By Charly SHELTON

Last night saw the first of two public forums on the Sagebrush transfer debate. About 200 people attend the La Cañada Unified School District public forum at the District offices, which gave members of the public a chance to voice their opinions on the issue, both in favor and opposed to the transfer.
This public forum was the most recent step in the ongoing battle over the area west of Rosebank Drive in La Cañada to Pickens Canyon, known as the Sagebrush territory. Representing the pro-transfer side is UniteLCF, a coalition of current and former residents of La Cañada who want Sagebrush to fall under the jurisdiction of LCUSD instead of Glendale Unified School District, which it currently does, in an effort to unify the city. The anti-transfer side is represented by GUSD families and friends who don’t want to lose students to another district because it will impact GUSD through “lost ADA funding that could result in teacher layoffs and a reduction in financial resources used to provide students with technology, expanded programs and extra-curricular activities,” wrote GUSD Superintendent Winfred Roberson in an email to GUSD parents.

UniteLCF started a petition to begin the transfer process, gathering 724 signatures that wre verified by the L.A. County Registrar’s Office. The petition was submitted to the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization at the Los Angeles County Office of Education. It began proceedings on the matter in September and ordered that two public forums be held, one in each district, to gather input from residents on their feelings towards the proposed transfer. The LACCSDO sat as the committee in the public forum Wednesday night to hear the public firsthand. 

At the meeting, those for and against the transfer were easily identified. Those in favor of the transfer wore stickers that read, “Support the Transfer – One City, One School District,” and those against it wore buttons that read, “Keep GUSD Whole.”

“We are a small group who fight for what we believe is best for our children,” said Sagebrush parent Stuart McKinney. “Glendale has the money and the numbers, and has played dirty in the past, and they’re playing dirty again. Hopefully Glendale will finally realize that the only way to end this fight is to let us go. Because if they don’t, this battle will go on for another 50 years.”

The head of UniteLCF, Tom Smith, was in attendance and addressed the audience.

“Let’s talk about David and Goliath for a second. And for some context, I want to make sure that the committee members appreciate, as you listen to both sides in this dialogue, that Sagebrush represents truly a tiny fraction of GUSD relative to its overall size,” Smith said. “They are Goliath and Sagebrush is David. So I expect we’ll hear from GUSD how devastating this transfer will be for the vitality of the district, how disruptive it will be for their enrollment and their programs.”

Smith then showed a slide that outlined what UniteLCF estimates will be a more accurate loss of revenue to GUSD if the Sagebrush transfer occurs.

Smith has been the head of the pro-transfer movement from its inception in 2013 but has since “reluctantly moved away to be with family, closer to home” and is no longer a La Cañada resident. Some of the other members of UniteLCF have been fighting for the transfer since the 1970s when they were seeking change for their children and now seek change for their grandchildren.

The other half of the public in attendance, however, were not in favor of the transfer.

“I want to read you something about the unification of communities. ‘It promotes patriotism and community identity, it enhances security and improves public safety. It improves self governance and the benefits of economic and community resources can be shared within a community and not outside.’ I’ve just read to you excerpts from an essay entitled ‘The Benefits of Fascism,’ yet the UniteLCF benefits of territory transfer are almost identical,” said Emily Lanigan, fifth generation resident of the Crescenta Valley. “To separate and segregate Sagebrush students from the rest of the Crescenta Valley would break so many of the bonds that this community has formed in the last 80 years. Tearing Sagebrush students out of GUSD wouldn’t unite La Cañada, it would instead rip apart the Crescenta Valley from Tujunga to Hahamonga.”

The debate will continue at the next public forum, to be held next Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 p.m. in MacDonald Auditorium at Crescenta Valley High School. The auditorium is located in the 4400 block of Ramsdell Avenue in La Crescenta.

For more information on the issue, search “Sagebrush” on CVWeekly.com.