Fiscal Responsibility and "Star School" Closing!

This was one of the two news that caught my eye today... (2.00 / 6)

What are you doing this Sunday morning?

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by: louisprandtl @ Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 10:05:08 AM CDT

cleaning, prepping for a bbq... (2.00 / 5)

...and trying to finish gathering the info needed for my security clearance/background check.

I'd think that closing that school will have disasterous consequences for the community.

The school system's response is that Nichols will close for demographic and geographic reasons, not racial ones.

If not race, what other demographics are a factor?

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

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by: fogiv @ Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 14:39:55 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

The rest of that paragraph as well as the next... (2.00 / 3)

The school system's response is that Nichols will close for demographic and geographic reasons, not racial ones. All of its students, its principal and most of its teachers will be transferred to Gorenflo Elementary School, a half-mile away and also predominantly black and Asian.

In part, the situation arises out of Hurricane Katrina. Since the storm, enrollment in east Biloxi elementary schools has decreased 45 percent, leaving vacant classrooms and duplicated resources, Mr. Tisdale said. In response, the School Board also voted in April to close two schools in mostly white neighborhoods, although that decision received little protest.

I can certainly see where there would be a huge issue with the lack of public comment on this or any school closing.  It appears, however, that this is a consolidation with the faculty resources being transferred to the nearby school which hopefully means Gorenflo Elementary (where, FWIW, I subbed a few times) will benefit.  I would be curious to find out whether any renovations needed to be done at Gorenflo because I'm not sure why the district would close down a school that was recently renovated versus a school that was not.  Gorenflo, if memory serves, is not a new school by any stretch of the imagination.

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by: HappyinVT @ Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 22:24:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Hmmm, Gorenflo was rebuilt in 2004 for $10 million. (2.00 / 4)

Having seen a picture of it I've got to figure out what school in that area I did sub at 'cause that's not it.

Jesus, the principal at Gorenflo and I share a last name.  (We're not related, I swear; I'm not knowingly sort of shilling for a relative.)

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by: HappyinVT @ Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 22:36:01 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well, Hell. (2.00 / 4)

I guess I subbed at D'Iberville Middle School, which is on Gorenflo Rd.  But now I want to go back down there and eat at the New Orleans Cafe.   :(

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by: HappyinVT @ Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 22:42:46 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Background check? Security clearance... (2.00 / 5)

ah..all those secrets in the closet of Forgetful Fogiv will come tumbling down now...

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by: louisprandtl @ Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 19:35:25 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

he he he... (2.00 / 3)

an army of sinbad skeletons in there!

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

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by: fogiv @ Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 20:10:37 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Well at least don't make KO your reference... (2.00 / 5)

He's probably still fuming...

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by: louisprandtl @ Tue Jul 13, 2010 at 12:00:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

eff KO. (2.00 / 4)

freakin' baby.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

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by: fogiv @ Tue Jul 13, 2010 at 13:58:16 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Yep, I'm about done with him. (2.00 / 4)

I watched a few minutes of Beck today.  He was doing the black board "here's how the commies work" thing.  Beck still occupies his own little cloud in extremist land, but KO has become (or I have become tired of) nearly as boring.

"Conway, whom experience had taught that rudeness was by no means a guarantee of good faith, was even less inclined to regard a well-turned phrase as a proof of insincerity."  James Hilton, Lost Horizon

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by: chrisblask @ Tue Jul 13, 2010 at 23:20:31 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

and sure... (2.00 / 5)

In part, the situation arises out of Hurricane Katrina. Since the storm, enrollment in east Biloxi elementary schools has decreased 45 percent, leaving vacant classrooms and duplicated resources, Mr. Tisdale said.

This is a problem.  Question is: why is enrollment down by nearly half?  Families still displaced by Katrina?  Racism may not play a role in the school closure, but it may underpin the decreased enrollment.

It's a terrible thing to look over your shoulder when you are trying to lead, and find no one there. -Franklin Roosevelt

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by: fogiv @ Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 14:44:29 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

East Biloxi was hit particularly hard by Katrina. (2.00 / 4)

I haven't been back since I left three years ago about that area, already poor, took economic hits it couldn't afford.  It is quite likely folks left the area and didn't return because they had nothing to return to ~ homes or jobs.

With the addition of rotten national and local economies made worse with another disaster, it is quite possible more folks are not returning and/or are leaving.

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by: HappyinVT @ Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 22:15:27 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

i always... (2.00 / 5)

cringe when i hear the words school and closing in the same sentence.

from the article it seems pretty damning...

"I spend my days and nights pondering the meaning of life, the state of the universe, and the Home Shopping Network." -- Donald Roller Wilson

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by: canadian gal @ Mon Jul 12, 2010 at 16:01:00 PM CDT