September 30, 2013 – Daily Brief

As a Vietnam Veteran, I thought the Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall event could not have gone better... perhaps I'm biased, but I thought it was THE biggest thing to hit SCV in many years. It was estimated that at least 3,000 people attended Thursday and close to that during the subsequent days.

I wish The Signal had been a bit more aggressive, demanding to know exactly which state agencies have not yet issued approvals/permits for Castaic High School. Under a Court of Appeals case decided long ago, the Taft case, the court said that no local agency, like the City of Taft, had any jurisdiction over the choice of a school site or construction of a school. The court said that instead, approval of school design is a state issue only. Several years later the Legislature passed and the governor signed a statute which required the Planning Commission of the local government entity where the school would be located (not City Council or Board of Supervisors) had to adopt a resolution stating that they endorsed the new school's location, before any state agency would consider granting approvals. One would assume that the LA County Planning Commission has adopted that resolution. Even later the Legislature passed and the governor signed a statute requiring the California Dept. of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to investigate the presence or absence of toxic chemicals on a potential school site, and to give a local school district a letter giving "clean clearance" of the site. That clearance is usually given after the EIR for the school site is prepared;. Given that the EIR for Castaic High School was prepared and approved long ago, one would assume DTSC has already issued that clearance. Next, the proposed school site goes to the Office Public School Construction (OPSC), which is part of the California Department of Education, for approval on a number of issues. OPSC assigns a particular "Project Manager" to each school district. So for example the same man sheparded West Ranch High School, Golden Valley High School and Rio Norte Junior High School. Apparently that gentleman has retired or has been assigned to a different job, because the name I see on OPSC's website with jurisdiction over all new schools in LA County to be constructed is a different man than the one who handled the Hart District's 3 most recent new schools. That's too bad, because the Hart District had a good relationship with their prior OPSC project manager. The project manager doesn't actually approve the location of construction of a new school, in terms of its compliance with all of the Department of Education's policies. The final approval of the new school site's location comes from the project manager's boss and a few other objective OPSC staff members. It would be interesting to know whether OPSC has approved the Castaic High School site. Finally, the Office of the State Architect reviews and approves the architectural and engineering plans for construction of a new school. That can be a lengthy give and take process. In the past, Hart District has had an architect/lobbyist firm which works with OPSC and the State Architect to "expendite" approval of the location of a new school and the construction plans for the new school. Off the new school site, if the school district is paying for the building of an access road, sewer and water lines, those construction plans and permits are reviewed and approved by a local government agency, in this case LA County. That process is supervised by the County engineer. In addition, if the local school district needs State funds to build the new school, they must "wait in line" at the State Allocation Board, where schools outside LAUSD are funded on a first-applied, first-funded basis. At certain times in the late 1990's and early 2000's the State Allocation Board ran out of money to fund the construction new schools. The Signal doesn't tell Castaic parents and students if that is an issue here. Sadly, The Signal failed to identify exactly where the Castaic High School is in the government agency approval process with each agency involved. As a result, Castaic parents and students have no firm assurance when the new school will open.

The state is way backed up thanks to the wonderful furloughs we've had for the past, what, 5 years now. All sorts of projects which should be taking 18 months from start to finish are 3 years or more behind schedule. There is not likely one place where the process is delayed. At any and all levels, its likely delayed.

FYI to John Boston: it's the single mothers who have ruined the newspaper industry. http://www.businessinsider.com.au/a-us-new

I do not like that article at all. Basically, it reads that all single mothers have little education and collect welfare. I am a single mother and so are many of my friends. We are educated and do not collect welfare. Perhaps writers like this one need to do some more research.