Bluegill didn't get marquee billing, but I owe him a few pints for his contribution to today's column in the Tribune.
BAYLOR: Misdirected resources, mistaken results
Before we took up residence along Spring Street in 2003, we didn’t have the conceptual grounding to explain exactly why we wanted to reconnect with the urban core, except that it felt right.
Man, that Bluegill sure can write. I might just have to let him off the couch.
ReplyDeleteThanks. And no thanks.
ReplyDeleteFine!! Hhhrumph
ReplyDeleteGreat article and great thoughts, Jeff. My son was on the Grantline basketball team this year. I always noticed a bus waiting when I went to pick him up from practice. He told me that the bus took some kids home. Anyone know why or where these children are from? If they want to close Silver Street, they can't use the argument that it is lacking in attendance. Has the school system already started bussing kids out of that area to other schools?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about extracurricular activities, but it's my understanding that Silver Street Elementary is generally served by only two buses because so many students live so close.
ReplyDeleteI would think that, if Silver Street were closed, any facilities savings would be at least partially offset by the increased and ongoing transportation costs of sending those students elsewhere.
The school corporation already spends around $6 million on transportation a year, and that doesn't include bus replacement which is a separate line item of over $1 million this year.
Given the damage it would do to the surrounding neighborhoods, I also think we could easily end up spending more on other social services while simultaneously decreasing the tax base available to support them. Getting school board members to understand that they *create* situations rather than just react to them in a vacuum is a key.
There are several district oddities that effect enrollment, too. I live three blocks from S Ellen Jones but am in a "bubble" of Pine View's district, which will require busing. Another downtown district bubble causes kids a few blocks from us to go to Slate Run.
Something to think about in terms of new school construction: The school corporation's debt service this year is over $17 million. That doesn't seem like a good argument to give up the buildings we already own and sell them for much less than they cost to build to me. Renovation where necessary is a better option.
Thanks for the compliment.
Grantline was just remodeled and is again full with no classrooms to spare. The class sizes are maxed out. From my understanding of the recent meetings, a lot could be accomplished by redistricting. This would cut down on busing and most certainly make use of current facilities. Not to mention that Silver Street is a Four Star school. I just scratch my head wondering what this highly educated group is trying to pull over on us.
ReplyDeleteBusses - Silver Street has one bus in the morning and two in the afternoon totaling ~4-miles round trip.
ReplyDeleteAfter school activities - Many of our students walk to and from. Many of these children would not be able to participate if they lived far enough they’d have to ride a bus everyday.
A significant benefit to Silver Street’s students is the size. This allows most interested children an opportunity to participate in extra-curricular activities. Large schools have no choice but to limit participation to only a small percentage of students or they may have 200 kids on a team! Granted, Silver Street does have to limit students in the smaller programs (such as cheerleading), but for the most part, interested children get opportunities they absolutely would miss at a large school.
District Bubbles - The patchwork quilt of district bubbles are a huge concern that should have never happened in the first place, and even worse, should have been addressed long ago. There is absolutely no reason for the bubbles. When M. L. Reisz was closed (which happened in a matter of days), the quick fix was to divvy up that district into the surrounding schools, thus creating the temporary bubbles that were never re-addressed.
This has caused a problematic ripple effect of enrollment problems – but the enrollment problems aren’t exclusive to district boundary issues. Recipient/Choice schools, gifted & talented shipping, an data inaccuracies are also contributing factors.