By Antonio D. French
Filed Wednesday, May 31 at 8:57 PM
A letter from Superintendent Creg Williams appeared in today's Oakville-Mehlville Journal. In the letter, titled "Which is worth more -- a building or 600 students?," Williams said he did not recommend closing Cleveland NJROTC High School -- just to move the students.
"This discussion is not about closing schools," wrote Williams. "It is about students who must sit in an environment that is not conducive to learning, and in classrooms that put their health at risk."
For just about everyone else, the debate is about SLPS moving to close Cleveland High -- without a clear plan for what to do with its students, or the building.
Williams just recommended moving Cleveland's students at the school board's May 2 administrative meeting (just three weeks before the last day of class), asking them to vote on the recommendation just seven days later. It is not likely that students would have been moved out of the building before the end of the school year.
Even now, four weeks later, questions still remain about where Williams plans to move the 600-plus students and what will be done with the NJROTC program. And the superintendent has offered no plan at all for what to do with the building.
Some have suggested that Williams, who openly supported the unsuccessful re-election campaigns of Darnetta Clinkscale and James Buford, has planned for some time to close Cleveland but held off bringing the proposal to the old board during the heated school board campaign.
A new group has been formed to begin organizing to keep the "old castle" alive. The Alliance to Save Cleveland High will meet tomorrow, June 1, at the Dutchtown office, 4204 Virginia Ave., to form a steering committee and "come together as a community to act now in unity, with one goal: save Cleveland High School!"
The Alliance will also be holding a press conference on Monday, June 5, to mark the official launch of the organization. That event will be in front of Cleveland High School at 10:00 a.m.
Visit their new website at www.saveclevelandhigh.org
2 Comments:
Antonio, your fair and balanced reporting has framed the debate correctly. The issue is not whether to risk the health of the students. Supporters of the castle put the health of the children at the fore. We want to make the necessary repairs to ensure the health and safety of the students.
The true issue, that the Superintendent wants to evade, is whether the school will remain open AFTER necessary repairs have been made. The castle is a keystone to the neighborhood, an anchor to local businesses, and provides a much needed haven for the students. The polarizing choices layed out by the Superintendent--risk the students' health or close the castle--are not the only options.
The already funded enhancements to the castle's heating and cooling, would most likely take a school year, if not longer, to complete and would require temporarily moving the students to another facility. So, let's move the students to a temporary location, make the necessary repairs, and then make our community whole again by moving the students back home to the castle.
Thursday, June 01, 2006 12:01:00 AM
Have you noticed that Creg Williams often does not have a real plan? He is arrogant and "shoots from the hip." But, of course he was never a school superintendent before (he is learning on the job with our children as the guinea pigs). This man seems to do very little real planning in the best interest of our students or show any concern about the welfare and safety of the students. Look at his decisions: mandatory summer school in un-airconditoned buildings for all eighth graders, the push to close Cleveland, etc. There are many more and too little space here to discuss. Can anyone name one decision that indicates that he is an advocate for the chldren of this poor, urbans school district. Somebody needs to remind Creg Williams that the children should be "the focus."
Also, what about relocating the teachers? In some cases, he did not have to move certified teachers but he did. So when the children come back in the fall, a new group of people will be in the buildings. The decision to move people around without real criteria is arbitrary and definitely adds to more confusion and instability for our children.
Sunday, June 04, 2006 12:29:00 AM
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