SAN PASQUAL SUPPORTERS RALLY

Group has started petition and appeal to governor to delay closure of academy

The news last week that San Pasqual Academy would need to close this fall took staff and students by surprise, and by late last week they joined former students and others in a campaign to save the boarding school for foster children.

Citing declining enrollment and recent changes in state and federal law, California regulators notified San Diego County child-welfare officials early this month that they must close the academy by Oct. 1. The Escondido campus was the first-in-thenation residential home for dependents of the Juvenile Court.

A pilot program that had allowed the 20-year-old institution to operate was slated to expire Dec. 31, but state officials told the county earlier this year that the project would be ending even sooner.

In October, the state will begin implementing a federal law that discourages funding for congregate living in foster care facilities. The county will need to find new homes, preferably with families, for the approximately 70 students who live at the academy.

A San Pasqual Academy student identified as Kimberly E. on Monday started a Change.org petition to keep the school open. The petition drive began one day after The San Diego Union-tribune reported the looming shutdown. In her description, Kimberly said students learned about the closure from the newspaper and presented her best argument against closing the school.

“Yes, it will be easy for the county to put us students into foster homes and family but would that actually be the safest option?” the petition said. “In my opinion, it will not be the safest option due to the fact that a lot of foster homes don’t always feed the kids well, sometimes don’t even buy us clothes.

“Also a lot of foster homes do abuse kids behind doors. Also, putting kids with their family might seem like a good idea but family can