The Californian reports that a location is being looked at for the site of a third high school within the City of Menifee...

http://www.northcountytimes.com/..../zc0de2ae76f7b3e238825749b00674e83.txt

The land is east of Interstate 215 in the southern part of the 180-square-mile Perris Union High School District, the boundaries of which dip into Murrieta and end south of Scott Road.

But it looks like it's going to take several years before this school is built.

I know some parents living on the east side of the 215 that are not very happy about sending their kids to Heritage High, when Paloma seems closer.

Labels: Perris-Union-High-School-District

There appears to be some question coming from Heritage Lake as to what will happen with Heritage High School, and the other schools in Romoland, with unification efforts underway, and now that Menifee cityhood has passed.

The answer to this question was answered in the comments of an earlier article...

Heritage Lake is under two school districts. Romoland has the elementry(Mesa View), and middle school(Boulder Ridge). Perris Union has the high school, Heritage High. Even though we are now Menifee instead of Romoland that does not change the school district boundaries they will stay the same. I agree with you that Heritage should also be in the unification process and put in the Menifee district but I don't think that will ever happen!

The answer is that nothing will change.

Heritage High School will continue to be in the Perris Union High School District. Mesa View and Boulder Ridge will continue to be in the Romoland School District. Neither of these schools will move to Menifee Union.

Menifee cityhood doesn't affect any of this stuff.

Another question is the following...

Will they (Heritage High, Mesa View, and Boulder Ridge) ever be apart of Menifee School District, or will we be paying city taxes for schools our kids will never be apart of?

City taxes for schools? Any city taxes that residents of Heritage Lake will be paying will not be spent on Menifee Union School District, or any school district. The new City of Menifee is not connected with Menifee Union. They are separate, and independent of each other.

Labels: Menifee-Union-School-District, Perris-Union-High-School-District, Romoland-School-District

Back on May 8th, a story related to the unification efforts of the school district appeared on The Californian’s website. You can read the story here:

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/05/09/news/californian/menifee/z7c398ad81115bfb688257444000212c5.txt

I meant to post an article related to this article when I first read it. For some reason I didn’t get to posting the article and forgot about it until yesterday, when I was reading comments under the Modified Single Track School Year Survey topic.

Basically, the article covered the fact that the Riverside County Committee on School District Organization voted on May 8th to recommend against unification to the California Department of Education. The committee’s recommendation was based on a study conducted by a private consultant.

However, the committee’s recommendation does not mean the unification effort is dead. Unification of the high school with the elementary and middle schools has been a top priority of the school board and it is something the community wants.

A small bit from the article:

One Menifee school board member who has spearheaded the drive to bring Paloma Valley into the Menifee district said he believes the state can be convinced the move is feasible and will not adversely affect the students in either district.

The numbers are close, said Fred Twyman, who also teaches at Paloma Valley High School.

State education laws dictate that high school students should make up at least 25 percent of the students in a unified district, and the report showed that Paloma High students would constitute just shy of 24 percent of the Menifee district's students, Twyman said.

As for the financial aspect, he said Menifee had agreed to compensate the Perris district for the loss of students that now go to the Perris district's Heritage High School. But, he said, the consultant discounted that agreement, arguing that it was premature.

Also, Twyman added, the consultant stated in an earlier meeting that his approach was conservative and that the state has disagreed with his findings in the last.

"This isn't dead," Twyman said. "I still feel OK about it, and I'll still go to the state (to
lobby)."

I like Twyman's optomism in this. But I am a bit confused by his comments regarding compensation to Perris for the loss of students that go to Heritage. Does this mean that students currently attending Heritage would be sent to Paloma when district boundaries are changed, or does it mean that Heritage is would also be included in the unification process?

And of course, a news story just wouldn't be a news story if it didn't have something discouraging to say:

Whatever happens, it will not happen quickly, said Rollin Edmunds, a director with the county Office of Education. Even with the committee's blessing, the state does its own analysis and can take up to seven years to rule on a proposed organizational change in a school district, Edmunds said.

I don’t know what the next step in the process is or when it takes place, but I certainly hope the Department of Education doesn't drag their feet on making decision. And I also hope they can be swayed to find in favor of unification.

There is a joint school board meeting between PUHSD and MUSD on June 19th at Bell Mountain Middle School.

Labels: Menifee-Union-School-District, Perris-Union-High-School-District, Unification

Perris Union High School District

Voters voted in two incumbents, and one newcomer. Joan Cooley got the most votes (6,266), followed by Eric Kroencke (5,298), and Randy Williams (4,360). These three have been elected.

Here's the official data...

127/127 100.00%
Vote Count Percent

NP - ERIC J. KROENCKE 5,298 24.15%
NP - BARRY R. BUSCH 3,496 15.93%
NP - MICHAEL PEREZ 2,520 11.49%
NP - RANDY J. WILLIAMS 4,360 19.87%
NP - JOAN D. COOLEY 6,266 28.56%

Total 21,940 100.00%

Romoland School Board - Full term

Teacher Garrick Stein won the most votes for the full term seat with 690 votes, followed by retired school employee, Irene Harris with 610 votes. These two have won seats.

Here's the official vote tally...

Mbr. Gov. Bd, Romoland School Dist. - Full Term

20/20 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
NP - GARRICK I. STEIN 690 32.05%
NP - IRENE HARRIS 610 28.33%
NP - BYRON ''ROY'' YOST 481 22.34%
NP - JESSE MULLINAX 372 17.28%

Total 2,153 100.00%

Romoland School District - Short term

Local businessman, Bill Gould, won the lone short term seat with 595 votes.

Here's the full tally of votes...

Mbr. Gov. Bd, Romoland School Dist. - Short Term

20/20 100.00%
Vote Count Percent
NP - ROBERT ''BOB'' GIBBONS 564 48.66%
NP - WILLIAM ''BILL'' GOULD, JR. 595 51.34%

Total 1,159 100.00%

Labels: Elections, Perris-Union-High-School-District, Romoland-School-District