  As California struggles to dig itself out of a massive budget hole, the board must also contend with massive budget gaps. 

“As I understand the proposal,” Grossmont Union High School District Board Vice President Dick Hoy told East County Magazine, “all librarian positions will be cut.”

February 27, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)—Santana and West Hills went head to head on February 23rd to determine the 1st place Varsity team to represent the 2010-2011 Grossmont League in the county finals this Spring.

Ruth Weiss moderated the match and over 150 people crowded into the Grossmont High School library, where the standing-room-only crowd watched two brilliant teams of scholars move back and forth with the lead.

GUHSD BOARD VOTES TO MOVE FORWARD WITH DESIGN PLANS AND AVOID DELAY….FOR NOW

By Miriam Raftery

February 11, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – “Please keep your promise and build the new High School for us,” 12-year-old Alpine student Dominique Markowitz implored the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) board during last night’s meeting, echoing the sentiments of nearly everyone in an overflow crowd that filled three rooms.

Trustee Priscilla Schreiber successfully fought to prevent the Board from approving a proposal by the Superintendent to delay construction bids indefinitely. She also pushed fellow Board members to unanimously authorize submitting site design plans to the state’s Division of State Architects review board. The Board voted 5-0 to approve several other components of the Superintendent’s proposal to keep the project moving forward, but language to delay construction bidding indefinitely was removed from the resolution adopted.

We understand that there may be (again) a declared "delay" of the 12th GUHSD HS startup. This will effectively kill this project forever. -- Bill Weaver

By Bill Weaver

By Miriam Raftery

January 1, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – At the holiday break, Santana High School’s Varsity leads 5-0 after the first six weeks of the 10-week Academic League competition in the Grossmont Union High School District. In the Junior Varsity division, Granite Hills is on top with a flawless 6-0 record.

On Wednesday, November 10, the Mount Miguel High School JROTC held its 21st Annual Veteran’s Day Ceremony. More than 175 JROTC Cadets participated in the ceremony honoring all military personnel who have served our country throughout history.

By Miriam Raftery

November 3, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Amid an era of tight budgets, Julian voters passed a school bond measure with 59% of the vote (55% was needed to win).

Debbie Justeson and Edwin Heil, both backed by the teacher’s union, appeared headed for election to the Grossmont-Cuyamaca board, with nearly all votes counted.

Over 7,000 East County Students & Parents Expected to Attend Largest Career/College Fair in San Diego County
 

October 12, 2010 (El Cajon) The Grossmont Union High School District will host its seventh annual “Got Plans?” Career & College Fair for 9 - 12th grade students and parents on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Cuyamaca College.

July 1, 2010 (San Diego's East County) -- Ralf Swenson has been tentatively selected as the next superintendent of the Grossmont Union High School District contingent on successful contract negotiation, a positive community visit by the Governing Board to his current school district and further routine background checks.

By Miriam Raftery

June 5, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – After 43 years in public service, Grossmont Union High School Superintendent Robert “Bob” Collins is leaving the public sector to accept a position with a private company. Yesterday, community leaders in business, education and government held a surprise send-off event at Monte Vista Village in Lemon Grove to honor Collins.
 

The City and County both declared Friday, June 4th as “Robert Collins Day.” Charlene Zettel presented a proclamation from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Supervisor Dianne Jacob praised Collins as “best in class” and joked, “Our strategy is to weight you down with so many awards and proclamations that you will decide not to leave.”

May 29, 2010 (Alpine) – Grossmont Union High School District will host a forum on Alpine’s planned new high school on Tuesday, June 8 at 6 p.m. in the Alpine Community Center, 1830 Alpine Boulevard in Alpine. Residents from throughout the Grossmont Union High School are welcome to attend. While boundaries for the new school’s attendance are still being finalized, parents from Alpine and Blossom Valley are particularly encouraged to participate in the forum.

Speakers will include GUHSD superintendent Bob Collins, assistant superintendent mike Lewis, facility planner and project lead Dena Johnson, director of instruction Cindy Douglas, as well as the architectural team from IBI Group/Sprotte-Watson and the GUHSD design team.

Board meets May 13; Critics slam GUHSD for secretly stacking advisory board with conservative political figures

By Miriam Raftery

May 12, 2010 (Alpine) – Why doesn’t the Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) want the public to be given the names of people appointed to serve on a committee to name Alpine’s planned new high school?

“It’s a secret that East county’s high school district evidently would prefer you didn’t know,” stated a San Diego Union-Tribune editorial.  The GUHSD board forced the newspaper to file an official public records act request to obtain committee members' names.

The list suggests the GUHSD trustees hand-picked political figures, a large majority of whom support naming the new school after former president Ronald Reagan.