Tonight at the Hart District regular Board meeting the smart money says the kerfuffle over the cancellation of 8th grade promotions will be drowned out by the shouting of parents from the Westridge and Stevenson Ranch areas (91381) seeking to assure that the “awful” students from Castaic (91384) find their way to Valencia High School rather than West Ranch High School in the middle of the tony 91381.
When these shouts first came in 2008, the comments from folks in the 91381 would have made a reasonable person think that the Hart District wanted to bus in students from a juvenile detention facility to Beverly Hills. What could be causing this snobbery and fear?
An unproven theory: Financial distress makes people crazy. Nearly all of Westridge and a substantial part of Stevenson Ranch were built during the height of the residential real estate boom with the attendant high prices and attached real estate taxes making the cost to carry of those homes incredibly high. To justify this incredible investment and expense attributable to assets that have probably fallen in value 30 to 40%, one must gather a certain halo of exclusivity to sleep at night.
The numbers bear out the higher distress in the 91381. According to foreclosure.com, the 91384 has 219 homes in foreclosure or preforclosure against the 91381′s 174, HOWEVER the 91384 has 22,000 residents according to Census Bureau estimates while the 91381 contains only 10,000. Therefore, looking at properties in distress per 1,000 people the 91381 has 17 per thousand, 70% higher than the 10 per thousand of the 91384.
As a resident of the 91354 I will proudly welcome ALL the Castaic kids we can get, since that will provide the Vikings the stud and studette athletic horse power to continue to hammer the hollowed out Hart High School and the upstart West Ranch.
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Castaic kids found snobbery at Valencia HA, too, a few short years ago. It will happen again.
BUILD CASTAIC HIGH SCHOOL NOW!
Not one penny more to schools until classe start there. Almost $1B in bonds sold to the public as getting us CHS and today NOTHING to show for it!
Oh, and throw out the board at Hart next election for failing us.
Didn’t new school board member Joe Messina promise to get a high school built in Castaic?
Sure, but it had better actually happen before the next election…
Your portrayal of the residents of Stevenson Ranch is definitely interesing. I personally have some wonderful friends in Castaic and don’t consider any of their children “awful”. The concerns for parents of West Ranch:
1). Overcrowding. I don’t have a high schooler yet, but friends have reported that the counselors are overwhelmed, class schedules are bungled every semester and it is way too big to manage.
2). Traffic. Have you been on or near Valencia during pick up or drop off? There is a junior high, high school AND an elementary school on a dead end road. I’m glad I don’t live in Westridge.
3). Safety. Until Valencia goes all the way through and connects with Poe Parkway, everyone is very concerned that there is only one way out of that area. This is extremely dangerous. In 2003 we experienced the Simi Valley fire. Stevenson Ranch was under a mandatory evacuation and the traffic off the hill was a nightmare. We even have TWO means of egress – Poe and Hemmingway. Imagine that same scenerio in Westridge with the schools and residents.
Lynda:
See the quoted email below. Board members have shared with me that the overwhelming percentage of emails complain about the Castaic people like they are criminals.
I’m guessing they’re worried about the kids from Val Verde. There is a gang problem out there. Do gang bangers make good athletes?
RM:
The vocal West Ranch parents pretty much think everything north of Magic Mountain Parkway west of the five IS Val Verde.
THIS!
Tim,
I would like to correct you on your foreclosure rate analysis. While the 2000 Census showed 10,000 residents in the 91381, you also have to remember that a large portion of Stevenson Ranch was not built yet and non of Valenica’s Westridge development was built yet.
Based on the Annexation Fiscal Analysis Report done for the City and County, it shows 91381 with an estimated population of 19,800 to Castaic’s 22,000. With the forclosures that you provided, that actually makes the 91381 area have properties in distress per 1000 people at 9, which is lower than Castaic’s 10. That pretty much blows your analysis.
Also, the 91381 zip code has lost the least amount in home values since the housing downturn compared to other areas of the SCV.
Personally, it doesnt matter to me if Castaic kids go to West Ranch. I think the parents that live in Stevenson Ranch/West Ranch just want to ensure that their kids wont be bumped elsewhere. Also, remember kids that live off of Wiley Canyon area of Newhall and Calgrove areas also attend West Ranch.
Quote from an email to a Board member:
“The Castaic people have caused their own problems so don’t bring thme into our high school to downgrade our performance.”
Sounds like your are right, they are worried about getting bumped somewhere else!
I know Hart tried sending all students from Castaic to West Ranch for a few years and then Valencia for a few years.
Can’t they divide Castaic into 2 different areas so that one part of Castaic area goes to West Ranch and the other goes to Valencia. That would seem to alleviate the burden of both West Ranch and Valencia from taking huge influxes of children every couple years. Having a more stable number each year would seem to solve the issue for the time being.
The problem with that is we want EVERY single student from Castaic to come to Valencia to fuel the athletic and academic hegemony that is our birthright! Go Vikings!!!!
Sorry Tim. When my son, the wrestler, went to Valencia, he reported that all of the white jocks from the Valencia area treated the black kids from Val Verde like crap. To quote my son, even the black athletes were not welcomed or treated like fellow Vikings.
I think there was even some sort of “climate of racial discrimination” lawsuit against the District concerning the atmosphere at Valencia.
So the real question for the black kids of Val Verde, and the “po white folk” from Castaic, are the questions “Where will they be treated better? Where will they be happier?”
Since the rich white folks of Santa Clarita and Stevenson Ranch have controlled the Hart District Board for years and years, stiffing Castaic out of a high school but building West Ranch, it seems to me the decent thing to do would be to ask the students from the fictional Castaic High School whether they want to go to Valencia or West Ranch.
It really wouldn’t kill the Hart District to run some buses to each school if that is what the Castaic High School students want.
“The Castaic people have caused their own problems so don’t bring thme into our high school to downgrade our performance.”
Oh please! I can’t stand it when I read stuff like that. “Downgrade their performance” my you know what.
Castaic Middle and Rio Norte’s APIs for 2009 were both in the 800′s. Castaic managed to get that score with more students AND a more diverse student population than Rio Norte.
“The Castaic people have caused their own problems so don’t bring thme into our high school to downgrade our performance.”
Oh please! I can’t stand it when I read stuff like that. “Downgrade their performance” my you know what.
Castaic Middle and Rancho Pico’s APIs for 2009 were both in the 800′s. Castaic managed to get that score with more students AND a more diverse student population than Rio Norte.
I meant Rancho Pico NOT Rio Norte in my 1st post that didn’t post at all, so I typed it all again with the correction, then when I posted my corrected post, my 1st post posted. Got that.
Also, the 91381 zip code has lost the least amount in home values since the housing downturn compared to other areas of the SCV.
That is because nobody wants to move there.
BUILD . . . CASTAIC . . . HIGH . . . SCHOOL !!!
But let Castaic people have the choice to go to VHS, so that the rump CHS will be another bit of roadkill oh the way to CIF dominance!!!!
Hey Tim,
Why didn’t you try to defend yourself when Linda called you out on your incorrect foreclosure rate analysis? Quit pullin’ a Palin and respond about your faulty statistics.
Fair enough Money. So the foreclosure and preforclosure stats are about the same. Is Botox making them crazy!
Alan2010:
I can’t speak for everyone but as for me I LOVE BLACK PEOPLE!!!!!
Yes, financial distress makes people act crazy, haven’t you noticed our already bad drivers driving even worse?