New Grant School??!!!

[Jim O'Bryan]

Dee

So it would seem that you are very much in the camp that the ONLY thing to do is rehab the gifted school, and let the rest of the city cut bait?

I am just curious as this really goes against so many other debates you have taken part in.

I also amazed that you cannot plainly see why the NWSL crew has constructed this school for the gifted kids, average class size is 13 I believe. While at Grant some classes are 30+. That Lincoln has "gifted" kids from the north, while Grant, Harrison, Garfield has many 1st year Lakewood students, and as I have been told schools like grant have as many as 12 different languages being used as first language spoken.

I am also amazed that you believe that there is no time do do this right, or even better. Is this because the schools were dragging their feet with Phase III, or that the outcome from Phase III never mattered? I for one do not believe that. I have had many discussions with School Board President Ed Favre that has assured me that Phase III is the best way to decide which school gets closed, and that the community will decide. But you make it seem like it was almost preconceived?!

Or are you as psychic as my good friend Steve Noble artist for the cartoon map, that guessed on the design, color and placement of the DowntowN sign back in November?

.

[Bill Call]

I am also amazed that you believe that there is no time do do this right, or even better. Is this because the schools were dragging their feet with Phase III, or that the outcome from Phase III never mattered? I for one do not believe that. I have had many discussions with School Board President Ed Favre that has assured me that Phase III is the best way to decide which school gets closed, and that the community will decide. But you make it seem like it was almost preconceived?

Most agree that there will be a small decrease in enrollment followed by a period of stabalization. My untested assumption has been that sometimes closing schools actually excellerates enrollment decline.

My guess is that the boards preference is to close Roosevelt and rebuild Lincoln and Grant.

That solution:

Saves about $600,000 per year in operating costs.
Saves $15,000,000 in additional expenditures needed to build a third elementary school.

Leaves a only two elementary schools on the Southern end of Lakewood
Leaves a gap between those two schools
Leaves us with a Lincoln school that is confined to too small a footprint
Leaves us with a Grant school that is confined to too small a footprint.
Both schools cover about three acres each.

The above scenerio is the safe, traditional, non-innovative solution and the one that is likely to be chosen.

On the other hand:

Closing Grant and Lincoln and rebuilding Roosevelt:

Closes the coverge gap in Southern Lakewood
Allows the construction of something bold and innovative that MIGHT be the foundation for increasing enrollment.
Opens up development opportunity at Hilliard and Warren and a new public park or development at Lincoln.
Provides the funds for rehabilitation of Kaufman Park. Properly designed and including a slightly larger footprint the amount of green space can actually be increased.

Can a beautiful school and a rejuvinated Kaufman Park encourage people with young children to move here, to stay here? Can a symbol lead to economic renewal? I think it can.

It seems the most sensible solution is for the City to have 6 elementary schools instead of seven. By building the new school Kaufman Park the City has an opportunity to turn a bad option into a good opportunity.

Where will the money come from?

The recent collapse in the construction market means that prices for labor and material have declined considerably. Firms are hungry for business. If construction estimates don't come in 15% to 20% under the original projections then someone has their thumb on the scale.

Of course that assumes we were not lied to about the amount of State money we will be receiving.

[Danielle Masters]

One thing Jim, three Lakewood schools have gifted classes. Lincoln has three classes and Grant and Emerson have too. The big difference between the three schools is the amount of low-income, disabled and ESL students.

The one thing that makes this whole scenario of closing another school so difficult is the logistics. Both Lincoln and Grant are large schools and by closing one of them it leaves a large area with a lot of students uncovered. I know in the case of Grant that leaves a lot of students walking large distances as Grant has many students that have no access to a vehicle. Plus where would the students go. If either Grant or Lincoln close it is going to be very interesting how the lines would be redrawn. If Grant were to close a large portion of their students would need to go to Lincoln which would mean a large majority of current Lincoln students would need to go to either Horace Man or Emerson. The same thing would happen if Lincoln were to close, many of those students would need to go to Grant. Although if the champs unit relocates to Horace Mann that would leave room for a good amount of students to transfer to Grant. Sure Roosevelt is the smallest but once again closing it would mean some students would have to travel pretty far to get to school and Harrison could not handle any additional students as the are pretty packed as it is.

This is one reason Meg's plan makes so much sense. It covers the students in the center of Lakewood and leaves a smaller percentage of Lakewood uncovered which makes sense.

No matter what happens, if an additional school closes every school will be affected. The populations of these schools will change. Some schools that have felt no effects of this transition will now feel the pain. No matter which school closes the logistics of redrawing the lines will be difficult.

