The San Juan Unified School District held a "community workshop" at the old Creekside School on Thursday evening, June 16th, about the proposed large middle school at Creekside. We shall begin our post by saying something nice, because if you can't say something nice about people, you shouldn't say anything. Since we DO have something to say, here are some niceties:

• It was good of the school district to host the meeting
• A lot of people attended - on short notice, on a week night, during Game 6 of the NBA finals
• The presentations, questions and discussions were cordial

All right. Here's the rest: The deceptive attitudes of the school district staff and its architectural consultant towards the public were in full bloom. The audience was told the design was final and could not be changed, ever. Except maybe for some inconsequential things like the paint palette or which flowers to put in the window boxes. The staff said a "full Environmental Impact Report" would be finished quickly, something that has never happened in the history of Environmental Impact Reports. Pushed by audience questions, the unelected representatives admitted that the "No Project" alternative had to be addressed by law. But, they reiterated, no alternative sites, campus sizes or building designs had been evaluated, nor would they be evaluated. It doesn't matter that some buildings are just a few feet from people's houses. It's not important that the site is far smaller than it needs to be. The building design has been finished and that's just the way it's going to be. Some front lawns might have to be taken by eminent domain to make traffic flow smoothly, but that's a job for someone other than the school district. The big parking lot is for staff only. Parents have to park somewhere else. Blah, blah, blah, the public be damned. Sure the law says the environmental document should inform the decision makers' decision, but they made the decision without the environmental analysis, so too bad for you. The school district knows what's best for you, just say what you want and then go home. The school district has made up its mind already. The school district doesn't care about your silly opinions, your tax dollars or your pathetic community. Get used to it.

Dear readers, you know how we normally have a photo with our post? Sorry, no photo for this story. The newsroom elves we sent to cover the meeting felt so humiliated they threw their cell phones out into El Camino to be crushed by speeding trucks. As a fall-back graphic, here's some clip art of how the school district wants you, the public, to behave.

Oh, one more thing. The school district will have another meeting on June 30th if you want to be degraded some more.