The school board voted on Tuesday night to pass a resolution opposing medical marijuana dispensaries within the Sonoma Valley Unified School District boundaries. The vote came after a portion of the meeting devoted specifically to public comment on this topic. Close to a dozen people including Sheriff Bill Cogbill and a strong contingent from the Latino community stepped forward to state their opposition. One man, Sonoma resident David Grubb, drove from his home where he had been watching the meeting on television to give his opinion. “Marijuana ruined my life,” said Grubb. He went on to state that he’d been kicked out of Altimira while a student there and subsequently didn’t graduate from high school. He said he has trouble today getting a passport due to legal ramifications and is a convicted felon. “Even considering putting this sort of store in our community is asinine,” said Grubb.
Also at the meeting, the results of a survey released by the office of the Superintendent, Louann Carlomagno, revealing support for a potential Proposition 39 GO Bond Measure. The survey, conducted by FM3 Research, specialists in public school issues, was based on interviews with 400 randomly-selected residents across the community. It found that 66 percent of voters would support an measure to improve student achievement, college and job preparation and help prevent further budget cuts by making schools more energy efficient saving millions that could otherwise be spent in classrooms. The bond would be structured so existing tax rates would not be increased.
Improving energy efficiency by installing solar panels and other energy efficient upgrades will save our schools over one million dollars a year,” said Justin Frese, deputy superintendent. “The dollars saved can be used to protect small class sizes and core instructional programs from devastating budget cuts.”
