Finally the P&C has done a follow-up of students affected by Superintendent McGinley's school-redesign plans of two years ago. Remember, closing five schools was going to improve the progress of these students (and was not merely a way for the Superintendent to improve her statistics?).
What do the results show? McGinley complains that those parents who chose which school the child would attend didn't always choose high-performing schools! (Yes, Nancy, maybe parents without reliable transportation of their own didn't want their children bused to the back-of-beyond!). It's the parents' fault that their children's scores haven't improved since they chose the wrong schools.
What a minute. If some schools are "wrong," why are they still open for business? Her defense is logically ridiculous. McGinley can argue that lack of progress is mainly the parents' fault, but their real choice of schools is the one they were not given.
Five forlorn school buildings sit vacant and neglected. If past performance is any measure of the district's care, soon they will be unuseable. Why have they not been leased?
Meanwhile, McGinley can point to her own statistics that received a major bump when she closed the five neighborhood schools. It's all for the children, don't you know?
Monday, December 19, 2011
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5 comments:
How much is CCSD spending to maintain its vacant school buildings? It's a lot more than Michael Bobby or Nancy McGinley want you to know. The bottom line is the facts don't match their promises. If CCSD had offered to nominally lease these properties to any of the existing charter school groups, at least some of the costs like utilities would be covered. Why not answer that simple question, Mr. Bobby?
What has been the cost of additional bus transportation for moving the local students out? What are the costs for utilities at these vacant schools? Most people are unaware that heating, AC and other basic utilities run almost as if the schools are still occupied. Insurance and basic maintenance like roof repairs still have to be done for vacant schools, even if Bill Lewis and Michael Bobby have been slow on both counts. Pay it now or pay a lot more later. This simply represents extremely bad property management. You would think Chris Fraser would understand that, but he's not really in charge. Nancy McGinley is.
As far as I can tell, not one of these four individuals gives a rip about properly maintaining school district property. Just look at Chicora which is in the process of being abandoned. Then look at the rush job being done to ready the formerly vacant McNair as Chicora's emergency relocation site.
Bad management. Bad leadership. Wasted public assets.
Oh, I thought McNair was a seismicly challenged building, too. Silly me.
Your headline could just as easily be a description of the school board's 5-vote rubber stamp led by Board Chairman Fraser. Interesting bit of double meaning if you also meant to refer to CCSD wasting 5 school properties, starting with the vacant Fraser Elementary.
I just love puns;)
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