It was a scorching although smooth first week of classes of the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District where opening day was Wednesday.
Friday’s enrollment was 4,317. Projected enrollment was 4,437, indicating that the district’s decline in enrollment may be continuing for a sixth year in a row.
The week began two days before when the second Annual Welcome Back Assembly for all district employees was held at the Maxine.
Supt. Lou Obermeyer introduced school board members Lori Johnson, Henry Van Wyk and Don Martin.
Employees were treated to music by The School House Rock Band, led by Jeff & Laralee Beck. Employees were recognized for perfect attendance and years of service to the district.
A special appearance by Asst. Supt. Ken Clark in a duck costume during a skit had folks laughing and applauding to the dancing duck!
Dr. Obermeyer thanked all of the employees for their hard work and ended the assembly by sharing the district’s theme for this year, “Together We Can.”
The 2007–2008 school opened with a welcome back phone call to all families and employees Monday evening from Dr. Obermeyer.
This was the first time the new phone calling system has been used and Dr. Obermeyer said that parents and employees enjoyed the positive message.
The first day of school went smoothly at each school. Enrollment numbers are lower than hoped for with 96 less students on the first day of school this year than last year.
Valley Center High School
Valley Center High School Principal Ron McCowan told The Roadrunner: “We had a very successful first day.”
He attributed this partially to the Nine Time program, which brought freshmen onto campus a few days earlier to familiarize them with the campus and routines.
“We had an early outdoor rally where we fed everybody a breakfast of cereal and milk. The band played and the cheerleaders did their routines.”
McCowan confided: “One of the neatest parts about that was watching the students socialize with friends they hadn’t seen in a while.
“When the bell rang, everybody went to their classes and everyone knew where they were going.”
Pauma Valley Elementary School
Pauma Principal Mary Gorsuch said, “We had a terrific start, most notably we welcome our new neighbors, MAAC Project Head Start.
“Their two classes of four-year-olds started classes on Aug. 9 and complement our school quite well.”
Kindergarten Open House on Tuesday evening prior to the first day of school was a success and “Our only criers were the moms and dads as they watched their little ones start school,” said Mrs. Gorsuch.
“All of our students and staff are excited to review both their individual and group results of our STAR testing from Spring 2007. We’ve posted stars on our ‘Hall of Fame’ to honor each student who improved his/her score, gained or maintained proficiency, or was a ‘teacher’s choice’ for notable improvement,” she said.
Valley Center Middle School
VCMS told The Roadrunner: “Our first week has been wonderful! We have 686 students who attended this week. Teachers and students actively participated in learning on the first day. We look forward to another wonderful year!”
Valley Center Primary School
Principal Patty Christopher commented, “The day went smoothly. This year Valley Center Primary School and K-6 TPC hosted a Boo Hoo Breakfast for new kindergarten parents.”
After parents dropped off their children, they came to the Multi-Purpose Room to for a continental breakfast and to commiserate with other kindergarten parents.
“We spoke about volunteering at the Primary School and about the rewards of participating in the Teacher Parent Club. The result was very positive. By 9 a.m. the children had quit crying and teachers were actually able to start teaching. The parents may have been a bit tearful, however.”
Valley Center Lower Elementary School
Lower elementary Principal Wendy Heredia commented, “We had a really smooth opening, perhaps our smoothest yet! Our campus and classrooms looked great. We were more than ready to receive our Roadrunner students. Our students were equally ready to return and showed their enthusiasm in the big smiles and eagerness to go into class. We are all looking forward to a great year!”
Valley Center Upper Elementary School
Upper school Principal Ann Staffieri noted that her school opened with an enrollment of 442 students in grades 5 and 6.
“We are very proud of our many accomplishments last year, including an increase in our API score of 26 points,” she said.
“We celebrate this growth and look forward to many additional successes this year.”
All Upper Elementary Students in grades 5 and 6 will be pre-assessed these first weeks of school in the areas of Language Arts and Mathematics.
“Our teachers will be analyzing the results of these assessments along with the CSTs our students took last May, and their latest report cards,” said Mrs. Staffieri.
