Apart from the question of a public [charter] school's paying rent to use a public school building, Douglas is quoted as asking,
whether the district should pay for an upgrade to a district building [that's a building owned by the public, Hillery] that a charter school wanted to use. That's what's happening in Charleston: The school district has agreed to let the math and science charter school use the former Rivers Middle School building, but making the building safe for students is going to require $24 million. Decisions about such situations should be left to school districts and charter schools, Douglas said.Douglas would have us believe that giving space in CCSD buildings to charter schools [note--not controlled by Douglas and his ilk] will cost the district MILLIONS of dollars it otherwise would not need to spend. How disingenuous is that?
Charter school organizer Park Dougherty hits the nail on the head:
"there's always another way to attempt to block us." The point of contention involving the math and science school has shifted from rent to the "alleged needs" of the building, he said.Because, new legislative bill or not, the rent issue is dead on arrival. Even Gregg Meyers is ready to throw in the towel on that one.
Twenty-four million dollars to renovate Rivers? "Alleged" is right. Maybe just a few of us remember that it wasn't so long ago that the district was using that building? That, when first approached by the Charter High School, the district's own estimates of making it usable again were less than half what Bill Lewis claims is needed now.
Where are the brakes on this out-of-control spending on brick and mortar? Only the very gullible--and those with a financial interest--believe that the Rivers building isn't "safe" without these millions. If Lewis announces in February or March that the costs have escalated to $50 million for renovations, who's going to call him to account? Not Douglas, obviously.
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Don't forget, Bill Lewis is bracing the county school board for his plan to demolish, replace or totally reconstruct all 2-story unreenforced masonry buildings in CCSD's inventory...which just so happens are all located in District 20. In addition to Rivers, he names Buist, Memminger, James Simons. The replacement of these four schools, and the cost of a new Sanders-Clyde, the former now demolished, but the new not yet under construction, will approach $100 million. Strangely he fails to mention Archer or Fraser...perhaps they have other plans for these properties. Bill Lewis isn't telling.
I'd like to know what Brian Moody thinks of putting more than $100 million into downtown's "brick and morter". Is he aware that Bill Lewis has said that West Ashley's out of date middle schools are being put on hold and asked to wait for the next round of public bonds begins...sometime after 2014?
They tell me downtown parents are begging for better school programs, not better school buildings. So why all the fuss? Maybe it's CCSD's way of just doing fruit basket upset to keep its downtown critics in their place. Must be nice to throw around so much cash so easily.
Well, Brian Moody, should West Ashley middle schools wait until 2014 while CCSD slaps around the parents (oops, I mean furniture) downtown?
While Gregg Meyers may have "thrown in the towel", he is the one who got 3 people to sign on to put this back on the agenda and then pulled it back off before the meeting. It is easy to say "For the record, I don't agree with charging rent" and actually raising his hand while it is an agenda item and voting on it
To West Ashley--Given the neglect of the Fraser building and property, it seems clear to me that as soon as CCSD thinks it can lull the District 20 community into distraction, it will abandon that school and sell off the property, combining Fraser with Sanders-Clyde. Maybe it will announce that when the Sanders-Clyde construction is under way. CCSD obviously subscribes to the "we experts know what's best for you" mentality.
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