News-Record.com

Since there will be some very high dollars going out over the next 2 - 3 years doesn't it make sense to postpone any decisions until the NEW School Board members are installed next week? Shouldn't they be the persons held accountable, not two people who can make an emotional decision now and then NOT BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE.

Personally I do not think it is wise do permit 2 outgoing members to vote on an item that is so important. Not to make light of the situation at Eastern, but a decision CAN WAIT until all the new members are on the Board next week.

I'm not convinced that the former Lucent building is the right alternative, but if it is, it will still be there next week.

Frankly, that's a good point I hadn't considered.

Does anyone know if the Arson Investigation has been completed??????

This fire may end up being a BIG MONEY maker for GCS.

Within reason the school board should do their best to keep the kids together.

Obviously, they can't buy the Lucent Building AND build a new school. I think it might be acceptable to rent the Lucent building. They may be able to negotiate a reasonable rent in light of the fact that Lucent may be able to get a massive tax deduction if they could make use of the building as a a type of charitable donation.

Between the possible tax advantange and the tremendous P.R. value to Lucent of helping a school/community in need, Lucent would have to be crazy not to negotiate a reasonable rent siutation for the building.

Well, the board has answered this question. As Hillary wrote "It takes a village". However, I don't think that she meant a village of trailers to educate a child. Once again, the school board managed to screw-up a one car parade and make no one happy. To quote one Eastern parent "They shafted us". The Eastern people now know what it is to be on the receiving end of this group's wisdom. I still would like to know why it is going to cost $51 million to build a school, when there are no land costs, and Forsyth County can build two high schools for less than that. I really would like to know. Maybe Garth can start getting some answers starting next week. It is now obvious why they wanted to make these decisions this week with a lame duck board. Some of them can't be held accountable.

It does appear the school board fumbled the ball once again last night.

The decision to create a trailer park on the Eastern campus, rather than temporarily lease and renovate the Lucent building, apparently was driven by dollars and cents and not addressing student and community concerns.

Alan Duncan even commented that, "There is a very significant economic difference there." But no one suggested that the Eastern kids would fare better or be more comfortable in a trailer village than they would in the Lucent building.

That economic difference is $1.6 million. Sure, that's a lot of money, but the school board routinely spends far more than that on much less urgent projects. How much did they spend on the Smith Academy? Construction overruns at Dudley and Northern? Various magnet programs?

I'm all for fiscal responsibility - usually, I'm complaining that the school board doesn't have enough of it. But it strikes me as odd that they would choose Eastern as the place to pinch pennies. If there ever was a time to dig a little deeper, I would think now is that time.

Is it worth spending an extra $1.6 million to do right by the Eastern students and staff for the next two years? The school board always seems to have money for pet projects, but now that there is a legitimate emergency, they are tightening up the purse strings. Does that seem right or even logical?

Just Saying,

I agree 100% So much money has been wasted on abandoned projects, 1/2 a million on racial healing seminars that don't work, academies that are gone after one year, etc. etc. etc. At least leasing the building would put money to good use. If the cost of leasing does involve extension renovations in the millions then that would be another story.

For this year the emphasis should be put on uniting the Eastern family in spirit through extra curricular school functions, providing adequate teachers and textbooks and tutors, if necessary to make sure the students get caught up. Above all, the seniors who are going on to college should have all the extra assistance they need. Senior year is tough enough and they should not have additional stress.

What happens if there is a tornado in "the village"? Will there be a speedy evacuation plan?

As I understand it, the Carolina Corporate Center would be expensive not only to lease but to upfit to specifications for classroom use.
Why do all that for only two years' use?
Seems to me the school board has done the best it could under the circumstances.

Allen, according to today's article, it would cost $4.7 million to lease AND upfit the Carolina Corporate Center, compared to $3.1 million to lease and set up the trailer park on the Eastern campus.

That's a difference of $1.6 million - or $800,000 for each of the two years the Eastern kids would be in a temporary location. By comparision, the school board spent nearly that much ($500,000) on a controversial racial sensitivity program for teachers. And they've spent millions on the Smith Academy, cost overruns at Northern and Dudley, and various magnet programs, some of which were quickly abandoned.

