El Tejon Unified School District
Encyclopedia
The El Tejon Unified School District serves kindergarten-through-12th-grade students in the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass
, which include Frazier Park
, Lebec
, and Pine Mountain Club
in the southern mountains of Kern County, California
. Lockwood Valley
is part of the district even though it is within Ventura County, and Gorman
students (in Los Angeles County) are accepted into the high school by special permit.
Frazier Park Elementary School
educates children in kindergarten through third grade. El Tejon Middle School
in Lebec takes district students from the fourth through the eighth grade. Frazier Mountain High School, also in Lebec, was founded in 1995 for ninth- through 12th-graders.
Pine Mountain Learning Center is a district-sponsored charter school 3.5 miles west of Pine Mountain
.
course on "The Philosophy of Design." The class, taught by Sharon Lemburg, who was married to an Assembly of God pastor, was criticized for bringing intelligent design
creationism
into the class. Lemburg was accused by Ken Hurst, one of the parents who filed the lawsuit and is a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
in La Canada
, for falsely including him and Nobel Prize
winner Francis Crick
(who had been dead for two years) as lecturers on the syllabus presented to the Board of Trustees. The suit was settled out of court when the school district agreed that no school "shall offer, presently or in the future, the course entitled 'Philosophy of Design' or 'Philosophy of Intelligent Design' or any other course that promotes or endorses creationism, creation science
, or intelligent design."
In the wake of an investigation by Jason Kaff of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office, School District Board Chairman Anita Anderson told an Enterprise reporter in June 2010 that "Kids raised the money and then the money was used for other purposes." But the school district put new procedures in place to avoid irregularities in the future, the newspaper reported, "such as taking regular inventories in the student store, immediately counting and filing cash reports signed by two people following fundraising events, reconciling bank statements . . . and keeping mandated files of signed minutes to document that [Associated Student Body] members agreed to purchases."
about the alleged interference with the media and was told that the students have the right
to "speak to the media and express their opinions."
is important in the Mountain Communities, according to a March 2008 report in the local weekly newspaper, the Mountain Enterprise, which added:
Frazier Park hosts a branch of the Charter Oaks Community Charter School
, headquartered in Bakersfield. The charter school is designed to "provide opportunities, support, and accountability for parents in their homeschooling endeavors."
Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass
The Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass, or the Frazier Mountain Communities, in the San Emigdio Mountains is a region of California that includes Lebec, Frazier Park, Lake of the Woods, Lockwood Valley, Pinon Pines, and Pine Mountain Club, in Kern County, California, and Gorman in Los Angeles...
, which include Frazier Park
Frazier Park, California
Frazier Park is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Kern County, California. Frazier Park is west of Lebec, at an elevation of 4,639 feet . It is one of the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass...
, Lebec
Lebec, California
Lebec is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Kern County, California. It is one of the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass, and the home of the Tejon Ranch Company. Lebec is south of Bakersfield. The population was 1,468 in the 2010 census, up from 1,224 in...
, and Pine Mountain Club
Pine Mountain Club, California
Pine Mountain Club is an unincorporated private community and census-designated place in Kern County, California, northwest of the San Fernando Valley and west of Gorman. It is one of the mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass, and sits in a deep valley on the San Andreas fault, in the same area...
in the southern mountains of Kern County, California
Kern County, California
Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the fifth-largest county by population in California. Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence. Politically, it has generally...
. Lockwood Valley
Lockwood Valley, California
Lockwood Valley is an unincorporated community in Ventura County, California, and part of the Mountain Communities. It lies at an elevation of 4,839 feet .....
is part of the district even though it is within Ventura County, and Gorman
Gorman, California
Gorman, California, is an unincorporated community in northwestern Los Angeles County. As of 2005 it had just 15 homes and a few registered voters, but tens of thousands of motorists traveled through it daily on the Interstate 5 freeway....
students (in Los Angeles County) are accepted into the high school by special permit.
Frazier Park Elementary School
Primary education
A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
educates children in kindergarten through third grade. El Tejon Middle School
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
in Lebec takes district students from the fourth through the eighth grade. Frazier Mountain High School, also in Lebec, was founded in 1995 for ninth- through 12th-graders.