This is not an easy choice no matter how it seems from the outside.

[Bill Call]

This is one reason Meg's plan makes so much sense. It covers the students in the center of Lakewood and leaves a smaller percentage of Lakewood uncovered which makes sense.

Her idea also offers the opportunity to rebuild and expand Kaufman Park and open up the site of Grant and the school board building for development.

I wonder if a highly visible elementary school in the center of town can be a magnet school of some kind, a school that could offer just a little more because of the economies of scale.

We might be able to build something great for no more than the cost of something mediocre. Which choice will the bureaucracy make? And what part will the Pay Raise Levy have in that decision?

[marklingm]

I am also amazed that you believe that there is no time [t]o do this right, or even better. Is this because the schools were dragging their feet with Phase III, or that the outcome from Phase III never mattered? I for one do not believe that. I have had many discussions with School Board President Ed Favre that has assured me that Phase III is the best way to decide which school gets closed, and that the community will decide. But you make it seem like it was almost preconceived?!

As was previously posted on the Deck:

School officials have steadfastly maintained that no decisions have been made to close which, if any, of the schools.

http://lakewoodobserver.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7885

There is no preconceived decision by the Board. On this issue, I have three points, for now.

As to the first preconception point, I have heard the rumors that there are “Phase IIIâ€

[marklingm]

I'm on the Phase III Steering Committee ....

I don't want people to get the idea that we aren't STILL SOLICITING IDEAS from the community at large. If you were at the Community Forum, you saw that the last page of the survey everyone was asked to fill out was a blank page asking for each person's individual ideas and suggestions.

We will be looking at all of these .... carefully, at our next meeting when we go over all of the survey results.

There are many in the community ... who would have liked to be on the Steering Committee but can't make the time commitment. That doesn't mean that ideas that members of the community have aren't important to us. That's why we had the first meeting and why we'll have another one in September, if not earlier. THIS IS THE TIME to bring your ideas to the Steering Committee. We meet every two weeks, for two hours. We want to get this right. If you have a good idea, SUBMIT IT TO THE STEERING COMMITTEE. We want to represent ALL of Lakewood. That's the whole point of this thing.

Well said.

Phase III Steering Committee Members, like Betsy, have decided to put their personal agendas aside for the best of the Lakewood City Schools.

If you cannot attend a community meeting, please call the Phase III Hotline at 1-216-227-5315.

As Betsy knows, this is not a process run by the Board. Rather, it is a process run by the Community and Phase III Steering Committee Members. So ... you can also PM people like Betsy, and I am sure that Betsy and others will immediately forward the information to Phase III Steering Committee itself.

[marklingm]

Just between you and me after much kicking and screaming I will vote for the bond issue to fund the final phase of construction. I would be willing to pay 20% more for a little bit of urban renewal.

Thanks, Bill.

[marklingm]

As for a new school, I am glad to see many people come forward with a plan, and share it with everyone else. This is why the Phase III story is the lead story in the paper. I support the process. Now the question is how can the process not look at this idea? If the Phase III committee looks at this idea I believe it would add to their process.

Jim,

This and other ideas will processed by the Phase III Steering Committee.

Matt

[marklingm]

Lincoln is the single elementary school in Lakewood with an excellent rating. ... The parents are fiercely proud and protective, as they should be, and THEY will present a political obstacle. I know whereof I speak.

Dee,

I agree with most of your posts in this thread. I must say, however, that my experience with Lincoln parents on this issue has been very positive and they have been very "open" to the possibility of their neighborhood school closing.

There are also many factors that play into the ranking of any given school. All our schools are excellent. Some have different obstacles than others.

Matt

[Bill Call]

I agree with most of your posts in this thread. I must say, however, that my experience with Lincoln parents on this issue has been very positive and they have been very "open" to the possibility of their neighborhood school closing.

My original prejudice was to pay the money to keep seven elementary schools. My assumption was that closing schools excelerates enrollment decline. I still think that is true. However, if a school is closed but something greater is created then instead of creating a sense of loss you have created a sense of excitement.

If the choice is made to close a school then building a school at Kaufman Park offers a great deal.

The worse option is to close Roosevelt and rehab Grant and Lincoln. You lose a school and are forced to shoe horn rehabed schools in the current space. We spend a great deal to buy what we already have.

Somewhere in this pile of manure is a pony waiting to be revealed.

[Meg Ostrowski]

I’ve been challenged to step up and address some of the issues that have been raised since the publication of my article, Location, Location, Location. I’d also like to set the record straight on some of the posts in this thread and things I have heard.

