An effort to pull back design money to start up E-20, Scotts Ridge Elementary and M-8 died at today's Wake County school board meeting
The board had voted 6-2 last month to approve spending the design money, subject to the approval of the county commissioners. School board members Debra Goldman and John Tedesco had voted no because none of the sites were in Southeast Raleigh and the decisions were being made before the new community assignment zones were finalized.
A revote was added to the agenda today at Goldman's request. But her motion to rescind the prior vote died when no one seconded her.
The vote came as supporters of M-8, envisioned as a small middle school near Leesville and Strickland roads in northwest Raleigh, launched an online petition to save the design money.
There's only enough money from bond savings right now to build two of the schools. But Don Haydon, chief facilities and operations officer, told board members today they'll eventually need to build all three with the remaining money coming likely from a future bond issue.
UPDATE
Goldman said she asked for the motion to be rescinded because there's only enough money right now to build two of the schools. She said they could save $800,000 by dropping design work for one of the three schools.
Comments
Save $800K..
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 11:50 — bpuli9999by not DESIGNING one school? Why does it cost so much to just design schools? Haven't they done that before? Oh well, I'd pay a million dollars to get something designed too, if it is not my money.
Because...
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 12:12 — Bob_SconceEven though the district has reusable school designs, they always need to be customized for the lot, the number of students, changes in building code, etc.... The reusable designs save maybe 1/3rd of cost. And, remember that it's not just the building, but the layout of the athletic fields, parking lots, ingress/egress, etc....
Reserve funds?
Tue, 09/07/2010 - 22:21 — DrActualFactualWhen WCPSS converted schools from traditional to MYR a few years back they used money from the emergency reserve fund for the conversions (against the commissioners wishes if I remember correctly). I wonder if they had voted to just do the design on two schools for the near/eventual build out could they have used the remaining funds put into the reserve Mr. Haydon was speaking of for conversion of a school or two to YR or if it goes into a different reserve fund. (I thought that in the past commissioners have approved WCPSS moving overages into the reserve fund.) Paying for the design of the third school when bond funding may not get approved just seems wasteful--money in this economy that should be able to put to far better use especially in lieu of the shortfall next year.
Crowding
Tue, 09/07/2010 - 21:23 — Solon77Crowding at Leesville ES and MS - just shocking
We have room-
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 22:00 — raleighlauraSend your Leesville ES school to York, we'd love to have them! We have plenty of capacity, a sweet, quiet campus, a fabulous principal, and Spanish on Fridays (a huge huge deal for us).
You don't want them ... they
Thu, 09/09/2010 - 19:21 — user12345You don't want them ... they are high maintenance ...
truly hysterical
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 09:55 — awake1looking at the names of the people who signed the petition supporting the new middle school in northwest Raleigh, it's odd to see some who so fervently pushed for the conversion of Leesville Rd. Middle School back to the traditional calendar, which effectively eliminated 100s of middle school seats in this area of the county.
Actually
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 13:35 — loriacActually, after the conversion, there were fewer kids at LRMS with the YR calendar than as a traditional calendar. The unpopular tracks don't get filled up - people opt out first. YR for additional capacity didn't work.
actually, comparing the
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 23:02 — awake1actually, comparing the population numbers for 2008/09 (traditional) with 2009/10 (year-round), they were virtually the same..difference is, with the additional capacity created by the year-round calendar, the school "worked" at a comfortable 89% capacity -- with room to grow in this part of the county -- instead of 110% capacity as it had been running under the traditional calendar (along with all the issues that parents had been complaining about with an overcrowded school).
Given that the year-round calendar was only in existence at LRMS for 1 year, I'm not sure it's fair to say that additional capacity didn't work. It may have in years 2, 3, 4.....but, instead, we're going to build a new middle school right down the road.
old argument
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 23:12 — loriacReference the other posts - the previous BOE bought the land for M8, targeting a 6th grade center. THEN they decided to convert LRMS. And the key elective at the school - band/orchestra - does not work well on YR schedule. No other electives to speak of, so who knows what they were thinking.
Just Curious
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 20:29 — Solon77How does building a new middle school within 1 mile of another middle school facilitate a neighborhood school concept ? One would think the schools should be spread farther apart. With regards to the location - I drive out there every once in a while around school start and end times and the traffic is horrific - no concerned parents ?