They will use this data collectively to determine each student’s placement in instructional pods for Language Arts and Mathematics.
“Research has shown that students are more successful in their learning when receiving instruction which is tailored to their needs and abilities. Our entire school will begin pod instruction by Monday Sept. 10.”
Parents will receive a notice home of information as to which pod teacher each student has been assigned to for the first trimester.
At the beginning of each trimester, students will have the opportunity to change pods based on results of new assessments.
“Our goal is for every student to achieve his or her personal best and be able to measure progress toward mastery of grade level standards,” she said.
She added, “Socially, we have begun to incorporate the Project Wisdom character education program into our school day. Each morning students receive a positive character message over the intercom.
“During homeroom time, teachers and students engage in discussion which focuses on the monthly character theme. In September our theme is ‘Creating Success in School’ and students will examine what is means to be successful and how they can take responsibility for their choices.”
Parents are encouraged to attend the upper school’s Back to School Night on Wednesday, Sept. 26.
Teachers will present information on grade level curriculum standards, homework expectations, as well as behavioral expectations. Attendance will help parents to be informed and involved in their child’s education.
Lilac School had to be evacuated and some structures were threatened for a time on Thursday afternoon when a fire started within a grove on Sierra Rojo Lane & Sierra Rojo Road about 1:30 p.m.
CalFire immediately dispatched ten engines, two fire crews, two air tankers, two helicopters, one helitanker, one bulldozer, two water tenders and one chief officer.
By 2:30 p.m. the Sierra Fire had been contained to five acres and the structures were no longer threatened.
Fire fighting aircraft remained overhead due to the heavy flammable brush that could fuel the fire.
Late Thursday afternoon CalFire released the following bulletin: “The Incident Commander has released all of the firefighting aircraft assigned to this fire. There is a lot of mop up on this incident so containment and control will take several hours to complete. Crews will remain on scene well into the night working on the fire. Currently there are eight fire engines, four fire crews, one water tender, one PIO (Matt Streck), one Chief Officer, one fire investigator (about 100 firefighters). We were assisted by U.S. Forest Service, local Reservation Fire Departments, and local Volunteer Fire Departments.
According to the Incident Commander Fire Captain Christina Wallace “Having the addition of the fourth firefighter was pivotal in the rapid containment of this fire.”
She was referring to the extra firefighter on each engine, provided by the governor’s proclamation earlier this summer.
The state’s Fair Political Practices Commission is proposing to fine Fifth District Supervisor and VC resident Bill Horn $12,000 for failing to report income to his campaign committee for the years 1999–2002.
Included in the proposed fine is failing to report sources of income to him on his 2004 and 2005 annual Statements of Economic Interests, in violation of Government Code.
The 2004 and 2005 violations were for failing to report $349,261 paid to him by his chief of staff, Joan Wonsley, for partial interest in property that Horn’s business trust, the Horn Trust, for rental properties in San Marcos and Escondido and for over $100,000 paid by Wonsley to Horn in connection with her purchase of an interest in a residence in Carlsbad. He also failed to report $10,000 in rental income paid to him by 25 renters, according to the FPPC.
In his statement issued on Tuesday morning, Horn chose to address the 1999-2002 violations, but not the more recent 2004 and 2005 violations: “This was two elections ago. At the time we were using volunteers. However, campaign regulations have become increasingly more complicated and after the 2002 election, we decided to have professional services. Since then we have not had any problems.”
Readers may recall that columnist Patsy Fritz broke elements of this story a couple of years ago (and won both a San Diego Press Club and Society of Professional Journalists award for her investigative report).
On its Web site the Fair Political Practices Commission lists six counts for which it proposes to fine Horn:
1) [Horn] “…failed to deposit $1,500 of Respondent Horn’s personal funds into the Friends of Bill Horn campaign bank account, thereby making cash expenditures of $100 or more, in violation of Government Code Sections 85201, subdivision (d), and Section 84300, subdivision (d), respectively.”
2) [On March 13, 2002, Horn’s committee] “…also made an expenditure totaling $851 not directly related to a political, legislative, or governmental purpose, in violation of Government Code Section 89512.”
