Daily Question

Question for Thursday, April 5th, 2012: Previous Next

What do you think about the CH-UH school district's Plan C, The Community Plan?

I think very few voters know anything about plan C.

The plan needs to clearly, specifically, concretely spell out what will be done with the school buildings and grounds which will be put out of service. We need a winning solution that will enhance the community. The sad example of Milliken shows what happens when there is no plan. We can embrace a positive solution. So the schools facility plan is deficient until it addresses this.

If this plan is really driven by concern for our kids' education, what is the point of putting 4th-8th graders together in one building? The District says it "aligns" better with the State's new licensing program, but that's a matter of mere administrative convenience, not of educational benefit. Why not a single, central 7th and 8th grade middle school on the Boulevard site? Then rebuild Wiley and Monticello as elementary schools (PK-6), and close both the Roxboros which have very few public school kids living near them. Or is closing the Roxboros taboo? and if so, why is Gearity fair game?

I think that now more of the district is paying attention - because closing buildings is imminent and becuase a levy is as well. And now that we have an informed public - or will have as this progresses, School Board has the opportunity to respond. They need to view their public's interest, not as an obstacle, but as an opportunity for clarity and respond, not with beurcratic gobbldigook, but with real solutions, real finagling and answers. This is why they ran for office. They can once and for all demonstrate that they are on the same side as their public and work with the voices ready to work with them.

I would not support anything this current school board is in favor of. They have shown that they care little about the taxpayers. Foolish people just gave them another levy and now they have a new idea to grab more money. Close schools, and get rid of top heavy administration elect a new school board that is not in bed with the Union and then as for public input.

I am optimistic about the plan, but I think it severely underestimates the negative impact of leaving UH without an elementary school. I don't think that the district needs three middle schools anymore, either--two will do just fine.

I am a strong supporter of the overall goals of the school system: making sure that each child in the district has the opportunity to receive an excellent education which provides adequate preparation for future success as a contributing member of our society. I recognize the need for major renovations of our aging facilities to reshape them into sustainable structures that will enable and enhance these goals.
Rather like the poor old joke whose punch line was “The operation was a success, although the patient died,” Plan C, the most recent iteration of the administration’s vision, fails a crucial political and economic viability test in removing University Heights’ only remaining elementary school. (Of course the simple, obvious solution would be for more UH parents to send their kids to our public schools.)
Additionally, the phasing of the plan seems calculated to ensure maximal disruption to the greatest number of students: one can easily imagine that a current first-grader at Noble, for example, would see his school closed and find himself spending a year at Oxford (under construction), then be moved to Monticello (under construction) and then go to the high school, just in time for the last of the construction there. (The district promised to release a new phasing plan earlier this week.) Surely it would make more sense to start with the High School. Do a truly great job there. Show us what you’ve got and how well it works. Then ask us to commit to the rest.

It looks like the plan features temporary walls. At a community meeting, I noticed that a slide featured accordion "walls". When I called the BOE to clarify, I received a promise of information but still no news two weeks later.

I won't vote for a plan that returns us to the open classroom.

I think there's no need for it. I have seen from the inside how poorly monies are spent by schools and school districts. The 'new' plans have all been tried, with no change in student knowledge. Concentrate on the 3R's, clear discipline, high expectations, no exceptions. The building will not make a child learn more or better. That comes from the inside. Open classrooms have been tried, with no change of improved learning. I'm voting against the plan.

I have no confidence in this school board. I would not vote for a bond issue if all it covered was enough to buy them coffee. As it is, the taxpayers are funding a laptop for every middle and high schooler, SmartBoards for classrooms, etc., etc., etc., and still our ratings from the state is less than stellar. Why would any taxpayer vote to pour money down the rathole that is the CH-UH school board. And they wonder why people in the district are flocking to private schools...

I have no confidence in the superintendent or district. i still have hope that the BOE will begin to stand for the people who elected them. Open communication must begin, they should answer to the community. We will be here longer than the superintendent. We cannot spend as much money as we are and are planning to spend without sound reason and expectation for improvement.. The broad changes that are suggested go too far and require too much $$ with no guarantee that it will improve the education of our youth. And there needs to be consensus among the communities of CH and UH.

Another inept plan by a hopeless board. Look at Milliken and see if you want this to happen to the Majority of our existing school buildings. If they cannot deal with one already disused building how will they deal with many. Just another example of how an incompetent school board deals with our money and yet wants more.

I'd like to know more about the middle school changes. How seperate would the 4-6 grades be? Homeschooling is greatly on my mind.

As the parent of a preschooler in University Heights I am watching this play out with eyes wide open. I have been torn about where to send my daughter for school - although my instinct says to steer clear of this district and follow my plans to enroll her in a local private school there is a sense of community in me that says, "Give the local schools a chance." I can tell you with absolute certainty that if the BOE ignores the pleas of my community to maintain our only elementary school I will have absolutely no problem setting that sense of community responsibility aside. This school system has so much potential, being in our altruistic community, and they continue to blow it repeatedly.

As the parent of a preschooler in University Heights I am watching this play out with eyes wide open. I have been torn about where to send my daughter for school - although my instinct says to steer clear of this district and follow my plans to enroll her in a local private school there is a sense of community in me that says, "Give the local schools a chance." I can tell you with absolute certainty that if the BOE ignores the pleas of my community to maintain our only elementary school I will have absolutely no problem setting that sense of community responsibility aside. This school system has so much potential, being in our altruistic community, and they continue to blow it repeatedly.