Superintendent Graeff Says ‘No Plan B’ After Failure of Prop. R

Donna Braye-Romero, president of the Ramona Teachers Association, is worried that the failure of Proposition R will result in major cuts in teacher compensation and student programs and services, Voice of San Diego reported Monday.

“It’s going to be devastating to the communities and the schools,” Braye-Romero was quoted as saying. “We have a problem that needs to be solved and it's not a problem that can be solved by just making cuts.”

Ramona Unified schools Superintendent Robert Graeff said the district has no “Plan B” after voters faild to pass Proposition R, a $66 million bond issue that would have financed school improvements and paid back monies previously borrowed to build two new schools, Ramona Community and Hanson Elementary.

The loan Ramona took out was similar to the capital appreciation bonds that have proven so controversial in recent months. The district didn't make a single payment on its loan until 2008 and interest piled up, Voice of San Diego reported.

“We don’t have the resources to pay for that,” Graeff told Voice. “The plan was to pass Prop. R.”

At a forum last week held in the Ramona Library, the Voice of San Diego said Graeff dismissed the idea of consolidating schools, saying that abandoned buildings would only cause an "eyesore" to the community.

Voters in the Ramona Unified School District favored Prop. R by a tally of 7,737 to 7.551 (50.6 percent to 49.4 percent) but fell short of the 55 percent approval needed for passage.

Read more about the school forum and what Graeff and others had to say over at the Voice of San Diego.