3 & 4) [Horn’s committee] “…failed to disclose five campaign expenditures of $100 or more totaling $11,299, in violation of Government Code Section 84211, subdivisions (i) and (k).”
5 & 6 ) “… Horn failed to timely report sources of income to him on his 2004 and 2005 annual Statements of Economic Interests, in violation of Government Code Sections 87203 and 87207.”
In addition to the $12,000 fine the FPPC proposes that Horn’s campaign pay $851 reimbursement to the General Fund.
You can find out more about this issue by visiting the Fair Political Practices Web site: http://www.fppc.ca.gov and search “Bill Horn.”
The first drought in California history created or at least exacerbated by a judge’s order will very likely cause 30% or more cutbacks to local farmers beginning early next year.
Local homes and businesses will likely also be required to cut back, but probably not to the extent of local growers, who get special pricing for water in return for being subject to deep cuts during droughts.
The last time cutbacks of this magnitude were contemplated was more than a dozen years ago.
Last week in Fresno, U. S. District Court Judge Oliver W. Wanger announced a series of restrictions on the operations of the massive pumps that supply water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to 25 million Californians.
The order was issued to protect the federally endangered Delta smelt.
The restrictions go into effect on Christmas Day, but unlike most “gifts” of the season, consumers won't be able to return this one to the store to exchange it for something else.
The cutbacks, which are to designed protect the small fish from the propellers that move masses of water down south through the California Aqueduct, are likely to be in effect for at least a year.
Water from the Bay-Delta provides more than 33% of that consumed in San Diego county.
“We are clearly facing a serious water crisis throughout California,” said Fern Steiner, chairman of the San Diego County Water Authority's board of directors. “The water supply impacts of this court decision to San Diego County will be significant, and supply shortages and mandatory water use restrictions are a very real possibility. This decision comes on the heels of the historic dry conditions we are experiencing throughout California, which are already impacting water supplies."
SDCWA buys most of its water from the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies most of the water to Southern California. Our local agency, the Valley Center Municipal Water District, receives 100% of its supply from MWD and the SDCWA.
MWD officials are considering what to do now that Judge Wanger has made his decision. It could and probably will impose mandatory water supply reductions to its buyers, including SDCWA. The farmers who buy discount water can expect at least 30% supply cuts beginning in January.
Valley Center Municipal Water District Gen. Mgr. Gary Arant told The Roadrunner: “We have known this was coming for months, we just didn’t know the level of reduction and what it will mean to us here in Valley Center. Actually we won’t really know the exact details until MWD and the Authority do the analysis to determine what the net impact will be to southern California and San Diego County. In the mean time, we will continue to finalize details for the ag reduction and start thinking about the potential for a residential and commercial cut back sometime next year.”
Exactly how deep those cuts are will depend on whether this is a wet year or a dry year and how much or little snow ends up on the Sierra snowpacks.
Last year was a dry one. Two dry years in a row is rare, but not unheard of.
“The need for all of us to conserve water has never been more urgent,” Steiner said. “The more water we save now, the more water we can keep in storage to meet next year's needs when water deliveries from the Bay-Delta are being curtailed.”
A Labor Day weekend collision on Lilac Road killed three people and sent three to area hospitals.
Two cars collided on Lilac Road just west of Anthony Sunday evening, about 7:20.
A 1994 Ford Explorer, driven by Albert G. Lovelady, 70, of Escondido, was eastbound on Lilac when it collided with a 1995 Cadillac driven by Carlos Mere, 56, of Oceanside.
According to the California Highway Patrol, witnesses said that Lovelady was weaving erratically moments before crossing the center lines into oncoming traffic.
Lovelady, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead on the scene.
Mere also died, as did a passenger in the back seat, Lourdes Bacilio, 55, also of Oceanside.
Three other passengers in the Cadillac sustained major trauma and were still in critical condition on Monday.
They are Isabella Mere, 55, of Oceanside, Carolina Cornejo, 52 of Texas and Victor Medina, 22 of an unknown city. Medina was transported to Scripps La Jolla, while the other two were taken to Palomar Medical Center.
The accident is still under investigation by CHP.
The Valley Roadrunner
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