Get Schooled

By SNY

June 30, 2006 01:34 PM | Link to this

That is absolutely too much money!! Fulton county shoud be ashamed of themselves. Is there anyone over there that has any common sense about themselves at all?

By Lee

June 30, 2006 01:46 PM | Link to this

Speaking of building schools…

A few years ago, my small hometown build a new high school. The thought was that they would renovate the old school and reuse it for other grades. Well, everybody failed to note that there is a rule that if you vacate a school for more than 12 months, it must be brought up to the existing standards before you can re-populate it.

Because the old school was adjacent to a railroad track which does not comply with the new standards. Eventually, they sold a 25 acre school complex for pennies on the dollar because they couldn’t get the funding to renovate it.

Bottom line, this school location was good enough for 50 years and graduated thousands of students into the real world. But now, it doesn’t meet some arbitrary government standard.

You mathmeticians in the central office need to figure out if you build 100 new classrooms and shut down 75, you haven’t really accomplished anything.

Stupid educrats… wasting my tax money.

P1sses me off…..

By SNY

June 30, 2006 02:01 PM | Link to this

Lee,

Tell us how you really feel, sweetie! :)

By SET

June 30, 2006 02:15 PM | Link to this

It’s interesting how the least productive schools spend the most dollars per student year.

We should stop this. We should slash education budgets and tell the educrats to live down to their budgets.

By alice

June 30, 2006 02:32 PM | Link to this

My concern about the situation in Sandy Springs is the following. Much of the growth has come from Hispanic families. If the new government is successful in cleaning up those apartment complexes that allow 3 to 4 famiies to live in one unit, I think that enrollment will shrink.

I think that the FCSS is rushing into this one.

By B. Killebrew

June 30, 2006 02:53 PM | Link to this

What I don’t understand is why they would demolish an owner-occupied stable single-family home neighborhood street, when there are so many apartment complexes and underutilized commercial/office buildings in Sandy Springs. I know that the homeowners were going to sell to a developer anyway, but at least that option would have still led to more owner-occupied housing!

As the core metro area redevelops, we need to look at older apartment complexes and vacant shopping centers/office building for our land needs.

Solution for those who would be turned out of the older apartment complexes? Mixed-income developments a la Centennial Place and East Lake throughout the metro area!

By Robert

June 30, 2006 02:57 PM | Link to this

How can anyone really comment on this unless more information is known? For example, what is the average value of the property in the neighborhood? If the average value really is 1.1 million per acre, and if a school really is needed, then was it truely a bad deal?

Also, were there other alternatives available other than buying up single family homes, such as buying a strip mall or a large and empty Wall Mart (or the like)?

We, the general public, should not pass judgement on the decisions of others unless we know the whole story.

By SNY

June 30, 2006 03:04 PM | Link to this

Robert,

You have teachers buying school supplies out of their own pockets and do not get reimbursed for that. Money should be going to the GOOD teachers who are doing the best with what little they have. I’m sorry, but in my opinion 1.1 Million is way too much money.

By Ernest

June 30, 2006 03:15 PM | Link to this

I have to side with Robert on this one. My eyes got large when I saw the amount paid. You have to ask, what is the going rate per acre for the area the school is needed? I know some school systems have ‘rules’ as to where school buildings can be located. Based on where the children are located, did this location make sense? I’d need to ask more questions before passing judgement.

By teacher too

June 30, 2006 03:19 PM | Link to this

I agree with B. Killebrew’s comment about looking at underutilized commercial sites. A friend of mine lives in a fast-growing area of NC, and the joke there is that their kids are going to attend ninth grade at the Winn Dixie. They are literally renovating an old Winn Dixie into classroom space. Makes sense to me, and has to cost less than Fulton County’s choice of options. I’m from the Northeast, where schools are often two or three floors. Not sure why you don’t see that so much here. Most schools seem to be built on one level, which obviously requires more land.

By Vicki

June 30, 2006 04:41 PM | Link to this

Here’s a thought - In Sandy Springs the majority of the commercial buildings exist on Roswell Rd. Not many of the buildings are for sale. The way I understand Fulton Co. looks at having an elementary school on Roswell Rd. is a safety issue to the students. At least with this land purchase, the children won’t be on Roswell Rd. Can you just imagine a rainy Monday winter morning with slick streets, parents dropping off their children at school backed up onto Roswell Rd? That’s an accident just waiting to happen.

I really wouldn’t want my children attending a school that was on Roswell Rd. I know North Springs High School is on Roswell Rd. and I avoid the area when their school is released.

By SBH

June 30, 2006 06:25 PM | Link to this

If Fulton County wants to lure more residents to the upscale housing, they will need to do something about schools for the kids. Many they could look into what Gwinnett has done. Gwinnett has turned an empty building into Phoenix High School, and then renovated the old Gwinnett Daily News building into a beautiful middle school. Sometimes, ya gotta do what ya gotta do.