Now, I'm certainly an advocate for fiscal responsibility. But it strikes me that this is a rather odd place for the board to draw that line. They spend money like drunk sailors on shore leave on other projects, but faced with a real emergency, they suddenly get stingy? It reminds me of folks who blow their paycheck on lottery tickets and going out to eat, then don't have the money to pay their bills.

I find it hard to believe that the school board can't scrape up an extra $800,000 a year for the next two years to do right by the Eastern kids. It's a matter of priorities and right now, I have to seriously questions where the board's priorities.

If the parents are comfortable with the trailers then that's fine. If they aren't and want to go to the Lucent building then not renting Lucent because of 1.6 million dollars is, as mentioned above, not right in light of the millions they have wasted on programs that NOBODY wanted (but were politically expedient for the board and TG)in the past.

Can Federal or State or Gates grants help with this. It seems Howard Coble sghould be able to help. This is just like some kind of natural disaster etc.

SKS, the parents didn't sound too happy with the board's decision, according to today's article.

From the article:

"The decision to place students in portable classrooms did not please Eastern Guilford parents and students present at the meeting.

'They shafted us,' said Patricia Riggs, of Gibsonville, as she stormed out of the administrative office after the meeting. 'They're arguing about windows and they're arguing about dollars when I have a daughter who graduates this year and will not be prepared.'"

How would a decision either way affect Patricia Riggs' daughter's preparation if the girl is entering the second semester of her senior year?

Doug, perhaps Mrs. Riggs does not want her daughter to become a statistic as part of the high level of dropouts within the UNC system by students who are unprepared. Didn't you write a column about this a while back? I think it was also in your Garth piece today (I'm at work and unable to refer back to today's paper at the moment).

Anyway I can see Mrs. Riggs' point where everyday counts regardless of whether her daughter has already been accepted into college.

Doug, whether or not Mrs. Riggs' statement is applicable to her own daughter isn't that big a deal in the grand scheme of things.

But certainly you wouldn't deny that this decision is very important to the hundreds of Eastern freshmen, sophomores and juniors who will have to spend the next 2+ years at a temporary facility, would you?

Right. But does she think the former Lucent building can be leased and turned into a school in time for classes to begin there second semester? More likely it wouldn't be ready until sometime in mid-semester at best, and then there'd have to be a delay while all the equipment and materials are moved from GTCC and Browns Summit, causing students to miss more school time. What would be the short-term academic advantage?

Doug, Eastern parents want to use the Lucent building for the start of the 2007-08 school year. That's my understanding of the situation, anyway.

Instead, the board voted last night that Eastern students would spend the 2007-08 and 2008-9 school years in trailers, rather than a permanent building. That's what people are angry about. I think they could deal with the current temporary situation (students split between two campuses) if they thought it would be better in the fall.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming that a student who "graduates this year" won't still be an EG student when the 2007-08 school year begins.

Doug, I think you are missing the point. Yes, Mrs. Riggs may have misspoke - the school board's decision on the 2007-08 and 2008-09 years won't affect her child one way or the other.

But this decision will have a profound effect on hundreds of freshmen, sophomores and juniors at Eastern, who will spend the next two years in a trailer park, rather than a real facility. That building could have been had for a relatively small amount (by school board standards) of additional money. However, the board chose not to spend that money and went with the trailer village option - against the wishes of the Eastern parents.

Forgive me if I'm not making myself clear, but it's really not such a hard concept to grasp.

Doug,

I think that the emotion that is being expressed by Ms. Riggs is a continuation of the expression by many others in the past with this school board. The point is that the school board doesn't listen to what people say. They are tone deaf. They make a decision to do what they want to do, and any input from contitutents, or anyone else, be darn. This is the big weakness of this board. They don't listen. They think that they know what is best for everyone, and they possess the wisdom when it comes to education. You see this happen time after time. And, if they feel that they will get public opposition, they just go into closed session and do what they really want to do. The best example of their attitude was just before the choice plan vote, Marti Sykes said she was voting for it because "those kids need diversity". In essence, she was saying they were doing it because those "NHP people" didn't know what was best for themselves, but the board sure did.

