| ttt.c | This time line created to illustrate activities of the PVUSD since 1987 as they pursued various school sites and worked through various agency approval processes. This time line is updated regularly |
| The Pajaro Valley Unified School District high school planning and development time line. |
| By Peter Nichols
pnichols@tellingthetruth.com If you can add to this time line, please email the author |
| April 14, 1983 | California Coastal Commission certifies the city of Watsonville's Local Coastal Program. LCP Amendments |
| July, 29 1987 | Pajaro Valley Unified School District board trustees see Harkins Slough Rd. site on a bus tour of three sites under consideration. |
| Dec. 23, 1987 | Aeronautics Program of Caltrans evaluates the Harkins Slough Rd. site for suitability for a school and determines the site to be not suitable. Airport Safety |
| March 23, 1988 | School board votes to build a high school near Pinto Lake. PVUSD History |
| August 14, 1991 | The Green Valley Action Committee and 150 local residents bombard the school board with arguments against building a high school at the Pinto Lake site and threaten legal action. |
| Dec. 16, 1991 | Richard Meyer, PVUSD Construction Director sends memo and map to DOE describing "Lee Road at Harkins Slough Road" to be one mile south of its present location. What happened? |
| January, 1992 | The Superintendent's Alternative Site Committee including members of GVAC and Watsonville Wetlands Watch report on 11 different possible sites. The Harkins Slough site is included. |
| Jan. 21, 1992 | Aeronautics Program reevaluates the Harkins Slough site and determines it is suitable for a school location. Changes in site location and airport activity are cited as reasons for the site's acceptability. Airport Safety |
| April 29, 1992 | School board trustees, much to the delight of the GVAC, vote 6-1 to abandon the Pinto Lake site ending four years of ranker over that proposal. |
| June 30, 1993 | PVUSD school board chooses Harkins Slough Rd. site to build their third high school. |
| Nov. 7, 1995 | Most recent fatal air incident at Watsonville Municipal Airport. The aircraft experienced a loss of power during take-off. Witnesses observed the airplane turn toward the airport, and descend rapidly until colliding with terrain and an unoccupied structure. The aircraft was destroyed by a post impact fire, and the pilot received fatal injuries. NTSB air crash reports #9. |
| March, 1997 | City of Watsonville approves general plan amendment to include Tai property within the city's urban limit line. |
| June, 10 1997 | Dan Gargas of Department of Transportation Aviation Program extends the approval of Harkins Slough Rd. site. Airport Safety |
| June 17, 1998 | The project's Revised Environmental Impact Report is made available to the public. |
| Nov. 3, 1998 | Proposition 1A, the state school bond measure passes while the district's local bond Measure E fails. School Financing |
| April 23, 1999 | Judge Stephen McAdams rules in favor of the school district in a suit filed by local environmental groups over the Revised Environmental Impact Report. |
| Feb. 5, 2000 | Assemblyman Fred Keeley announces a tentative agreement for the support of some members of the environmental community in exchange for an iron-clad agreement to prevent development of lands west of Highway 1. The Keeley Deal, The Keeley Group |
| March 2, 2000 | The Coastal Commission staff issue their long awaited final report recommending denial of Watsonville's Local Coastal Program amendments and suggests modifications that may allow the high school to be built. Coastal Commission Report |
| March 16, 2000 | The Coastal Commission votes 9 to 1 to allow the proposed high school to go forward, with conditions. Among them are the requirement that the district request an aeronautics evaluation to determine where a school could be safely located, and a complete geotechnical review is required. Coastal Commission Meeting |
| March 31, 2000 | Casey advises school board trustees in a memo of a strategy devised in meetings with State Department of Education officials to get school site approval "without taking time for an evaluation." Some opponents considered this memo to be the "smoking gun". About the Casey memo, The Casey Memo, Something's Fishy |
| April 10, 2000 | Coastal Commission, meeting in Long Beach, reportedly dismayed at details revealed in the Casey memo of 3/31/00 postponed until May their decision to approve Watsonville's Memorandum of Understanding. MOU Continued, The Real MOU |
| April 28, 2000 | Reportedly at the behest of Assemblyman Fred Keeley, the Commission postponed the MOU decision again until the June meeting in Santa Barbara. No reason given yet. |
| May 24, 2000 | State Allocation Board approves $45 million in construction and hardship funds for the PVUSD's proposed high school. |
| May 29, 2000 | Superintendent John Casey writes letter formally requesting an aeronautics evaluation of the proposed high school site. |