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T he C oast News
APRIL 22, 2022
County presents three draft maps for SDUHSD By Anna Opalsky
ENCINITAS — The county's Committee on School District Organization presented three draft electoral maps for the San Dieguito Union High School District during an April 13 public hearing. Since the San Diego County Office of Education assumed control of the school district’s redistricting process earlier this month, the committee has held two public hearings to allow community input for the demographer. The county’s involvement comes amid a pending lawsuit alleging violations of both the California Voting Rights Act and Brown Act. In a letter to Superintendent Cheryl JamesWard, County Superintendent of Schools Paul Gothold wrote the county's takeover was “appropriate given issues calling into question the timeliness and legality of the District’s action to adopt a redistricting map.” In compliance with the California Education Code and California Voting Rights Act, the maps presented by the demographer, Washington D.C.-based company ARCBridge Consulting and Training, balanced the population within a 10% variance without diluting the representation of minority voters, according to an ARCBridge representative who spoke at the meeting. In addition to the redistricting requirements, many speakers at the first public hearing on April 6 requested the new maps maintain the current election cycles and trustee representation of each district; place a middle and high school in each area, and keep intact communities of interest, such as elementary feeder school districts. “We have to look at [census data] and see how to draw the areas such that we meet the redistricting criteria, as well as preserve the interest of the community, continuity of trustee election cycles … [and representation] of minorities,” said Priti Mathur, a representative of ARCBridge. In 2021, ARCBridge worked with neighboring school districts, including San Diego Unified High School District, San Diego Community College District and Los Angeles Unified High School District. The company has not previously worked with the County Office of Education or San Dieguito Union High School District, according to Mathur. The three maps presented at the April 13 public hearing were all based on the school district’s 2017 “Cranberry Map,” the map currently used by the district for which the population variance was out of compliance at 27.9%. Considering public input, all three maps maintained election cycles, did
not displace trustees and attempted to keep communities of interest intact, according to Mathur. The first map presented, Map A, has a population variance of 3.76%. There is one middle school in each area and at least one high school in every area, with the exception of Area 3. Both San Dieguito Academy and Sunset High School are located in Area 1. The second proposal, Map B, has a variance of 0.98% and keeps the same distributions of middle and high schools per area as Map A. The third map, Map C, has a variance of 0.3% and places one middle school and high school in each district, moving San Dieguito Academy from Area 1 to Area 3. During the public hearing, 15 speakers commented on the maps. Regarding the distribution of schools, some favored Map C for the school in Area 3, however, some said that moving San Dieguito Academy would divide the Hispanic community near Ocean Knoll Elementary, which is right next to the high school. “It is important that [the Hispanic community] remains intact with their Ocean Knolls Elementary and Area 1 neighbor,” one speaker, a resident of Solana Beach, said. “I realize [this] means that Area 1 would not have a high school and that is a compromise that works for my community.” Following this hearing, the demographer will revise the maps using the community’s feedback, according to County Board of Education President Rick Shea. The next public hearing will be held Wednesday, April 20. The deadline for the county to select a map is April 30.
RESIDENTS EVACUATE the town of Irpin, Ukraine, on March 9 after Russian forces bombed the city. North County residents, elected officials and nonprofits are working to help thousands of Ukrainian refugees at the U.S.-Mexico border keep their pets. Photo by Palin Chak
Locals help Ukrainian refugees keep pets By Steve Puterski
CARLSBAD — Over the past several weeks, thousands of Eastern European refugees escaping the Russian invasion of Ukraine have fled their homes for Tijuana near the U.S.-Mexico border. On top of a grave humanitarian crisis, numerous refugees are being forced to abandon their pets in Mexico, according to two nonprofits and Carlsbad Councilman Keith Blackburn. Blackburn, a longtime animal advocate, recently connected with Oceanside resident Erin Riley-Carrasco, owner of Alma Rescue, a local group that rescues animals and helps spay and neuter dogs in Tijuana and Vizcaino, Mexico. Blackburn, attempting to understand the situation and policies involving refugees and their pets, contacted the Border Patrol, U.S. Customs, Centers for
Disease Control and congressional representatives but was bounced from agency to agency. After some continued digging, Blackburn was able to determine the policy for allowing dogs and other pets to enter the United States was inconsistent, at best. “I got a panicked call from someone who said what can you do to help because we need help now,” Blackburn said. “What are the rules, what do they need and enforce consistently. That was just too much. I got frustrated and started working with Erin.” Riley-Carrasco, who has described pets as “family members,” said some border agents will let families cross California's southern border with dogs, while others do not. Others were forced to leave their beloved pets behind on the streets of Tijuana.
According to the New York Times, federal health regulations prohibit — except on an “extremely limited basis” — any dogs from entering the United States if they have been in any one of roughly 50 countries, including Ukraine. The Centers for Disease Control has classified these countries as “high risk” for rabies. In some cases, Riley-Carrasco was able to connect with a shelter in Mexico to temporarily house refugee pets left at the border. Some vets have assisted the group by helping administer rabies vaccines, but frequent trips to the border have been difficult, costly and time-consuming. “The last eight times I’ve crossed with a carload of dogs they haven’t even looked at the vaccination books I have,” Riley-Carrasco said. “All they require is an updated rabies
vaccine after one month.” Since launching her outreach efforts, Riley-Carrasco connected with Victoria Pindrik, founder of the Save Ukraine Relief Fund, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit dedicated to assisting refugees. Two days after the war began, Save Ukraine Relief Fund had boots on the ground in Poland to help refugees, providing humanitarian aid and helping with evacuations, housing, food, clothes and more. According to various media reports, as many as 1,000 refugees are landing in Tijuana every day. Pindrik said the stress and emotional toll of the war have been difficult for most and the thought of losing, or having to abandon a pet, adds to the rigors of having their lives altered forever. “These pets are a part of their family,” Pindrik said.
Anna Opalsky is a sophomore at Torrey Pines High School. She is an intern reporter with The Coast News covering the San Dieguito Union High School District.
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