Mon 14 Jun 2010
Commentary: Will the Hart School Board set aside politics & take responsibility for the safety of our Children?
Posted by admin under Castaic , Dave Bossert , Local , Opinion , Santa Clarita Valley , Schools [4] Comments
The shenanigans continue at the William S. Hart School Board and there is no real end in sight. Oh sure, the School Board claims that it will make a decision in July as to which property, either the Hasley/Sloan or the Romero Canyon, to build the new high school on in Castaic. But the truth is that it is all about politics now and nothing else; overcrowded schools or the how it is impacting our children don’t seem to matter; it’s all about the players at the school board and the SCV Facilities Foundation which owns the Hasley/Sloan property.
I have some simple questions for the Hart School Board members; will you take full responsibility for the well being and safety of the Hart School district children after you have made your excruciatingly, long awaited selection of the property to site the Castaic High School? Will you be fully accountable for your decision should it be based on political pressure rather than the actual facts pertaining to each property? Will you be completely culpable if the property selection endangers, injures or kills even one child because of liquefaction issues with the soils that could result in a catastrophic building failure during a large earthquake? Finally, will you stand up and take full, unmitigated responsibility if the property site you select for the new Castaic High School becomes a quagmire of delays, cost over runs, waste and mismanagement?
I wrote back in April, in a piece titled “Thank you Sir, may I have another! Hart Board sticks it to Castaic again” that the Hart School Board had 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 an intelligent decision as to where to site the new Castaic High School.
Squandering money on multiple studies for the two pieces of property, the Hasley/Sloan and Romero Canyon parcels, is further delaying this decision. This is all being done to placate a few who made a poor purchase of the Hasley/Sloan property at the expense of the students and their parents. The school board is up to its eyeballs now with the local politics surrounding this issue.
Further I wrote in April; “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 much of 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 also 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 eight 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.
You look at the photos in this commentary of what happens to buildings on soils that liquefy during an earthquake; do you want your child at risk? 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 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 proposed 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. It order to have the new high school in Castaic open by the promised Fall of 2013 the Hart School Board must make a decision now to prevent any further delays in this process.
Its time for decisive action and real leadership by the William S. Hart School Board members to get the proposed 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.
June 14th, 2010 at 8:37 am
[...] Dave Bossert points out that the Hasley Sloan site under consideration for the new Castaic High School is prone to liquefaction during an earthquake. He hints that it’d be irresponsible to choose that site. He’s been a booster for the Romero Canyon site for awhile WRB [...]
June 14th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
Excellent discussion Dave.
As an FYI: Here are the “rules” for school site selection, established by the California Department of Education:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/sf/schoolsiteguide.asp
The CDE gets to approve or disapprove a school site, after the California Department of Toxic Substances Control gives the site their blessing.
Just my view: It is idiotic to buy any school site until the CDE has approved it.
That’s what the Santa Clarita Valley Facilities Foundation did with respect to the Sloan Canyon site…tying up a ton of their money which they cannot recoup except by selling to the Hart District or “waiting for the market to turn around”.
That’s also what the Santa Clarita Valley Facilities Foundation did, with the District’s cash (funneled to the Foundation under a lease-purchase by the District) with respect to the Golden Valley High School site. Ultimately that purchase price included the District having to pay millions and millions of dollars to overcome branches of the San Gabriel fault, landslides, soil problems, potentially exploding high pressure natural gas line locations, oil field air toxin emissions problems, risks of toxic gas clouds coming out of Berry Petroleum’s cogeneration plant and killing the kids, risks from explosive testing at NTS, having to pay to build a sewer main trunk line and a water main trunk line, and probably 5 other problems I’ve forgotten.
From a taxpayers’ point of view, the key is to pick a site which will (1) be approved by the CDE and (2) not cost millions and millions of dollars “extra” to overcome the sorts of problems described above.
Dave asks: “I have some simple questions for the Hart School Board members; will you take full responsibility for the well being and safety of the Hart School district children after you have made your excruciatingly, long awaited selection of the property to site the Castaic High School? Will you be fully accountable for your decision should it be based on political pressure rather than the actual facts pertaining to each property? Will you be completely culpable if the property selection endangers, injures or kills even one child because of liquefaction issues with the soils that could result in a catastrophic building failure during a large earthquake? Finally, will you stand up and take full, unmitigated responsibility if the property site you select for the new Castaic High School becomes a quagmire of delays, cost over runs, waste and mismanagement?”
