A decision has been made and at a news conference this afternoon mayor Mike Moore and Dr. Melin announced plans for a new downtown elementary school to replace Spring Hill and Maple elementarys. While this decision will disappoint some of the supporters of keeping the two long times schools open,The BatBlog feels this a workable solution and compromise that is in the best interest of those most important.... the elementary aged children in the downtown area. The proposed new school will be located in a location to be determined later with two potential sites being looked at as possibilities, both near to the downtown area.
Moore and Melin need to be applauded for working together for making this compromise happen. Details haven't been worked out but the new school will most likely provide the modern services and programs that were limited by the size of Spring Hill and Maple.
Another upside is that the two older schools will remain open until the new school is ready for students (tentatively for the 2019-20 school year). This is a big day and a win for downtown children as they will stay close to home and start their formative educational years in a spanking new modern school...
Bat Blog School Drama Coverage
ReplyDeleteCheck out:
https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/newsandtribune.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/4b/74b96646-55f0-11e7-8750-e707e06e7aee/59497a69aa279.image.jpg
Noted:
Mayor Moore took city councilman Ron Ellis as backup.
Superintendent Melin took school board member Teresa Perkins a backup.
Disappointed but I guess this is a fair trade off.
ReplyDeleteBat Blog Education Analysis
ReplyDeleteIt is cool
that the Bat Blog
was way out in front
on this big change fight for downtown.
The coming protracted fight will be interesting.
Remember, there is a Primary Election for a bunch of county offices
coming in the Spring of 2018
How does that new $20,000,000 "per bond gig" now fit in for GCCS?
How many can GCCS do at once?
Will the $17,600,000 from Jeffersonville's RDC be utilized? ?
Will Spring Hill and Maple Street be saved by the pending fight?
Where will the new school end up being built?
Will all three be in the mix?
The name 'General Meigs Elementary' has a lot of history attached.
I am so happy and I knew that common sense would prevail!! Yay for Greater Clark, another wise decision for the children of Clark County!
ReplyDeleteFunny how now she's for the kids, but she wanted to shut their schools down before and bus them miles away. What a hypocrite!
DeleteYes, I am for the kids and I love that they will get a new school and those 2 nasty schools will finally be shut down. I am especially happy because you lost.....again. loser.
DeleteI'm guessing she is a Trump fan. They both have a habit of denying things they've said online.
DeleteExactly anonymous. Funny how they ignore those facts.
DeleteThis is great except that they are going to vote within the next month or two, which isn't enough time to get full funding for the building or know if they will ha e the money. They are holding onto the closing schools plan "just in case". Don't think Melin has had a change of heart. He's trying to make people think he's on their side but has no intention of changing his mind. He's a damn snake.
ReplyDeleteHis kind....WORSE than snake.....'least a snake'll warn ya of it intent,1st......
DeleteSmile at'cha,put the good-face on, shake yer hand etc.....all'a while shove'n it strait up yer azz.....
DeleteIf the money doesn't come through, both Maple and Spring Hill will be closed down and downtown students will be bused to lower-performing schools? Is this the plan?
ReplyDeleteYes.
DeleteAnd of course Butler has her mug on tv still not happy. Of I don't think I've ever heard or seen her happy, so what are you going to do?
ReplyDeleteShe likes to feel relevant and this keeps her feeling that way. She has her little Facebook page and a few (very few) that cheer her on. She is harmless though, no one really pays much attention to her at Greater Clark. All the Board members and the Super find her comical. She is constantly filing for this, calling about that, writing in the opinion pages, and she just can't get over the fact that no one wanted her on the Board. I am sure she is a nice lady, but they had her number long ago.
DeleteIf I were a parent of a downtown student and liked the school and services provided I would be disappointed too. Considering the alternative though this is the best situation possible...thanks to mayor Moore for making this happen...
ReplyDeleteHe hasn't "made it happen" yet!
DeleteThe "done deal" tone to yesterday's press conference kept some people home last night.
The taxpayers still get a say. If they say no, which the mayor and no one else can predict or control, the schools still close without even an expensive megaschool in the general area but on the wrong side of 10th for half the kids as consolation.
How hard will it be to find 500 New Wash folks that understandably don't want to pay for a new bigass downtown school?
If the board votes for this plan, which the mayor has now kindly made easier for them politically, they are simultaneously voting to close the schools if the funding is not approved.
Bat Blog Reality Check
ReplyDeleteSaving Spring Street and Maple will not be possible
with the current makeup of GCCS board members.
Alternative Best Action
The brand new General Meigs Elementary
for downtown, however, is in a fantastic centralized location, very walkable,
and will provide a great education to many children from many neighborhoods.
It is five blocks to Spring Street, four blocks to Riverside Drive, four blocks to the Quadrangle/ Claysburg area, and six blocks to the current Maple Street location.
It solves a lot of problems.
The mayor REMINDED GCCS that they are ALREADY getting a FREE $17,600,000
provided to the GCCS via the City of Jeffersonville's vital RDC funds.
The city is already providing a great deal of funding.
It is in place.
For the Children
The benefit of the city's fall back plan
will become more apparent to many as time passes.
The mayor took a pending disaster and saved a big part of Jeffersonville.
I get that is the story line.
DeleteHowever, how much fun will spinning it be when the funding is denied? Does the mayor blame the people that wanted to save their schools? The taxpayers that didn't want to pay more to give in to Melin? He saved the day, but the parents and voters fucked it up?
You might want to think about your future task list while encouraging him.
It might be as good as we get at the end of the day, but the loss of the schools will still suck.
No new school has been approved or funded.
Reality Awareness/The Difference
ReplyDeleteThe mayor and the city council DO NOT have a vote
on the GCCS "board of trustees"
or any school spending decisions.
The board is stacked against Jeffersonville.
The current board will vote AGAINST Maple And Spring Hill.
That has been the plan since the "bogus secret study"
from 2014/15.
Several former elected officials
worked very hard to save Maple in the 1980's.
The school board backed down. They won't this time.
The new, centrally located elementary
is the best solution to an already done deal BY THE SCHOOL BOARD.
The mayor tried to stop the closings with many meetings.
The mayor supports the people.
The superintendent and the school board want to close the schools.
Big difference.
Remember,
ReplyDeletethe city council can resend the $440,000
a year for GCCS from the RDC. That came up.
;):) :;
The down side to this proposal would be if the funding has to go to a referendum.
ReplyDeleteTaxpayers are reluctant approving additional taxes... for one they believe they are already taxed enough or over taxed and two there is not much faith in the current board or superintendent to use it wisely...
The BatBlog feels a referendum would fail miserably like the one before... hopefully alternative funding will be available...
Taxes could be a dollar a year, and a lot of these people would still think they are taxed too much.
ReplyDeleteThey are waiting until January to propose the new building for a reason. They can bond up to $15 million after December 31 with a Petition & Remonstrance. Over $15 goes to a referendum. If this moves forward, you can bet Melon will get the project to come in just under $15 million. And then we go to blue & yellow petitions!! Problem is that this $15 million is NOT all he wants. There is much more to come and it would be better if he just came clean with ALL his "projects" and pushed another referendum. Doing this piecemeal is disingenuous. But, then again, he's a snake so what can we expect?
ReplyDeleteI support and understand the efforts to save Maple and Spring Hill. I love seeing the loyalty being displayed for our community schools. I just ask that if the vote to close happens we all work together with as much energy to build a new downtown school for the next generation of kids.
ReplyDeleteMike Moore