First off I want to thank everyone for their continued support in regards to the naming of our High School. What started as a small group has turned into an entire community.
Remember to call your childs school and let them know that they will be taking the test!!!!!!
A very special thanks to
Wendy for sticking by me from the very beginning
Amanda for being so strong and passionate and always knowing what to do next
My mom Kathy for being my rock and inspiring to start this thing
Ryan you were the missing piece of our group you make me proud
Tobin for always steering us in the right direction
My husband Darian without him I would have not been able to do any of this. With 5 kids at home he never ever complained when I said that I needed to go to a meeting, answer emails, post on the blog, or stand on the corner. He had to do a lot of running around with games and practices and I never heard one complaint.
Brenda for starting the t-shirts and helping behind the scenes
Maria for your endless amount of signs and copies
And to everyone else that was behind the scenes, I wish that I could name everyone but that would be impossible.
Thanks to the school board members that listened to us and did the right thing.
Tonight the name was changed to Grand Terrace High School and it will be located at the Ray Abril Jr. Educational Complex.
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PARENTS PULL YOUR WAIVERS! HAVE YOUR CHILDREN TEST!
What if they change the name back after you pull the waivers?
Shouldn't you wait? Was it contingent upon you pulling your waivers?
Congratulations Grand Terrace!!!
Awesome job Letti for working so hard - let alone having a family of 5 and being pregnant on top of it!!
But my husband and I were wondering the same thing as Saundra said...what if they go back on their word after the kids have tested?
I do not think the board will vote to change the name. They know Grand Terrace will fight them again. The board knows we are organized and we know how to make them listen to us. I feel everything from here on out will go as planned. But if things go awry there are other ways that are as effective as the test opt out. The four board members that voted tonight have chosen to do the right thing and I strongly believe they will continue to do so, by not changing the name. I strongly believe the board will keep the name as voted on tonight.
Letti,
YOU were the driving force behind this fight and I applaud you for your dedication and drive to do the right thing for the right reason. I hope that when GRAND TERRACE HIGH SCHOOL is completed, someone thinks to honor you!! Congrats to you, Wendy, and everyone who made this fight worth winning! City of Grand Terrace may be small, but it is in deed MIGHTY!
I believe as Ryan and the rest of our group. Grand Terrace High School will always be the name.... After the meeting I spoke with all involved including the Abril family. We all agreed. This was the fare and right thing to do.
Our group strives to project honesty and integrity. By not having our kids tested we would not be keeping our word…. We ARE a group that keeps its word.
It is important that we continue as a group to do what we have stated we will do and have our kids tested.
On that note…. The school board is fully aware that we would rally again and be even stronger than we are now.
How convenient that Mel Albiso, Frank Ibarra and David Zamora were absent from the meeting. Weak spines...all of 'em. Now they can say they didn't vote to change the name or the can say they didn't vote to keep the name..whatever fits their needs during the recall campaign.
Oh, and I know somebody that SAW David Zamora at Costco the night of the last Board Meeting.
I have a question. I'd heard that Board members get lifetime medical benefits after x number of years on the Board. Does anybody know if it's true? If they get any extended benefits at all after being there a certain number of years, we should work to make sure some members get nothing/zero/nada/squat.
What must be remembered is this... The original vote was 6-1 and the change to 4-0 came not for the citizens of GT and the surrounding communities but because of the citizens of GT and the surrounding communities. Where were the BIG 3 hiding? embarassed? plotting? If residents start feeling like the board members are now an understanding group, just remember how you were treated and ignored throughout this ordeal, It took a testing boycott threat which fortunately was timely to sway 3 of the 6 dissidents... Everyone learned a lesson from this. We learned not to trust the Board Members(PH excluded). They learned not to ask for input in the future just act if you want to pull a fast one. Beware the original 6 are not the friends of GT, and the champions of so called Democracy in action, don't be fooled. Without the fight things would have remained status quo. I am glad you hard workers won, but still a compromise had to be accepted to achieve the change, which should not have been necessary , but what's done is done. Do you think all 7 Board members will come out for the Re-dedication with smiles on their faces as they did prior????WHAT RE-DEDICATION...A big election for several of them is on the horizon, don't forget what has happened.
Yay!!!! Thank you Letti for all that you did to support this cause. You are an awesome person!!
Ed Gregor is right...
We got what we wanted... but we still need to make our votes count in the next election, and CHANGE the board. Those three were absent because they didn't want to vote FOR GTHS.
Be wary of the school board from now parents.
They will never ask for a vote again... they will do more private dealings... now... more than ever.
The fight is LONG from over. You, we, as citizens will need to continue to watch and moniter what that school board does... much more closely, in the future.
They are not to be trusted...
I know this sound harsh in the light of all the hoorays and celebrating... but that school board is corrupt...yeah I said it... corrupt... and they need to be watched and voted OUT! Except Pat HARO (HERO)
Regarding the CJUSD "going back on their word" after rescinding the STAR testing...after all the bad press that the Board received, this would literally be career suicide, not to mention "playing dirty"...not that this hasn't been done, but I would like to think that although they make bad decisions, they are't dumb enough to make stupid ones!
I am so so happy to hear this!! Way to go Letti and all of you that have worked so hard to bring the community together on this! Really, I am so gateful.
Congratulations to all of you! You worked hard to mae this change and I applaud your efforts!
Regarding the testing - I submitted my "excuse from testing" letter to the middle school a couple of weeks ago. I made it very clear that I would NOT reverse my decision regardless of the Board's pending action.
After last week's board meeting, I hand delivered letters to CHS and TV Elementary for my other two kids in the district.
The high school started their testing this week. This is the last day for our freshmen. I spoke with a terrific couselor this morning who informed me many parents called to withdraw their waivers. Before you do this consider the following:
1) They will have to make up the STAR testing next week in addition to their regular school/home work.
2) They were not given any alternative instruction as I was led to believe the in the form letter that was routed.
3) They weren't allowed to have any materials out to study while other children were taking the tests. (I think they could only read a book, but not text books.)
4) They weren't allowed to go to the library.
I have no intention of having my highschooler take make up tests when it never should have come to this in the first place.
Teachers and fellow parents, I was very careful about my decision to submit these excusals. Issuing ultimatums is risky and uncomfortable. Be sure you consider the impact to your child (like the freshman) if you change your mind.
I'll consider the elementary student.
Hey, what is the Grand Terrace High School foundation mentioned in the newspaper article?
Kathy C.
We would like to turn this group into the "'Booster Club" for the high school, supporting it! We are going to work with an attorney to set up the foundation so we can get a head start on backing our new school. We have a strong foundation of people who work very well together and want to continue helping our community.
Amanda
Great, I'll stay tuned.
My son informed me that although freshmen testing is over, if there are sophmores and juniors in their classes they just have to sit. And, many students are simply not attending school. (I also confirmed this with the counselor.)
I stopped by CHS and spoke with an assistant principal. If you have your child check in with them tomorrow they'll give them a pass to the library and let the teacher know your student is at school.
There was a reference to us opting out, but tomorrow has nothing to do with that. Freshmen don't test tomorrow and they have nothing for them to do. Because the testing is for science and history, of course those materials can't be out in class.
Anyhow, wanted to clarify that if you are persistent, they will give your student a library pass.
Kathy C
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