Castaic High School Students to be Split Up

In a move that was really not surprising, the Hart School District board opted to allocate the Castaic High students to various local schools rather than going with one of the more expensive solutions.

Castaic students who are already at West Ranch High will remain there. Incoming freshmen for the next two school years will go to Valencia High, unless they have older siblings already at West Ranch High. Then for the following two years, incoming freshmen will go to West Ranch high. There will also be open enrollment available at some of the district schools for those who want to take advantage of it.

Castaic parents are not pleased with the decision, but the only way that Castaic’s entire high school could have remained at West Ranch High for the next four years would have been to install temporary buildings there at a cost of millions of dollars. While I understand why Castaic parents aren’t thrilled about having their children moved around (again), just think what that money can be used for to improve the district’s facilities at existing schools!

The construction of Castaic High School is currently tied to the SunCal development in the area, and is scheduled for completion in 2010. However, there are many reasons why a project like this can get delayed, so the 2010 deadline may be a bit optimistic. 

Meanwhile, the City of Santa Clarita and the Castaic area are starting to explore the possibility of the annexation of the "West Side", including the Castaic area, into the City of Santa Clarita. Could this improve the chances that Castaic High at least gets built on time? The Hart School District crosses the boundaries of the City of Santa Clarita and the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County that include Stevenson Ranch, Castaic, Sunset Pointe, Val Verde and Southern Oaks.

Could school construction be simplified if the school district boundaries were under one jurisdiction, instead of being split into City and County areas? Maybe they can use that $20 million surplus from the West Side that Los Angeles County is using for out-of-area services to build new schools!