| Dear
Editor,
Recently
a mailer was sent to Oakhurst area residents regarding the School
Board representation of the proposed unification of Yosemite High
School and the Coarsegold Elementary School Districts.
This letter misrepresented several facts that need clarification,
because readers would be led to believe things that just are not true.
To begin with, Bass Lake, Ahwahnee and Oakhurst, would not lose Board
representation. Further, the assertion that Coarsegold would gain
control of the Board is false. The allegation was made that this was
just another political deal cut by bureaucrats - NOTHING IS FURTHER
FROM THE TRUTH.
The proposed unification is not about promoting political agendas,
but is solely about our children and giving them the best education
possible. To this end, the Yosemite and Coarsegold school boards deliberated
in public several times, giving careful and thoughtful analysis to
question of Board composition, as well as many other important aspects
of unification. It was of such prime concern that the firm of Nigro,
Nigro and White were commissioned to prepare a professional unification
study for the Boards. Following receiving this very complete study,
several proposals were considered and public meetings held throughout
both districts before forwarding the Boards’ recommendation to the
Madera County Committee for consideration.
In
formulating the board composition, the basic premise was our representation
would be patterned much like our current government, all feeder areas
would have one vote, like the State Senate, and the balance would
be distributed by population. Population growth over the years was
analyzed, and the 2000 census indicates approximately 10,000 residents
in the Coarsegold area, 10,000 residents in Oakhurst, Bass Lake and
Ahwahnee areas, and 1,200 in the Raymond area. When you evaluate the
proposal based on student population, you can focus on a much clearer
picture. For the new unified configuration, the student population
would be: Coarsegold area with 70 percent of the students, Bass Lake,
Oakhurst and Ahwahnee areas with 22.5 percent of the students; and
Raymond with 1.9 percent of the students, and inter-district transfer
at 5.7 percent. The letter sent out to postal patrons did not even
touch or consider these important facts.
Let’s frame the question in another way. Based on the proposed unification,
the same board that currently sits for Yosemite High School will be
in place with 2 additional representatives from the Coarsegold area,
and one from Raymond, all due to increased student population and
overall population.
This is not a political game - don’t be fooled with only a partial
picture. The needs of our kids are real and this unification will
generate over $1 million dollars of new revenue and eliminate unnecessary
duplication allowing us to greatly improve the education of thousands
of children. We need your help to make the strongest possible schools
we can have to service the children in the mountain areas. Please
do your part and get involved, ask for additional information. We
would be happy to provide it. Do come and join us on the unification
committee to help create stronger schools in the mountain areas that
will best service the needs of our children for generations to come.
Curt
Campbell - Chair of the Unification Committee
Priscilla Pike - Yosemite High School Board Trustee and member of
the Unification Committee
Tom Allcock — Chairman, Yosemite High School District Board of Trustees
Linda L. Olson — Yosemite High School District Board of Trustees
Burt McSwain — Yosemite High School District Board of Trustees
Karen Hutchings — Yosemite High School District Board of Trustees
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