Pine Mountain Learning Center is a district-sponsored charter school 3.5 miles west of Pine Mountain
Pine Mountain Club, California
Pine Mountain Club is an unincorporated private community and census-designated place in Kern County, California, northwest of the San Fernando Valley and west of Gorman. It is one of the mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass, and sits in a deep valley on the San Andreas fault, in the same area...
.
Robotics
In 2001, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration awarded the school a sponsorship to compete in a robotics competition. Then in 2004 it won a robotics competition in Southern California.'Intelligent design' class
In 2006, Frazier Mountain High School received national attention in the case Hurst et al. v. Newman et al. when eleven parents sued the district for its scheduling an intersessionIntersession
Intersession is a short break or mini-term between the traditional, standard academic terms. An intersession may be a period of a few weeks between semesters or quarters during which students can take short, accelerated classes or complete other academic work....
course on "The Philosophy of Design." The class, taught by Sharon Lemburg, who was married to an Assembly of God pastor, was criticized for bringing intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
into the class. Lemburg was accused by Ken Hurst, one of the parents who filed the lawsuit and is a researcher at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
in La Canada
La Cañada Flintridge, California
La Cañada Flintridge is a small and affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States whose population at the 2010 census was 20,246, down from 20,318 at the 2000 census. According to Forbes, as of 2010, La Cañada Flintridge ranks as the 143rd most expensive U.S...
, for falsely including him and Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
winner Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
(who had been dead for two years) as lecturers on the syllabus presented to the Board of Trustees. The suit was settled out of court when the school district agreed that no school "shall offer, presently or in the future, the course entitled 'Philosophy of Design' or 'Philosophy of Intelligent Design' or any other course that promotes or endorses creationism, creation science
Creation science
Creation Science or scientific creationism is a branch of creationism that attempts to provide scientific support for the Genesis creation narrative in the Book of Genesis and disprove generally accepted scientific facts, theories and scientific paradigms about the history of the Earth, cosmology...
, or intelligent design."
Missing student body funds
On October 14, 2009, the school board heard the results of an audit of the books of the Associated Student Body organization for the school year 2008-2009, when revenues were $224,012 from dances, a student store, and athletic events and expenses were $201,301. The audit was ordered after two students complained about what they said were missing funds amounting to about $10,000. It found a deficiency in the student books and "lack of controls," County Assistant Superintendent of Schools Mark Fulmer told the board.In the wake of an investigation by Jason Kaff of the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office, School District Board Chairman Anita Anderson told an Enterprise reporter in June 2010 that "Kids raised the money and then the money was used for other purposes." But the school district put new procedures in place to avoid irregularities in the future, the newspaper reported, "such as taking regular inventories in the student store, immediately counting and filing cash reports signed by two people following fundraising events, reconciling bank statements . . . and keeping mandated files of signed minutes to document that [Associated Student Body] members agreed to purchases."
Student walkout
About two hundred high school students staged a walkout from their classes on January 25, 2011, to protest the layoff of bus driver Jesus (Chuy) Saldana after a parent complained that the bus he was driving rolled backward and caused her to run over her son's foot with her car. "They chanted, 'Chuy, Chuy,' and interviewed with local and television media before the media was shooed away by administrators." The Mountain Enterprise contacted the California Newspaper Publishers AssociationCalifornia Newspaper Publishers Association
The California Newspaper Publishers Association is a nonprofit trade association founded in 1888 that represents the daily and weekly newspapers of California. Its diverse membership consists of over 500 newspapers that elect 35 individuals to its governing board of directors...
about the alleged interference with the media and was told that the students have the right
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, was a decision by the United States Supreme Court that defined the constitutional rights of students in U.S. public schools...
to "speak to the media and express their opinions."
Home schooling
Home schoolingHomeschooling
Homeschooling or homeschool is the education of children at home, typically by parents but sometimes by tutors, rather than in other formal settings of public or private school...
is important in the Mountain Communities, according to a March 2008 report in the local weekly newspaper, the Mountain Enterprise, which added:
Per capita, the Mountain Communities may have one of the highest rates of homeschooling in the state, far above the national average of 2 to 4 percent, Holly Van Houten . . . [a home-school parent of the area] said. Estimates range between 8 and 30 percent—somewhere between 100 and 400 children, she reports.
Frazier Park hosts a branch of the Charter Oaks Community Charter School
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
, headquartered in Bakersfield. The charter school is designed to "provide opportunities, support, and accountability for parents in their homeschooling endeavors."