{"id":11137,"date":"2012-10-10T14:35:14","date_gmt":"2012-10-10T21:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/?p=11137"},"modified":"2012-10-10T21:03:07","modified_gmt":"2012-10-11T04:03:07","slug":"get-riehl-showdown-at-sage-creek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/?p=11137","title":{"rendered":"Get Riehl: Showdown at Sage Creek"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sage<\/a>According to a local newspaper columnist, allowing Carlsbad\u2019s new high school to sit empty for at least a year is the answer to the district\u2019s financial woes. But T.K. Arnold\u2019s argument for delaying the opening of Sage Creek High<\/a><\/strong> is about as watery as the school\u2019s fictional namesake. A closer look reveals how his politics trumps his punditry.<\/p>\n

Calling Prop 30 \u201cGov. Jerry Brown\u2019s blackmail ballot\u201d tells you all you need to know about Arnold\u2019s political bias. But what\u2019s equally troubling is his reasoning. In a facts-free claim, he says the district could \u201csave hundreds of thousands of dollars each year” in operating costs that could be used to close a gaping budget hole as high as $11 million\u201d if Proposition 30 fails. The mixed metaphor (I\u2019m trying to picture a \u201chigh\u201d hole) could make you chuckle if the subject weren\u2019t so serious.<\/p>\n

Arnold doesn\u2019t bother to estimate the cost of letting a $104 million high school campus remain vacant for at least a year, as well as the loss of learning opportunities to students denied access to new facilities.In his quest for savings, Arnold reminds us that the old high school has been completely rebuilt and that the greatest projected increase in high school enrollment is in the low single digits. He doesn\u2019t bother to cite actual numbers, so here are the official enrollment projections<\/a><\/strong> released by the district last month.<\/p>\n

Carlsbad High School enrollment this fall is estimated to be 3,199. It is projected to rise to as high as 3,552 next fall. That\u2019s an 11 percent increase, hardly a \u201clow single digit.\u201d If Sage Creek High won\u2019t take them, CHS would have to squeeze another 353 students onto its campus. At what cost to kids?<\/p>\n

According to enrollment projections, high school enrollment is expected to grow by as many 800 more students over the next five years, 24 percent higher than this year. And Arnold suggests opening Sage Creek High School <\/a><\/strong>next fall is no big deal?<\/p>\n

When I wrote for the North County Times<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, community columnists were not allowed to endorse candidates for office. But it looks like \u201cthere\u2019s a new sheriff in town,\u201d with Arnold\u2019s endorsement of Ray Pearson<\/a><\/strong> to replace either of the incumbents on the Carlsbad School Board.<\/p>\n

He explains that declaring themselves \u201chappy with the district\u2019s direction\u201d in opening Sage Creek next fall makes the incumbents unacceptable, and that Ray Pearson says he\u2019d take the money being spent on the new high school and use it to hire more teachers and reduce class sizes.<\/p>\n

But in San Diego County\u2019s Sample Ballot and Information Pamphlet, Ray Pearson is not quite as forthcoming. He writes, \u201cNow is the time to ask parents, community members and stakeholders would they prefer delaying the opening of a new high school or using the funds for classroom reduction.\u201d Assuming he meant \u201cand\u201d instead of \u201cor\u201d it sounds like he wants to survey his constituents rather than persuade them.<\/p>\n

But the largest assumption of all, by both Arnold and Pearson, is that delaying the opening of Sage Creek could produce the savings needed to produce the results they want.<\/p>\n

Sounds to me like two guys who\u2019ll be voting against tax increases and looking for justification to vote against schools.<\/p>\n

As for me, I\u2019ll be voting for Elisa Williamson<\/a><\/strong> and Kelli Moors<\/a><\/strong> as well as Prop 30<\/a><\/strong>. I agree with them that the district is heading in the right direction by opening Sage Creek High next fall.<\/p>\n

Richard Riehl writes from LaCosta. Contact him at <\/em>richard_riehl@yahoo.com<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to a local newspaper columnist, allowing Carlsbad\u2019s new high school to sit empty for at least a year is the answer to the district\u2019s financial woes. But T.K. Arnold\u2019s argument for delaying the opening of Sage Creek High is about as watery as the school\u2019s fictional namesake. A closer look reveals how his politics […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,36,10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11137"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11137"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11142,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11137\/revisions\/11142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.carlsbadistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}