Just Saying:
Actually, a number parents had wanted the switch THIS YEAR, by as soon as February.

To clarify the above comment: as in this SCHOOL year.

All right, I don't mean to be badgering Ms. Riggs. I can tell there's a lot of emotion here.

So let's remove a little of the emotion. We can start by not using the term "trailers" to describe the structures the board voted to place on the Eastern Guilford campus. A little Internet research can show you exactly what kind of structures they're talking about. It's my understanding that they're fairly sturdy podular school structures, with each unit containing three or four classrooms. As good as a brick-and-mortar building? No. But not trailers.

Second is the issue of keeping all the students together. Next year's ninth-graders have not been part of EGHS, so there should be no emotional tug about keeping them "together" with the older students who actually were together at the beginning of this school year.

Third is the issue of "listening" to EG parents. That is important, but have all the parents spoken? Furthermore, this involves all the taxpayers of Guilford County and their interests should be considered. So should the facilities needs of the rest of the county. As a taxpayer, I am not moved by the argument that the schools have overspent on other projects so it's OK to overspend on this one.

As a taxpayer, I am not moved by the argument that the schools have overspent on other projects so it's OK to overspend on this one.
_________________

Neither am I. What I'm saying is that it strikes me as poor judgment that the board would scrimp on something important, yet waste countless millions in other areas.

With a few well-placed cuts, the board could easily do the right thing by the Eastern kids and still not affect the quality of instruction in one single classroom. Getting rid of a few high-priced consultants and pet programs, such as the $500,000 racial sensitivity training, would be a good start.

It's the same lack of good judgment that has led to shortages of basic supplies in many Guilford County classrooms, while at the same time, extravagant extras are funded left and right.

Heck, the school system had $2.2 million burning a hole in its collective pocket when it wanted to put a culinary program at High Point Central. Money wasn't a problem, then. But then they say they don't have an extra $1.6 million to give the kids at Eastern a decent place to go to school. That doesn't seem right

Regarding the "village" vs. renovating the Carolina Corporate Center -

Ever heard of the 3 Little Pigs?

Doug,

Yes, I think that most, if not all, of the Eastern parents have spoken. As you know, they have had several meetings to discuss these matters, so I'd say that the expression that was heard was fairly universal among their community. As I understand it, they started having meetings a few weeks ago, because their preferences weren't being heard by the administration and board.

OK, we'll cease using the word "trailers" to describe what these students will be living in for eight hours every school day. Why not call them "classroom cottages" which is what GCS calls the other 528. You know, they make some nice modular houses these days, but if you were buying a new home, would you buy a modular home instead of a bricks and mortar one, if you had a choice?

Here's a question:

If the N&R's sacred cow - Grimsley High School - burned to the ground, do you think the newspaper's editorial department would support housing those students in trailers?

For that matter, does anyone think the school board would even consider such an idea?

Doug,

You seem to be pretty informed on these new "classroom cottages". Who manufacturers them, and who did GCS lease them from?

May Day May Day...We are sending this message urgently. The secret police are at the door as we type. Please help. We are students trapped on a little known island GRIERNADA located somewhere in central North Carolina. The oligarchs have just made Generalissimo Terrence Grier president for life. All democratic processes and dissent have been brutally supressed. The press has been subverted with the exception of one brave soul who is beginning to see the oligarchs are destroying his homeland. Children are torn from their mothers and sent to government-run institutions where they are drilled in socialist/ "socio-economic
balance" doctrine. (but only for certain parts of the island).

Please send troops, including Garth's Grenadiers and even Huey's Air Calvary if possible.

SOS SOS SOS SOS.....

Just Saying:
I didn't know Grimsley was a sacred cow. I went to Dudley. Another one of us went to Page and another to Durham Hillside.

