The La Honda Voice

Opportunities to support the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District

By Heather McAvoy, Clerk, Board of Trustees of LHPUSD

One of the unique and wonderful qualities of our local public schools is the outstanding commitment that our community members apply to the support of our educational programs.  Many families volunteer in the classroom, help at school work days, assist with fundraisers, plan field trips, and in many creative ways provide supplemental educational opportunities and educational funding to our students.  There are also many volunteers who take on leadership roles in organizations which support community children such as the La Honda Educational Foundation, the Pescadero Education Foundation, Pescadero PTA, Viking Boosters, Puente de la Costa Sur, TomKat Foundation and South Coast Children’s Services.

The LHPUSD Board of Trustees is a group of 5 citizens living within the boundaries of LHPUSD who through election and/or appointment, make up the governing board of the school district.  The current trustees are Board President, Andy Wilson of Pescadero, Board Clerk Heather McAvoy of La Honda,  Kathy Crane, of La Honda, Andy Lagow, of Loma Mar, and Connie Sarabia of Pescadero. 

There are three seats up for election on the LHPUSD board on the November ballot.  The deadline to file is August 6 for incumbents and August 11 for non-incumbents.  Having served for nearly 4 -1/2 years, I have decided to turn my focus to other activities and will not be running for re-election.  Please see http://www.shapethefuture.org/campaigns/declarecandidacy.asp  for details on how to file to run for the school board.  The Board of Trustees of LHPUSD is as local as local government gets around here and I urge you, if you are dedicated to high quality public education in our community and willing to take on the responsibilities and time commitment, to consider throwing your hat into the ring. 

LHPUSD has 2 standing Citizen’s Oversight committees, appointed by the Board of Trustees.  These committees need members.  They are:

Bond Measure Oversight Committee:  This committee is mandated by Prop. 39 to review District expenditures of Measure I bond funds and issue an annual report to the Board and the community.  The current chair of this committee is Warren Wolfeld, of Pescadero.  Committee members through 7/31/10 are Angus Blackman of La Honda, Web Barton and Paul Ferro of Pescadero and David Schorr of Half Moon Bay.   The next meeting of the BMOC is August 31, 7:00 P.M. in the Back Room at Duarte’s.  All of the BMOC meetings are public meetings, and anyone interested in consideration for appointment to this committee is especially encouraged to attend.  The BMOC has completed the 2009 Final Report, which will be presented during the LHPUSD regular board meeting, which will be held on August 12 at 7:00 P.M. in the District Board Room in Pescadero. 

Parcel Tax Oversight Committee:  This committee is tasked with annual review of District expenditures of Measure B parcel tax funds and to issue an annual report to the Board and community.  The current chair of this committee is Peter Bohacek of La Honda.  The additional committee members are Mark Graff and Jean Graham of La Honda and Chris Brancart and Gael Solos of Pescadero.

Both of these committees need members, but the urgency is greater for the Bond Measure Oversight Committee, as we have difficulty in our sparsely populated district in maintaining the mandated full committee of 7 members.  Please contact Superintendent Amy Wooliever at the LHPUSD District Office at 879-0286 to express interest in joining either committee. 

Thank you for the opportunity to serve this community for these past 4+ years.  It has been a challenging, but rewarding experience and I am grateful for your support.  If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me at [email protected].

Reflections "76" -- A Book Review

by Mary Bordi

Reflections "76" is a slim, paperback La Honda Elementary School yearbook. The pages were obviously cut and pasted and captioned by typewriter before being sent to the School Annual Publishing Company in Kansas City MO for printing. This was a labor of love, produced in 1976 without the aid of computers.

In that red-white-and-blue Bicentennial year, Jimmy Carter was elected President, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (the movie) garnered five academy awards and the National Academy of Science determined that gases from spray cans could damage the earth's ozone layer. None of this was mentioned in Reflections "76", however.

La Honda Elementary school buildings were 16 years old in 1976 with a new Multi Use Room. Consisting of grades kindergarten through eighth, the school served around 145 students who arrived by bus from the far corners of the district. All classes were split grades except for kindergarten and eighth. It's difficult to determine the class sizes because the yearbook is laid out by grade, not classroom. The seventh grade, with twelve students, was the smallest while kindergarten, with 20 students, was the largest. Six regular teachers and a learning disability teacher handled the workload.

Mr. Bickmore was the District Superintendent/Principal; Mrs. Tainter, secretary; Mrs. Silva, librarian. Bus drivers were Gayle O'Connor and Lois Marcil.

