Hi all. Currently the State has begun to move forward with the EIR report. We are back to Phase IV. We will need to attend another public hearing in which the state will decide wether to allow Wiseburn to Unify.
We've been down this road before and found our way to Victory. We are all confident that we can do it again!
August 05, 2005
Hi all. Just a brief update on our effort to Unify the Wiseburn school district. Centinela filed a lawsuit agains the State Board of Education claiming that they failed to post the EIR on a small bulletin board for the community to view. The State Board of Education decided it was in our best interest to rescind the decision to allow the Unification of the Wiseburn School District in anticipation of a new EIR. Currently we are waiting for the SBE to conduct this analysis and submit a new report.
Wiseburn will unify. We've come too far to turn back now. We will continue to move forward towards our pursuit for a better education for our children.
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October 25, 2004
Two community meetings were held to inform the Wiseburn residents of the current status of the Wiseburn Unification effort and where we go from here. The first meeting was held at Anza School on October 25 and the second at Dana School on October 26.
Here is a brief overview of the information provided at the meetings:
Unification Process - We briefly went over the and the steps required to carry out the unification process . All the steps necessary are outlined in the District Organization Handbook of the California Department of Education. We have followed those steps and with the help of the Wiseburn School Board members, Dr. Brann, and the hard work of many, many Wiseburn community members, we have not only reached a favorable decision by the State Board of Education to unify, but reached it with a UNANIMOUS decision! We had many Wiseburn residence fly to Sacramento in addition to many of our Wiseburn Students who gathered up the courage to speak up about what they wanted for their future. The voice of our children spoke volumes, for there is no greater power than that of the voice of our future generation.
Centinella Valley UHSD Lawsuit: We also touched briefly on the lawsuit that Centinella Valley has slapped us with. Yes, they are suing us. The lawsuit names John Peterson, Tony Nakamura, Lydia Rodriguez, Rosie Marie Connor-O'Donnell as well as the California State Board of Education, California Department of Education, and the LA County Registrar Office. They are seeking that the State overturn their decision based on a allegation that the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) was not processed according to code. However, John, Rosie, Tony, and Lydia feel we have come too far to worry about this now. We must UNIFY! Our children are much too important to let down. We are shooting for a victory of 90% at the polls. We feel that with this type of percentage would show how much the people want this, how much we DESERVE to have a Wiseburn Unified School District. VOTE YES ON UNIFICATION!!!!
Getting information to our Wiseburn Community Members: We are getting a bit concerned that with the "Yes" vote from the State Board of Education, our community members feel that unification is a "done deal". This is very much not the case! We have won the battle, but we have yet to win the war. If apathy has set in, we need to wake our community up and get them revved up for the March elections! We need to educate everyone on what to expect and what our choices are. We have designed a FAQ sheet to answer all the burning questions everyone has about the unification. We need to make sure that every home in our community has received and read this so we are prepared come March 2005.
Mis-information from Centinella: We expect there will be a lot of mis-information from CVUHSD regarding Unification and the impact it will have on their district as well as ours. We must work hard to squelch these rumors and give our community members the TRUE facts.
March Elections: On the March ballot you will see two areas of interest regarding the Unfication. One of them will be the election of the 5 new school board members for the Newly Unified Wiseburn School District should the measure pass. Remember that with the new Unified School District, we will also get a new school board. The other will be the measure to unify the wiseburn school district.
Where do we go from here?: The Chief Petitioners have gotten us as far as the State Board. We, along with a lot of hard working, caring, committed, and determined community members, have managed to bring Unification to the Wiseburn community on a silver platter. It is up to you to, the Wiseburn Community, to take advantage and sieze the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity now. It is truly Now or Never! Wiseburn will not see this opportunity again in our lifetime if we let it slip away now. We are reaching out to the community to help us win the war and take our children's futures back! We have come up with two committees that we need volunteers for:
Exploration Committee: This committee will be made up of Wiseburn Community Members that are willing to spend time and effort in looking into different High School options available for our newly Unified School District. These options will be presented to the New Wiseburn Unified School Board for consideration on what direction we should take based on the desires of the Wiseburn Community. Remember, the current school board will not be making any decisions, it will be the NEW SCHOOL BOARD elected by the Wiseburn Community.
Campaign Committee: This committee will be made up of Wiseburn Community Members that are willing to spend time and effort in campaigning for the Unification. The main purpose of this committee is to keep the community informed of the true facts of the unification, squelch rumors and non-truths regarding the unifcation, and campaign for the acceptance of it in the March elections. This will involve phone calls, distribution of literature, and organizing distribution of literature amonth other things.
We need your help! No help, however small, will go unappreciated. We will take anything you are able to give. If you can only give 1 hour a week, it will be a tremendous help! Please sign up. Our children's futures are in our hands. We are at a cross roads now.
The choice is up to you Wiseburn!