AMID LAY OFF TALKS, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER SAYS LIBRARIANS ARE OVERPAID
By Jakob McWhinney, Voice of San Diego File photos via ECM: GUHSD trustees Robert Shields and Jim Kelly, who were caught on hot mikes. These images did not appear in the original Voice of San Diego article. March 15, 2025 (El Cajon) — For weeks now, Grossmont Union’s board meetings have been dominated by crowds of community members furious at the district’s plan to close its budget deficit by laying off more than 60 employees. Those layoffs, which the board approved by a four to one vote two weeks ago, include assistant principals, teachers and nearly every single one of the district’s librarians. The scene was the same at Tuesday’s board meeting, when hundreds of protesters packed into Grossmont High School’s gym to advocate the board rescind the layoffs. Gary Woods, who voted in favor of the layoffs, said the decision made them “heartsick.” But another trustee was more frank about what he thought about the librarians on the chopping block during a hot mic moment just prior to the meeting’s official start according to a screen recording of the meeting shared with Voice of San Diego. The person speaking was not on camera, but three district employees who spoke anonymously for fear of retribution identified the voice as that of Trustee Robert Shield. Shield was one of the board members who voted in favor of the layoffs. He did not respond to a request for comment. “When it comes to the librarians, they don’t have as big a role … They’re overpaid compared to … teachers. They don’t do lesson plans, they don’t grade papers but they get a 10 percent bump in their pay because they don’t have a prep period,” Shield said in the recording. But the librarians have been the primary rallying point for the protesters who’ve packed public meetings. Not only did students hold walk-outs at Grossmont Union campuses in solidarity with the impacted staff, nearly every single one of the dozens of the meeting’s public commenters argued the librarians were indispensable. The librarians facing layoffs are credentialed teacher-librarians, meaning they offer in-class lessons, aid to teachers with curriculum and student and technology support that exceed what the responsibilities of the librarians of yesteryear. “My child is a star example of how the support staff and the librarians make a difference. They went from struggling (with) mental health issues to an honor roll student,” one parent said during their public comment, holding back tears. “What creates revenue for these schools is students showing up for school. What is the point to them showing up to school when all their spaces, the staff they rely on are gone?” In his hot mic comments, Shield also said that while the majority who’d voted in favor of the layoffs had “more than a few,” supporters in the audience, they were “silent because they don’t want to get beat up.” And he wasn’t done. Shield continued, calling the protests political “opportunism,” and saying that while the crowds may be bad now, “they only have a half-life of only about two months.” They will eventually have “mission fatigue,” he said, and stop showing up. “It’ll dissipate if we have the stomach to endure it and just shake it off. I promise you as long as it’s not mishandled in three months, they’ll be lucky to have a quarter of this amount … I’ve been through this before,” Shield said. This is far from the first time board-related controversies have elicited community opposition. Last year, a former district administrator sued the district, claiming she’d been discriminated against because she was lesbian. Her suit included the claim that Trustee Jim Kelly referred to her and another lesbian district employee as “’witches’ who were part of an LGBTQ ‘coven.’” The board’s conservative leanings have also stoked opposition. The year before that lawsuit, the board’s conservative majority voted to terminate multiple contracts with San Diego Youth Services to provide student mental health services. They cited concerns about the nonprofit’s care for LGBTQ+ youth, which includes counseling programs, despite those services being separate from what the nonprofit provided the district. When voting to end the services, Trustee Gary Woods said the nonprofit did not “reflect East County values.” Shield wasn’t the only trustee who had a hot mic moment during the meeting. During a recess, Kelly was caught calling the protesters the “rudest crowd,” he’d ever seen and saying, “Some of them are trying to vomit on us in public and trying to bully us and, you know, just humiliate us.” Protesters have argued they’re just trying to save the jobs of valued staff. They’ve also pointed out that the district has sizable reserves that would easily cover the balance. Even fellow board member Chris Fite – the lone “No,” vote on the cuts – has said they seem to far exceed what’s necessary. “They’re saying these are structural deficits, but they won’t say what they’re caused by,” Fite said. “To me, it doesn’t add up. It does not explain the severity.” Jakob McWhinney is Voice of San Diego’s education reporter. He can be reached by email at jakob@vosd.org and followed on Twitter @jakobmcwhinney. This story was first published by Voice of San Diego. Sign up for VOSD’s newsletters here.