By this time you've figured out this isn't really a book review but a description of a piece of history.

The music department, under the guidance of Mr. Raney, consisted of Beginning and Advanced Guitar as well as Band. The band picture shows ten members.

Cheerleaders as well as Pom Pom Girls inspired the La Honda Bandits Basket Ball team to victory. Between them they rated a three page spread.

Other sections include 1988 (what will eighth graders be doing then?), Activities, Polls (best dancers, best dressed, eyes...) and Candids. The pictures on the Moments to Remember, Candids and Activities pages are a little difficult to make out (you probably just had to be there) but one stands out. Titled "Snowed In" it shows a group of kids playing in a rare snowfall on school playground equipment that would nowadays be classified as unsafe.

Not noted in the yearbook but worth remembering was the lunch time Snitch Box where students could put items from their lunch bags that they didn't want, for others to "snitch", so the food did not go to waste. And kindergarten teacher Gowan Ratliff's famous money raising bake sales outside the Post Office. What didn't sell went into the freezer to be thawed for the next bake sale.

Near the front of the book is a wonderful aerial photo of the school and surroundings--at a time when Google Earth's inventor was probably just a kid himself. (No, not at La Honda School.) 

As the 1976 kindergartners celebrate their 40th birthdays, one might wonder what has become of the students in the nine grades of La Honda Elementary that year. Some have moved out of state or out of the country. At least one has passed away. Some are reconnecting on Facebook. But some of these former students regularly return to the Multi Use Room to watch their own children in school drama productions, fifth grade graduations and other activities. They still live here. By the way, can you find today's Principal in the second grade picture?

This book is long out of print. You'll have a hard time finding it on eBay or the used book web sites because nowhere in the Reflections "76" yearbook is "La Honda" even mentioned. It was just so obvious to all...

This copy of Reflections "76" will be placed in the archives of the La Honda Historical Society. Names of students have not been mentioned in order to protect the innocent.

The Amgen Tour of La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District

by Randy Vail

Of all the obscure country roads in California, Butano Cutoff, connecting Pescadero Creek Road to Cloverdale Road, is certainly one.  This year it was part of the route of one the biggest races in the country, the Amgen Tour of California, a world class bike race featuring elite riders from across the globe, among them seven-time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong.  Butano Cutoff Road was already famous however, due to the fact it is also the home of Pescadero High & Middle Schools.  This convergence was manifested on Tuesday, May 18th when the entire student population turned out to cheer on the riders as they made their way from San Francisco to Santa Cruz, going by our school along the scenic Butano Cutoff Road. 

Equipped with cowbells, signs, and exuberant teen enthusiasm, the students got to experience the rolling bicycle parade that is the Tour of California.  About the time a helicopter was sighted to the east over Pescadero Creek road, an impressive regiment of CHP motorcycles followed by CHP cars, all with sirens blaring, zoomed past the school.  Then came the entourage of cars, a lead group of cyclists, and yet more cars - featuring thousands of dollars worth of bike racks.  Finally, the main cluster of dozens of cyclists, including Lance and his Radio Shack team, whizzed by, again followed by the armada of support vehicles.  It was a truly exciting event for students and staff, and we hope it becomes an annual event.  To find out more about the Tour of California and Pescadero High & Middle Schools, check out: http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/ and http://www.lhpusd.net/

The lead bikers as they come through La Honda

Coastside school votes hang in balance

By Clay Lambert--[ [email protected] ]
( http://www.hmbreview.com/articles/2006/11/14/news/local_news/story03.txt )

Educators, parents and students in La Honda and Pescadero were holding their breath into the night, awaiting results from a $15 million bond question on Tuesday's ballot.

Measure I requires 55 percent of the vote for approval. Results were not available at press time late Tuesday night.

District officials say the money would go toward construction of a new high school, repairs for the middle school and a more sturdy water supply for the elementary school.

Measure I faced no organized opposition.

Superintendent Tim Beard said dramatic improvements were necessary because the schools are 40 years old and in need of major repairs.

"We hope that the voters support the bond measure," Beard said in the days leading up to the vote. "It will help repair and modernize our school facilities and we're in serious need of that."

Beard said the bond would pave the way to move the middle school into the current high school and allow for construction of a new high school campus. The cost of the total project could be as much as $20 million, according to an architecture firm hired by the district, but Beard is confident the bond would open up the district to additional state funding sources.

Review staff writer Marc Longpre contributed to this story.