There must be an
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 20:43 — woodstockThere must be an echo...
That is a pretty weak argument. You sound like someone who just wants to complain about the new board members no matter what they do.
First, you'd have to admit that land is a little limited in that area, so the choices are limited on where schools can be located. Second, the Leesville area is popular as are the schools there ...more seats to accomodate the demand make sense. Third, I live in the general area of Leesville -- used to live right off of Leesville Rd., in fact -- and travel the roads around there frequently; I am unaware of "horrific" traffic. What are you talking about?
Honest question
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 22:24 — Solon77Don't get your knickers in a knot. This is valid question. There are no middle schools outside of 540 in this zone and this is where the growth is. So would it not make sense to build the school outside of 540 to serve the elementary schools in that area ? I guess a 7-8 mile bus ride is not a problem as long as it is not your kid.
With regards to traffic - I suppose traffic backed up on Leesville Rd from Westgate to the 540 on ramp would not be considered a problem.
Not that easy....
Thu, 09/09/2010 - 11:33 — Bob_SconceMost of the available land in that area outside I-540 is in the Falls Lake watershed and can't be used to build a school. There are a few older schools in the watershed (Brassfield & Pleasent Union), but the City of Raleigh is putting the kibosh on new schools there. IIRC, the district wanted to build one there within the past couple of years, but Raleigh put the brakes on it. The watershed, the Airport, Umstead and the Durham County line all severely limit where schools can be placed in that area.
As has been mentioned, the
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 23:09 — woodstockAs has been mentioned, the land for the new school is already purchsed, there are no funds right now to buy new land, and capacity will soon be needed. Also building schools is a process. So that things are in-place when funds are available to actually build the schools, they need to go ahead and get the design and planning completed .
I think you are way overstating the traffic situation; you must be talking about rush hour -- in this case rush 20 minutes -- which has nothing to do with traffic caused by schools.
As for my situation, you have no idea. For several years my children would have considered a 7 or 8 miles bus ride to be an enormous luxury. Currently, that is exactly the distance they travel and it is not an issue at all. In fact, it is a very welcome situation ...one the new board members thankfully addressed. The old board wanted to bus them 18 miles away.
"As has been mentioned, the
Thu, 09/09/2010 - 08:43 — danofnc"As has been mentioned, the land for the new school is already purchsed, there are no funds right now to buy new land, and capacity will soon be needed."
All of those same things applied to H6, too. That didn't stop the new board from changing course.
Just sayin'.
Agree
Tue, 09/07/2010 - 21:58 — magnetParentYes - maybe they should make them year-round to accomodate more students... kind of like they are proposing for magnet schools.
But Leesville has less
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 21:04 — woodstockBut Leesville had less students last year as a YR school than it does this year as a traditional. That is because parents and students HATE! tracks 2 and 3 and those tracks NEVER get filled up. That is just a fact of life with YRs. AND, when they aren't filled up, they are a financial drain.
Magnets would likely fill up all YR tracks because the application parents would do almost anything to have their kids enjoy the "diversity" of those schools. YR magnets would be a win-win.
What we need are less magnet
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 22:36 — CaryCurmudgeonWhat we need are less magnet and more traditional schools. The old BoE way overshot the landing zone when they converted 22 schools to MYR and decided all new schools would be open on that format. We now have over 50 YR schools. Track 2 has never been popular, but some schools have succeeded in filling them. Morrisville and Turner Creek were great schools and fully occupied when they were application schools. In the zone plan, each student should have a base assignment at a traditional calendar school, and an option of applying to YR. With less YR schools, we'd stand a better chance of filling them up.
YR magnets would be a win-win.
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 22:05 — raleighlauraAmen. I know all magnets can't convert due to number of classrooms or magnet electives, but I don't see why you wouldn't start converting all that could be made YR next year. I think the dreaded tracks 2 and 3 would fill up at Hunter and other popular program, no problem, and would probably have waiting lists!
And fair is fair. I'd expect WCPSS to give base students who want to opt out of the YR calendar a reasonable choice for their alternate Traditional Calendar option.