REPORT STORM DAMAGE IN UNINCORPORATED SAN DIEGO COUNTY WITH THE TELL US NOW APP
By Sir Milo Loftin, County of San Diego Communications Office March 15, 2025 (San Diego) – Most people in the region likely noted this week’s rain and — in some parts of the county—snow. Residents of San Diego County’s unincorporated areas can report non-emergency storm damage through the “Tell Us Now!” app. Storm damage includes potholes, fallen trees, flooded roadways and downed powerlines. The free app makes it easy to report these issues and track the progress of your report on your smartphone. You can download the app on both Apple and Android devices, it is also available in Spanish for those whose phone settings are set to Spanish. How to Submit a Report To report storm-related damage in unincorporated areas, follow these steps: Download and open the Tell Us Now! app on your Apple or Android device. Select a category and the nature of the request. Attach a photo of the request if available. Provide the location and a description of the request. Enter your contact information. Submit the request. When a report is submitted, the appropriate County departments will be quickly notified. If the complaint is not under the County’s jurisdiction, the app will notify you of the correct authority to contact to fix the problem. In addition to storm-related issues, residents can also report: Air quality complaints, such as smoke, odors or dust. Vector control issues, like mosquito breeding areas, green pools or dead birds, which can be indicators of West Nile virus. Code compliance issues, like abandoned vehicles, graffiti or illegal dumping. Pricing and scale issues at businesses, including gas pumps and grocery stores. Non-emergency problems at a County-operated park or space. Other road service requests that are not storm related. The app is available in the app stores for iPhone and Android smartphones. Download and Tell Us Now!
SANTEE COUNCIL MAKES FIRE PROTECTION ITS TOP PRIORITY
By Mike Allen Photo by Scott Lagace: Santee firefighters saved the life of an unconscious woman during a July 2024 fire that engulfed her mobile home, also administering oxygen to save a cat. March 14, 2025 (Santee) — Santee knows it has to be better when it comes to providing fire protection to its residents, and after a sales tax-funded plan for new fire stations failed in November, its City Council made improving that essential service as its top priority. In fairness, the Council was already focused on getting a couple of new stations to double the current number—two—to serve a population of more than 60,000. It was building a temporary station off Olive Way where it formerly used to keep its maintenance operations, and was planning a new station in the north part of the city. Yet the Council was hoping the half-cent hike to local sales taxes would finance the improvements. Not so fast, said voters who rejected the plan. At its March 12 meeting, the Council set building new fire stations—along with finding new ways to pay for them–as its No. 1 goal from a list of ten. City Manager Marlene Best rattled off what the city was already doing including adding new trucks, more emergency medical personnel, completing the temporary station, designing a permanent station at the operations yard, and conducting a study for a third station in the north part of the city. “We’re also looking at the potential for a new funding measure,” Best said. That could mean another sales tax hike or raising taxes on property owners. The remainder of the list mirrored what the priorities were two years ago, with Best giving updates on whether goals were accomplished or what the status was. The entire five-member board made no comment about the list. The number two priority two years ago, considering annexing West Hills Parkway and surrounding parcels, is still up in the air. Best said the Council wants to work with one property owner to ensure his project conforms to Santee’s higher standards. The fact is that this property, indeed all of West Hills Parkway, remains in the city of San Diego so whatever Santee wants could be ignored as was the case when San Diego approved the Castlerock/ now Weston development. At No. 3, continued focus on road paving, which is always an item that generates lots of complaints, especially on West Hills Parkway. Fourth, expand economic opportunities through a recently adopted Arts & Entertainment District. The city has a vision of turning the Town Center and its surrounding area into a village that would feature art galleries, dance studios, theaters, restaurants and bars. It also will be deciding on who will run a total of four cannabis shops in the industrial-zoned areas of the city by early July. Fifth, a new building permit system, has been implemented so that should make it easier to get all those new galleries and theaters built faster. It also redid the city website and has a new app to make interactions with the city easier. Sixth, continue focus on risk reductions, meaning fires, from homeless folks camping in the city, particularly in the San Diego riverbed. Best said since the city hired an outreach person two years ago, the number of encampments cleaned was 120, and 16 in the last month. She also noted that a recent count of the homeless population in Santee fell to 46 from 112 one year ago. The seventh priority, looking for ways to improve the trails linked to Mission Trails Park, particularly at Big Rock Park, was put on the backburner, Best said, due to the fact that most of the land remains in San Diego County, not the city. But the Council once again wants to make safety on its trails a priority and ranked it at eight. Best said among the efforts to make the trails safer is the possible adoption a video camera system, now in the testing phase, that would be monitored by the Sheriffs Department. At No. 9 is the continued reduction in the city’s liabilities involving the pensions it must pay to retired workers, which it has been doing by making higher annual contributions to that budget expense over the last four years. The tenth priority and one that was achieved in January was completing a development impact fee study and adopting a new set of fees charged to new development that took effect March 10. Among the add-ons, but not officially tabbed as a priority, the Council wants to adopt a funding plan for a community center behind the Cameron YMCA. Best said a workshop on this is scheduled for April 9. The cost for the center was estimated at $50 million a few years ago. At one point, the center was a darling project for most officials but in light of the pressures from building new fire stations, that may have to be put on the backburner too.