The Observation Deck

Stan Austin wrote: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

Stan,

I think you just invited Dee and me. I accept.

Matt

Dee Martinez wrote: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.

Matt

You better listen. the message is obvious, you better fall in line give Lincoln parents everything they want OR ELSE.

This is not time for heroics, dreams, vision, doing anything for the kids. You keep Lincoln AS IS, gifted" or they will come to get you.

Do not defend the process, just get the job done...

Well tis is the season of stoning.

.

I don't mean to be rude but I am more worried about the 1st grader (and their siblings) who live in a storefront apartment on Madison whose low income mom is trying to get by but has no access to a car than the 1st grader who lives on Abbieshire (just using Dee's example) who has access to a vehicle. It will be a larger burden on the 1st grader on Madison to walk long distances to school, than the kid on Abbieshire who has the luxury of being driven.

This is reality for a large percentage of students in Lakewood. I know because I see what many of my school's students go through to get to and from school. I drive some of them in the winter and the pouring rain because I feel so bad for them.

We need to remember that Lakewood is a diverse city and our schools serve many students living in very different situations.

Jim O'Bryan wrote:This is not time for heroics, dreams, vision, doing anything for the kids. You keep Lincoln AS IS, gifted" or they will come to get you.

Do not defend the process, just get the job done...

Well tis is the season of stoning.

.

There is more here than meets the eye. I can't put my finger on it just yet but the opposition is strident an unreasoned. There has to be a reason for that stridency. I still haven't heard of a reason to oppose a new school at Kaufman Park.

If we follow the recommendations of the State and close an elementary school which school will be closed?

If you close Roosevelt many of those students will have to walk an extra mile to get to Grant or other schools. There will be a large gap in coverage for students on the Southern end of Lakewood.

If you close Lincoln, those students transferred to Grant will have to walk slightly more than ½ mile to get to Grant. If you close Grant and transfer students to Lincoln then Grant students will have to walk an extra ½ mile to Lincoln. If you close Grant and Lincoln and build a new school at Kaufman students from Grant and Lincoln will both be walking an extra ½ mile. No matter what you do, someone will be walking an extra ½ mile.

It can’t be the extra walk.
What could it be?

If we decide to spend $15 million to keep the 7th elementary school we will have spent $45 million to remodel what we already have. Can we do more for that $45 million than just update what already exists?

Question: The amount of money allocated by the State is $47 million. That $47 million is based on a percentage of what the local district pays. Why not forget phase three and pocket the $40 million that is now due the district for the money we have already spent?

Bill my understanding, please someone correct me if I am wrong, but in order to get the funds from the state we have to complete Phase III. Lakewood in a way took a risk but a very good one. The decision was made to have all new schools (some remodeled, some rebuilt) and because that proposal was given to the state that is what we are required to do. The reason they will not fund a 7th elementary school is because of declining student population. So we can't pocket the money, the district will only get the funds when the whole process is done.

And yes Bill I think there is more going on here than meets the eye but....

Danielle Masters wrote:Bill my understanding, please someone correct me if I am wrong, but in order to get the funds from the state we have to complete Phase III.

This is the response from Rick Berdine, Treasurer, Lakewood City Schools:

Mr. Call - The Ohio School Facilities Commission has indicated to us that we are eligible to receive $47 million in state funds, likely beginning in 2010 or thereabouts. Hundreds of districts have received this funding to date, so I don't foresee Lakewood not getting its funding. These funds are paid out during Phase III of our project, for eligible funding for all three phases, and it is my understanding that these funds are paid direct to the Phase III contractors. The District must complete the entire building program in order to receive the state funds, but the funds will begin to be released once local funding for the third phase is secured and construction begins. I hope this is responsive to your questions. Thanks for your interest in and support of the Lakewood City Schools. Rick

Mr. Berdine shoots straight so we eithter approve phase III or forfeit $47 million. Looks like I'm voting for the nest bond issue.

Danielle Masters wrote:And yes Bill I think there is more going on here than meets the eye but....

But what? You just stopped talking when the story got interesting.

Good advice:

http://www.ontko.com/~rayo/burnham.html

Bill I've learned from the past just to try and blow it all off. My kids come home and tell me the same rumors and I am trying to take the advice that I give them, just ignore the rumors. Getting upset and anxious serves no one well.