Allen, Grimsley clearly gets more attention from the paper - both good and bad - than any other high school.

One recent example of this is the Rob Gasparello story. There was no scandal here - the man changed jobs. Just about every other high school in the county has changed principals under similar circumstances in recent years. Did those change merit a big news story? No.

Sometimes, I'm sure Grimsley doesn't want the attention. In today's newspaper, the news of a Grimsley student's arrest on weapons charges made the front page. Similar arrests at other high schools don't receive nearly as much coverage.

On the other hand, the N&R does a big feature article (or articles) on the Grimsley-Page rivalry every year. As if other high schools don't have rivalries.

The driving force behind this, I believe, is the fact that several top News & Record editors either have children at Grimsley or have close ties to the school. Of course, when I asked John Robinson about this a few weeks ago, he wouldn't even admit that N&R editors have kids at Grimsley.

But back to my original point: if Grimsley burned down (and I certainly hope that never happens), would the N&R advocate housing those students in trailers for two years? Would the school board even broach the subject?

I think we all know what the answer would be.

N&R staffers have kids in nearly every school.
As for pro-Grimsley bias, I guess that explains the big project the sports department did last year on the Page football season.

Never said "pro-Grimsley bias", Allen - read my posts a little more carefully.

I said Grimsley, for good and bad, draws a disproportionate amount of news attention. Sure, you can say, "We've covered Eastern a lot this year." But the school burned to the ground - of course you did!

What I'm talking about are how similar events (principal changes, student arrests, football rivalries, etc.) are covered at Grimsley compared to the others. I know you don't handle the news coverage, but I'm not the only person who sees this.

As for whether or not "N&R staffers have kids in nearly every school", I'll take your word that is true. But are the top editors - the ones who make the decisions on news coverage - by and large Grimsley parents? These are the people who determine the news direction of the paper, not the carrier who may have a kid at Southern or the guy running the press who is a Northeast parent.

And by the way you avoided my original question for the second time, I think we know what the answer is.

Actually, the guy running the press may be more important than the lot of us.
As for whose kids go where, I'll let News speak for itself. But as Editorial Page Editor I don't have kids in any school right now.
But when I did, he attended Northwest Middle and High.
Not that I'm a top editor or anything.

Allen, you should have talked to Kris Cooke and Marti Sykes. They would have told you your kid needed more diversity than NW offers, and they would have tried to save him and get it for you. As for themselves, they were quite happy with Grimsley and Page just as they were, thank you very much.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!! Dateline GRIERNADA

We managed to escape and are now barricaded in a building on a local technical community college. We are surrounded by Griernadian forces on all sides. There are rumors that they are bringing an battering ram to bear known as the Jack-Around which has been used by the General and his oligarchs to batter down resistance in the past when they tried to extract bond money from the populace.

Please. This could be our last transmission

SOS SOS SOS

Dudley and Page are just two more schools on the sacred (dontbusdontmess) cow list.
Did you know that the distances of Grimsley-Smith and Dudley-Page are smaller than Andrews to Southwest?
The Southwest Central distance is almost double the distances all of them.

Did you know that Central have outscored Dudley and Smith for all of the last six years.

Did you know that Andrews regularly scored higher than Smith and Dudley until the implementation of the choice plan?

I can't for the life of me understand why there is swapping in High Point and not Central Greensboro? I also cant see why the board focused so much on High Point over the last few years ahead of Central Greensboro?

Can you Allen?

Truth, you forgot another thing.
Smith and Dudley are much less diverse than Andrews and Central. Hang on, didnt we all get bussed in High Point for Diversity???????

On the other hand the new Smith Principal is really proud of the diversity at Smith! Its all so confusing.

This school system just doesn't make any sense to me.

Allen, what do you think? Oh I forgot: You would not know would you? Your child went to that NOT VERY diverse school Northwest. Another one that is one the sacred list.

Poor you! Your child missed out. We are so lucky in HP.

Allen, you know wht the moral of this story is. When something is wrong and when there is discrimination, it will never go away.

Allen?