This legalistic answer is “No they won’t.” The law firm from which I retired has litigated the issue through the Court of Appeal, which would have bent over backwards to find liability for a local public agency if they could have.
There’s a legal principle well loved by local government agencies, like cities, counties, Metrolink and school districts, that if they negligently locate or design an unsafe public improvement AND that unsafe public improvement is reviewed and approved, from a design point of view, by the relevant California state agency, be it the California Department of Education (schools) or Public Utilities Commission (street/train track intersections) the local agency HAS ZERO, ZIP, NADA, NO LIABILITY IF ANY MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC IS KILLED OR SEVERELY INJURED AS A RESULT OF THAT BAD DESIGN OR LOCATION DECISION.
So, for example, if a certain high school sitting right next to two 36″ high pressure natural gas main lines catches on fire if the gas main lines blow up during an earthquake, Hart District is guaranteed to argue they can avoid any liability. The only “target” for recovery of personal injury damages will be the civil engineer for the project, and 99.9% of all civil engineers carry only $1 Million in liability insurance.
As to whether the parents of the kids who are injured under the scenario Dave posits could successfully recover their monetary damages from the State of California, that’s a huge kettle of fish, with exceptions to exceptions to exceptions, plus the state is basically bankrupt. So don’t count on it.
June 14th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Hi Coastal Sage,
Thank you for the very thoughtful comments. I was in fact being facetious with my questions as I knew that none of the Hart District Board members would take responsibility for their actions; they’re weasels for the most part. It’s sad that these bastards can hide behind the system without being culpable for their actions and jeopardizing the safety of our children with their bad decisions at the same time.
Thank you,
-Dave
June 17th, 2010 at 7:33 am
Parents in Castaic, West Ranch and Valencia, and taxpayers throughout the Hart District are so impatient for the long awaited High School in Castaic, that an issue that is usually critical to the successful siting of a new school has been overlooked.
That issue is “what is the best, most central location for a new school to serve the entire community, both now and for decades into the future?”
The ideal location is one that allows the greatest number of students to travel the fewest number of miles to get to school. In a growing area, which Castaic most certainly is, new growth in the “planning pipeling” should be accurately plotted to help determine the precise center of the area a high school needs to serve, now and in the future.
There is no reason for Castaic not to receive and benefit from the careful analysis that usually goes into this location question, BEFORE a new school site is chosen.
(For some of this fascinating location data, search “Los Angeles County Castaic Bridge and Thoroughfare District” on your computer. You will be able to find a map in the report you will see that shows all of the projects in the planning pipeling for building in Castaic.)
When this location question is objectively answered, the choice as to which of the final two sites is in the most central location is simple.
Romero Canyon is in the EXACT center of the attendance area to be served. The Hasley Sloan site in way off center to the south west of the attendance area.
This location criteria is significant. For each graduating class for a High School in Castaic, about 2,600,000 fewer miles will have to be driven by students if the high school is located in Romero Canyon, compared to the miles driven if the school would be placed at the Hasley Sloan site.
For parents time saved, gas and travel expense saved, pollution prevented, and for the precious time saved for kids to be able to study, this location issue should be front and center.
Despite the impatience for the school that everyone feels, there is no reason for Castaic to have to settle for second best. In addition to being in the most central, best location, Romero Canyon is also the only site that will offer a binding guarantee to have the fully finished lot for the school ready to build upon in 2011, or 18 months after an agreement in reached.
This would include all the water tanks and lines, sewer lines, on and off site drainage systems, grading and paving of all on and off site primary and secondary access roads, electric lines, gas lines, internet access, phone lines, and everything else needed for buildings to be erected.
I was pleased to be part of the project in Northlake that did have the issue of Castaic High School resolved. It was so unfortunate that our economy wiped that possibility away for the time being. However, I am now quite proud to be part of bringing the outstanding “Romero Canyon” solution to the High School needs of Castaic.
Again, Castaic does not have to settle for an inferior high school out of desperation. Castaic can have a speedy solution. It can have the best and biggest site. It can have the best location. Castaic can have Castaic High School in Romero Canyon. Please access the “Castaic High School Now” web site for more information. Thanks so much for the opportunity to make these comments.