And yes Bill I think we all need to vote yes on the next bond issue, we as a community owe it to the kids to finis what we started. I say that not just as a parent but as a citizen.

Danielle Masters wrote:And yes Bill I think we all need to vote yes on the next bond issue, we as a community owe it to the kids to finish what we started. I say that not just as a parent but as a citizen.

The political planning of the three phase building project was just about perfect.

Phase one was the most ambitious but also the most needed. With the exception of Garfield the final result was nearly flawless. It was sold more as an opportunity to get State money rather than the need to spend our own money.

Phase two was sold as a continuation of current tax rates, which it was because of the expiration of an old bond issue. The board used phase two to remodel the newest areas of the High School.

Phase three will be sold as necessary to get the promised $47 million from the State. It won’t hurt that the oldest portion of the High will still need to be replaced.

The options now are:

1. Spend $30 million to close one elementary school and remodel two.

2.Spend $45 million to remodel three elementary schools (the State won’t pay for the third)

3.Spend $30 to $45 million to remodel one school and close Grant and Lincoln and build a new school at Kaufman Park.

Option three is the wild card that is causing fits at the Board of Education. The cone of silence that now surrounds the issue can mean serious negotiations are taking place or that option three is dead but not yet buried.

I am open to all options. I was inclined to support option 2 over option 1 but option 3 offers some unique synergies. My personal opinion is that option three offers more bang for the buck. It is also the most risky and the most work.

In any case it is important to pass the next bond issue and complete the project.

On the other hand I have no intention of voting for the Pay Raise Levy.

Fits? I dont see any fits.
I am NOT a BOE member nor do I even know any of them on any kind of working basis. I know some of them to see them, thats it.
My one problem with the Kaufman Park idea is that it brings into play entities OTHER than the schools, a Rube Goldberg contraption of the city, developers, private business, ect when all the schools really need to do is fix two schools up and decide whether to close a third. Because the high school cant be finished unless phase 3 is approved this means kids will be going to school in modulars longer than originally planned.

My other problem is that it does put a lot of kids a long way from the nearest elementary school and that wasnt the deal when we approved the overall plan seven yrs ago.
If this thing had been on the table from the get-go I might have felt differently. But an hour before the guests arrive for a ham dinner is no time to start thinking about serving lobster.

[quote="Jim O'Bryan"
You better listen. the message is obvious, you better fall in line give Lincoln parents everything they want OR ELSE.

This is not time for heroics, dreams, vision, doing anything for the kids. You keep Lincoln AS IS, gifted" or they will come to get you.

Do not defend the process, just get the job done...

Well tis is the season of stoning.

.[/quote]

I believe THAT comment is completely uncalled for.
If you are trying to do a class warfare thing, the really rich kids go to Horace Mann these days. You claim to know so much about Lakewood. Look at a map.


There are modest apartments in the Lincoln neighborhood too.

Dee Martinez wrote: I believe THAT comment is completely uncalled for.
If you are trying to do a class warfare thing, the really rich kids go to Horace Mann these days. You claim to know so much about Lakewood. Look at a map.


There are modest apartments in the Lincoln neighborhood too.

Sorry to interject again but if you look at the enrollment numbers you will see the column for low income kids, Lincoln has the smallest percentage of low income students which is why it is not a title one building. 51.6% of Horace Mann students are considered low income while only 27.4% of Lincoln students are. I think these facts are important to the discussion.

Dee Martinez wrote:I am NOT a BOE member nor do I even know any of them on any kind of working basis. I know some of them to see them, thats it.

Dee,

Let's get together ... on Stan.

Matt

Matthew John Markling wrote:

Stan Austin wrote: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

Stan,

I think you just invited Dee and me. I accept.

Matt

Matthew John Markling wrote:

Dee Martinez wrote:I am NOT a BOE member nor do I even know any of them on any kind of working basis. I know some of them to see them, thats it.

Dee,

Let's get together ... on Stan.

Matt

Matt

I will kick in on this one.


.

I have said what I needed to say.
If anyone in Lakewood wants to drag this out and jeopardize $47 million in state funding to say "great idea" and stroke someones ego, fine. My kid will be out of the trailer next year anyway.
The plan has been on the table for 7 years. I believe the process has been open and transparent.
I will only ask, who in CITY government is considering this a serious idea?