I have been quietly sitting back and watching the William S. Hart School Board since the induction of the new board members that were elected last November. It usually takes a few months for new members of any organization to get acclimated to their positions and to dig through much of the data, reports and information for the various issues facing a board.

This past week the Hart School Board voted to punt all Castaic high school aged children to Valencia High School beginning in the fall of 2011. This apparently brought cheers from the Castaic community leadership but in reality this is just another slap in the face to the residents of the Castaic community who have been waiting way too long for the Castaic High School to be built. Now their children will be relegated to one school that will be overcrowded and chock full of portable class rooms for who knows how long.

In essence, the Castaic community leadership appears to be saying; “Thank you Sir, may I have another one! This is just another example of the whipsawing that has gone on for years now with the high school aged children of Castaic with no end in sight. The Castaic leadership appears to be punch-drunk from being jabbed for so many years!

I think that it is time to ask the question, was the current Hart Board School Board elected to provide the very best education for our children or was it voted in to allow precious tax dollars to be lost and/or squandered in what can only be described as an outlandish mismanagement; a land speculation and devaluation scheme that was initiated by the previous Hart School Board?  I sure as hell hope it was to provide the very best education for our children but you won’t know it from the School Boards actions.

It’s very simple, either you going to build a new Castaic High School or you’re not. The Hart School Board has claimed that they are and convinced voters not once, but twice over the last ten years to approve bond issues totaling nearly $500 million dollars in order to get a High School built in Castaic. It no longer is a question of financial resources but rather it is now all about making a decision which the school board appears to be paralyzed over.

Squandering money to do two separate studies on two pieces of property, the Hasley/Sloan and Romero Canyon parcels, is further delaying the new school. This is all being done to placate a few at the expense of the students and their parents.

The Hart School Board seems to lack the spine or the guts, to make a decision. Instead it is playing politics with its’ indecision between the two possible properties to sight the Castaic High School; the Hasley-Sloan property owned by the SCV Facilities Foundation and the Romero Canyon Property owned by local developer Larry Rasmussen.

Here are some refresher points for each piece of property:

Hasley/Sloan- A site in Hasley Canyon at the northeastern corner of Sloan Canyon Road and Hasley Canyon Road   

• This property was examined previously and rejected!
• There have been questions raised as to whether there are soil “liquefaction” issues with this site. “Liquefaction is a phenomenon in which the strength and stiffness of a soil is reduced by earthquake shaking and have been responsible for tremendous amounts of damage in historical earthquakes around the world.” The State Geology Map clearly shows Liquefaction/collapsible soils for this site.

This is a photo of buildings with liquefaction/collapsible soils after an earthquake. Do you want to risk your child’s life on land that will do this to their school building?

• It currently only has one entry point which will require an access bridge to built and a number of experts have apparently claimed it is cost prohibitive to create a second entry which is required for a school site.
• A flood control channel must be built which will require permits from the L.A. County Flood Control, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the California Department of Fish and Game. All of which could take as long as 5 years to get those permits.
• There is apparently no water or sanitation “will serve” letters on this property and no tentative track map.
• And there is a plant called the Beavertail Cactus which appears to be on the endangered species watch list and will require some kind of mitigation.
• It appears to have been owned by the SCV Facilities Foundation since 2003.
• A neighboring community is organized and will file suit should the Hart District attempt to build a high school on this site.
• It’s in smelling distance of a dump!

Romero Canyon Site- A site in the north portion of Castaic approximately one mile west of the termination of Parker Road

• This property has an initial approval as a high school site from the California Dept. of Education;
• The parcel is in the path of future development (meaning homes are currently not there, but will be);
• The parcel is large enough to house a high school as well as other administrative buildings;
• The high school would finish the community’s road circulation plans; and many of the permits are in process or are ready to be pulled making the Romero Canyon site the one location that can come on line the quickest for this under served community.
• The property owner is willing to grade the site.

I wrote about all this back in November of 2009 in a commentary titled “Hart School Board chickens-out; opts to flush more tax money” and here we are five or so months later with the new school board still screwing around. The choice between the two proposed sites is an obvious no-brainer yet the Hart School Board can’t bring themselves to make a decisive and expeditious decision.

The Romero Canyon property is the clear choice between the two options.  

At this point it is time for the William S. Hart School Board to direct the SCV Facilities Foundation to sell the poorly conceived and environmentally challenged property known as Hasley/Sloan. The property was bought with funds borrowed from the Hart General Fund so the proceeds for the Hasley/Sloan sale should be returned to that fund. Regardless if the sale is at a loss because the property was purchased at the wrong price, so be it! General Fund money should be used for General Fund purposes not land speculation.

The Hart School Board needs to stop wasting tax payer dollars and start displaying the strong financial leadership that the district residents expect and require. The Board needs to retract their decision to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on reports that will no doubt come back with information which is already known.

The Hart School Board needs to choose the Romero Canyon property and start to fast track process to get a Castaic High School built now. The taxpayers have voted to authorize the bond money, twice, and it is and has been available to build the Castaic High School. Los Angeles County and the other State and Federal agencies are ready to assist in fast-tracking the permitting process once the choice is made.

If the Castaic residents don’t start demanding this action by the Hart School Board now then you will continue to hear the distant echoes of; “Thank you Sir, may I have another!”

Its time for decisive action, get the Castaic High School built now!

Dave Bossert- Commentary

Dave Bossert is a community volunteer who serves on a number of boards and councils. His commentaries represent his own opinions and not necessarily the views of any organization he may be affiliated with or those of the West Ranch Beacon.