On September 27th the SDUHSD Board of Trustees held a special meeting with a single agenda item: to consider a resolution regarding a safe shelter parking lot next to Oak Crest Middle School.
Background
The City of Encinitas has a program that provides a parking lot for the homeless/unsheltered to sleep in their cars. Today the parking lot is in the center of the Leichtag Foundation’s agricultural property off Quail Gardens Drive. Their deal with Leichtag expires on November 30th.
At the upcoming Encinitas City Council meeting on September 29, the city will consider moving their “Safe Parking Lot” program to the Encinitas Community and Senior Center. This parking lot is adjacent to the Oak Crest Middle School.
Here is a link to a news story about this item.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/.../homeless-parking...
SDUHSD Board Meeting
The SDUHSD Board met to discuss adopting a resolution that declares, after various whereas statements, “The Board of Trustees of the San Dieguito Union High School District OPPOSES the Proposal placing the Safe Shelter Parking Lot next to the Oak Crest Middle School without the opportunity for meaningful coordination, discussion and solicitation of input from SDUHSD, and without accurate mapping to reflect the location of Oak Crest Middle School.”
Superintendent Lucile Lynch pointed out that the proposal came as a surprise to our school district and that we were not consulted about this proposal. Last week, a parent in our community brought the issue to the District’s attention. From Lucile’s summary of the situation:
“Oak Crest Middle School is an open campus, conducts numerous evening events that result in families using the parking lot in question, and students also often use the parking lot before and after school hours, so the community has raised concerns. Given the lack of time before the City of Encinitas meeting, there is concern that decisions and placement of the safe shelter lot are being made without consideration of concerns by the District.
We would welcome the opportunity to work with the City before the City Council votes on this item to learn more and to discuss concerns.”
All four Trustees expressed disappointment that the City of Encinitas did not discuss the proposal with the school district and obtain more community input. ISI Lynch reached out to numerous people in Encinitas but did not receive any cooperation. In addition, Board President Muir and Trustee Mossy attended meetings of regional government committees, and this was never brought to their attention. Deputy Superintendent Mark Miller echoed the Board’s and ISI Lynch’s concerns. We have many questions about this particular location and why the Leichtag property deal will not be renewed. We would most especially like to know why the proposed location has been in the works for months, as admitted, but NO ONE at our district or any of the other nearby schools and learning centers were aware of it. In addition, in the materials from the City of Encinitas, they did not include Oak Crest on their map. Our district has always had a cooperative relationship with Encinitas and the other cities in our district, but something went sideways in their communication to us on this issue. Why? We were unable to get satisfactory answers.
Board President Muir and Trustees Mossy and I were prepared to support the draft resolution. Trustee Young, however, was against the proposed resolution because it used the word “opposed,” and that word might signal that the Board opposed the safe parking lot itself. The Board opposes it “without the opportunity for meaningful coordination, discussion …” etc. as detailed in my first paragraph, not necessarily opposing it in concept, but Trustee Young felt the resolution was ambiguous.
Board President Muir modified the proposed resolution to make it clear that the reason SDUHSD opposes the proposal was because of lack of District input before the city is about to act. We would like the City Council of Encinitas to understand that when they take actions that affect us, we need to know about it in advance and have the chance to discuss any ramifications with them.
The modified resolution passed by a 3-1 vote, with Trustee Young the lone dissenter.
The Encinitas City Council will be voting on this Wednesday night. The meeting starts at 6:00 pm.