By Cecilie Shamanow
October 4, 2023 (El Cajon) – The TV/Film studio at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon has been decommissioned, raising concerns from a taxpayer watchdog. The Career Technical Studio was built and supplied with state-of-the-art equipment using bond money provided by the taxpayers of East County as well as grant money. The TV/Film class was designed to allow students to gain hands-on experience in filming, editing and broadcasting.
In a letter to the district’s Citizens Bond Oversight Committee from Harper Levyton with the East County Taxpayers Association stated, “As taxpayers, we entrusted our hard-earned money to the school district with the expectation that it would be utilized to enhance our student’s educational experience and opportunities. However it is disheartening to learn that the TV studio, which represented a significant investment, has been demolished.”
In an email sent to ECM, Levyton stated, “ The Career Technical Education studio, built with [Proposition U] bond money and supported by C.T.E. grant money, was designed to be a multi-purpose space that could be used for learning about media, filming the daily news network, editing, and broadcasting. It had state-of-the-art cameras, Mac computers for editing, isolation booths, mics, custom cabinets, and an editing bay. Over the years, the network has been used for many events, from student-produced news segments and talk shows to student films and documentaries. It is a truly versatile space that countless students have enjoyed. “
Levyton’s letter asked if there was any misuse of bond money, what the decision-making process was to eliminate the studio, and what happened to furnishings and equipment.
ECM forwarded Levyton’s letter to the district and received a response from Collin McGlashen, executive director of communications for the district.
According to McGlashen, a series of events led to the removal of the class, beginning with the teacher of the class resigning in August of last year. When deciding how to proceed with the class, several factors were taken into account, such as enrollment numbers, lack of qualified teachers for the position and labor reports of declining career opportunities in the television and film industry. Funding was ultimately reallocated to more in-demand classes such as Digital Arts, Culinary and Sports Medicine.
With the removal of the class arose concerns that the bond money was no longer being used for what the purpose for which it was allocated. The Grossmont Union High School District (GUHSD) said in response, “It is not uncommon or unreasonable for schools to make programmatic changes in order to best align their finite resources … It is not a violation of the bond language, or any other law, for a school to consider an alternative use for a facility.”
The now empty classroom was offered to the Digital Arts teacher but the instructor declined. The teacher did not want to move rooms, since the school year had already started and the space was not large enough to accommodate her large class size. The space was also offered to the Sports Medicine teacher, who also declined due to the lack of space for equipment, McGlashen stated in his email.
The high-tech equipment in the TV/Film class that was purchased using the Career Technical Education (CTE) grant money remained within the CTE program. The computers were given to the Digital Arts class since their computers were older and any other equipment was given to other TV/Film teachers in the district. Equipment that was deemed unusable was either recycled as e-waste or sent to auction. Any furniture or fixtures remaining were repurposed to other programs on the Granite Hills campus.
While the TV/Film class has been eliminated at Granite Hills, the GUHSD still has “44 Career Technical Education pathways across 12 in-demand industry sectors.” They also say that they are a “pioneer in opening access for students to state-of-the-art resources and CTE opportunities…”
Last year Granite Hills applied for and received a California Partnership Academy (CPA) grant – one of only 12 CPA grants offered by the state – to build a new Biotechnology pathway and open opportunities for students in a sector that grew faster in California than the national average in 2022 and added 23,196 jobs to the California economy in 2021.
