PETE
CLARKE - PCLARKE@SIERRASTAR.COM
PETE CLARKE/SIERRA STAR
The unification public hearings were well attended as seen at this meeting
held at Yosemite High.
MOUNTAIN AREA —
On Wednesday and Thursday of last week [September 4-5], public hearings
were held on the subject of the proposed Unification of Coarsegold Union
Elementary School District and the Yosemite Joint Union High School
District. The Yosemite High School meeting was not contentious, but
there were some opponents to both the plan itself and to particular
details of the plan.
Bass Lake resident Joe Smith argued that the agreed-upon board composition
of seven members — three representatives from Coarsegold, three from
Bass Lake School District and one from Raymond School District — disenfranchised
voters of Ahwahnee, Bass Lake and Oakhurst. He based his argument on
population/voter numbers for the respective areas and claimed that the
make-up of the board was a “political approach, designed to get Coarsegold
to approve the unification effort.” Awarding Raymond a vote with its
low population, according to Smith, further confirms a “political decision.”
He claimed that Bass Lake/Oakhurst/Ahwahnee holds 57 percent of the
population of the areas within the proposed district, compared to Coarsegold’s
28 percent; yet Coarsegold will have an equal number of votes. To make
matters worse, Smith argued, if a new Chawanakee high school is built
it could draw anticipated students away from YHS and further exacerbate
the injustice of the three-three-one board split.
Other critics argue the trip to YHS over Deadwood would not be safe,
local control should be kept, bus services might not be as good after
unification, the “general fund” particulars were not clear, and, if
Chawanakee did build a high school in the near future, it would draw
students and revenue away from YHS — which would be detrimental to both
sides of the issue.
Several speakers, including Chief Business Officer for both districts,
Srini Vasan, pointed out the two schools are already sharing business
services, transportation facilities, and the cafeteria director. The
next step would be to acquire new revenues by combining the schools.
“A windfall addition of $1,000 in revenue limit per ADA is nothing to
sneeze at,” said Vasan who grew up poor in India. “Is money everything?
Sometimes it is.”
Another speaker added, “They’ve been living together for years, it’s
time to get married.”
Superintendent John Reynolds said: 1) The numbers for the cap guarantee
of minimum funding for each school was in, but it would be better if
fund dispersal was done at the discretion of the board. 2) Board terms
should be staggered so that a complete seven member board change over
did not occur at the end of each term; instead he recommended that the
four top vote getters should receive a full initial term, while the
final three should be given a half term. 3) Finally, in order to save
money, board member elections should be aligned with general elections.
Superintendent Bill McCabe concluded the arguments in favor of unification
by pointing out that YHS was a terrific school that drew students from
as far as 45 minutes away, “because of our programs.” He asserted that
“the make up of the board would be done right” and the extra money which
came in would benefit the bottom line of both schools.
“We visited unified systems which had contentious beginnings and asked
‘Would you do it again?’’’ said McCabe. “They all said it was worth
it; it was the best thing they ever did.”
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