In no particular order…

I never spoke to anyone in the Lakewood City Planning Department or on the Lakewood City School Board about my idea. I did share it with friends and neighbors weeks before the article appeared in the Lakewood Observer to test the waters and uncover any elephants. On my behalf, some of them bounced it off of their contacts and provided feedback.

I respect the School Board’s commitment to the Steering Committee. This process would be unmanageable without structure.

I appreciated the lines made available for comments at the end of the Community Forum survey but I needed more time and space to get my thoughts together and articulate them to make my points.

The goal of my article was to get people thinking creatively and draw attention to some issues that I didn't feel were getting the attention they deserved. It was not to complicate the process or delay progress.

I submitted the article to the Lakewood Observer because I wanted to reach the broadest possible audience, not just the committee, and maybe even pull some new folks/ideas in. (I can't be the only one in Lakewood who wants to participate but is unable to meet the demands of the committee schedule. I have the time, just not on Tuesday evenings between 7 and 9.)

While I had been working on the piece for weeks before the Phase III Community Forum, it was not complete until the day after. Not only did I want to avoid disrupting the process, I am not psychic and wanted to include a summary of the experience.

I respect history. I value architecture, green space and progress. I like trains.

I never expected anyone to consider a facility that would accommodate 700+ students. I assumed redistricting after completion would balance out enrollment. Current open enrollment numbers reflect years of transition as families responded to Phase I, Phase II, NCLB School Choice and pilot all-day kindergarten programs that were limited to specific schools. Once equity is re-established within the district, future families will likely want to send their children to their neighborhood school. If there are reasons to do otherwise, those issues should be addressed.

I am hopeful the committee (and the community) will be inspired to get creative, and compromise when necessary, so that there will be options worthy of enthusiasm up for consideration at the September 15th Community Forum.

In the meantime, I’ll look forward to tracking this on the Deck.

[marklingm]

I’ve been challenged to step up and address some of the issues that have been raised since the publication of my article, Location, Location, Location.

...

I respect the School Board’s commitment to the Steering Committee. This process would be unmanageable without structure.

Thanks, Meg.

[Dee Martinez]

Mr. Marklling.

Let me ask you this. If combining the Lincoln and Grant populations and building "something great" between Discount Drug Mart and the railroad tracks is such a good idea, why not just not use the combined BOE/Grant property and move the BOE to either Franklin, Taft, or McKinley?
No land swaps necessary, no negotaiting with various entities. If the Lincoln parents dont mind their kids going to a school at Kaufman Park why would they care if they had to go to Warren Rd?

150 Franklin parents had a fit when that school was closed. 400 Lincoln parents (sorry Danielle, 387) wont be happy no matter how positive they seem.
McKinley parents were OK with their school closing b/c Horace Mann is right down the street. Taft parents the same b/c of Emerson.
Kaufman Park will NOT be a neighborhood school for much of what is now the Lincoln neighborhood. Abbieshire to Kaufman Park is one heck of a stroll for a first grader.

The whole building project was sold on the idea of keeping "neighborhood schools" If I lived in the northern part of the Lincoln neighborhood I would consider this "bait and switch"
And dont presume that city council is going to automatically agree to your terms. This may very not be, as Mr Rice might say, a total "Kumbayah" moment.

I think by encouraging this you are opening up a giant can of worms which you will regret.

The high school needs to be finished. 40,000,000 dollars in state funds are at stake. The board needs to get a deal done.

[marklingm]

I think by encouraging this you are opening up a giant can of worms which you will regret.

Dee,

You and I should meet, in person, sometime. I agree with much of your posts, yet, in the end:

We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glowworm.

Seriously, it is hard for me, as a board member, to say that we have an open, Community driven process and then say ... "Just don't talk about X, Y, or Z."

And, what I am encouraging is simply for the Community to share their ideas with the "Phase III Steering Committee" directly and now, rather than come in at the last minute and say, "Why did you not consider X, Y, or Z?" My question will then be, as it has been to date (which some in this thread can attest), "Why did you not share your thoughts on X, Y, or Z with the Phase III Steering Committee?"

As stated above:

If you cannot attend a community meeting, please call the Phase III Hotline at 1-216-227-5315.

As Betsy knows, this is not a process run by the Board. Rather, it is a process run by the Community and Phase III Steering Committee Members. So ... you can also PM people like Betsy, and I am sure that Betsy and others will immediately forward the information to Phase III Steering Committee itself.

Matt

[Stan Austin]

Dee and Matt-- I would love to listen to a conversation between two of my favorite posters.

I'll spring for the coffee if you two extend an invite!

Stan