Escondido Board OKs Valley Center High School Site

The Escondido Union High School District voted unanimously Tuesday night to buy a 40-acre plot for a new high school in Valley Center.

The board also directed its staff to begin planning for a general-obligation bond to pay for construction of the school, although the board could not agree on when that bond would be sent to the voters.

The need for a high school at Valley Center first became apparent more than a decade ago with the exploding population of the area. Since then, the school district has looked at more than 30 sites for the school.

“You would think that in a place like Valley Center you would be able to find a piece of property anywhere,” Assistant Supt. David Jenkins said.

Site after site was rejected, for reasons ranging from traffic problems to questions of how to deal with sewage. Even some Valley Center residents said the site now chosen is inappropriate.

“Valley Center does need a high school, but I firmly believe that the location that they picked is not ideal,” said Alice Buddin, a member of the Parent Teachers Assn. at Orange Glen High School in Escondido, where her son is a junior.

Buddin said the site, a former orange grove that is now a dirt field, is at West Oak Glen and Cole Grade roads in the southwest part of Valley Center.

The impending arrival of a high school to Valley Center indicates a coming of age for the rural, unincorporated community.

“Valley Center has been waiting for this for years,” said Jeff Mulford, superintendent of the Valley Center Union Elementary School District. “A high school football team, a gymnasium, a drama department--all those things bring a community together.”

Others see a high school as the last missing piece in the area, which already has its own ZIP code, Chamber of Commerce, library, newspaper and telephone prefix.

“A high school is the final piece of the puzzle that will make Valley Center a complete community,” said Harry Weinberg, superintendent of schools at the San Diego County Office of Education and Mulford’s predecessor.

About 600 Valley Center students are bused or drive 15 miles each way to Orange Glen High School on the northeast side of Escondido. Five years from now, Jenkins estimates, that number will climb to more than 1,000.

“A high school would give the community a wholeness. It contributes to civic pride, and it contributes to people’s identity,” said Fred Lloyd, director of the Valley Center Chamber of Commerce.

But Weinberg said the purchase of a high school site is only half the battle.

“It means a commitment. It’s like reserving a chapel for a wedding, but it’s not the final ceremony,” he said.

The school district must still come up with an estimated $20 million to build the new school.

Although the district has applied for state funds for that task, it is unclear what the district’s priority is and whether the state will have enough money, Jenkins said.

A $60-million general-obligation bond election, which could provide funding to build the new school as well as renovate the three existing high schools in Escondido, would simplify and expedite matters, allowing for construction to begin as soon as next year.

But general-obligation bonds, which require two-thirds voter approval in the school district, have done poorly in San Diego County, losing 11 out of 12 times since 1986.

The only successful bond, however, came two years ago when 73% of the voters in the Escondido Union Elementary District approved a $27-million bond.

Dawna Nerhus, a member of the Escondido Union Elementary school board, told the high school board that its successful campaign required a year of planning.

“I’m not sure that you have sufficient time to plan for a June, 1992, election,” Nerhus said.

At the same time, she advised against scheduling the bond vote for the November, 1992, general election, when there will be a large turnout.

The board members, however, were hesitant to wait until June, 1993, for a vote.

Of the 166 general-obligation bond elections in California since 1986, 88 have been in June and 78 in November. June bond elections had a 50% success rate, while November elections had a 45% success rate.

Most concede that there will be opposition to a bond election, possibly from Escondido residents hesitant to pay for a high school 15 miles away, especially since Valley Center Union Elementary would probably unify shortly after a high school was built and take control of the school away from those who voted to build it.

“It will be a difficult sell. We sill have to beat the doors down. But, if you look at the reality of Escondido needing another school and where is the best site for the school to get the students out of there, it’s in Valley Center,” Mulford said.

“The same people that voted in Escondido Elementary will be voting again, and I am hoping that they will pass it,” Mulford said.

Mulford and others also said Valley Center residents have for years paid for the construction and renovation of Escondido schools, and that for Escondido citizens to reciprocate would only be fair.

All three of the high schools in Escondido were built to hold 1,800 students, and all three exceed that capacity, particularly Orange Glen, with more than 2,300 students, Jenkins said. A Valley Center high school would drastically ease crowding at all the schools, Jenkins said.

“Once the citizens are aware of the need and what their obligation would be, I’m hopeful that they will respond favorably,” Jenkins said.