Marching Downtown

The Easton Area School Board voted 7-2 to go ahead with $30 million in renovations and expansions to March and Paxinosa Elementary Schools, a move that will see both schools closed in 2008-2009 while the kids temporary spend a year at the old Middle School (sans Middle School students, who will be moving to the new Middle School).

I was at the school board meeting last Thursday, and there was very little talk about this from the school board, which was disappointing. As a former reporter, I know that's likely because they've already talked it to death at the monthly Buildings and Grounds meetings, but still, they could have at least explained their reasoning. A few parents spoke; some were concerned about the suitability of the building for little kids (which has been my biggest hangup about the move) and one was paranoid about alleged drug deals and crime happening down town, which inspired this article in the Express-Times.

Personally, I don't think it's class or race at issue, or at least, I don't think that's the primary issue; it's more lack of knowledge, or rather, lack of accurate knowledge. People read the paper, see headlines about crime downtown, and get nervous. Kerry Myers, the new school board rep quoted in the article, is right: the suburbs are hardly immune to crime (as illustrated by a murder that happened just last month in Forks) and I'd be willing to bet there's just as many drug deals in the burbs as there are downtown. The difference is, you don't see them when everyone's hiding on their 1/4 acre.

There's certainly a perception of crime downtown, but at the same time, I've never felt like I was taking my life into my hands going to the library, getting dinner at Porter's, or having a drink at Which Brew, all of which are on Northampton Street.

I'd love to see some GIS data showing crime in Easton and the surrounding area (which sounds like a great project for the PoliSci department at Lafayette. Or maybe the Express-Times could do some number crunching...); nothing fights ignorance like facts.

Meanwhile, we still haven't heard enough about the changes being made to the old Middle School to make it suitable for K-4th graders. I want to hear about traffic management (as legions of parents compete with parents to get and drop off kids), playground equipment (last I heard, there wasn't any) and the not-insignificant issue of trying to herd 1,000 or so elementary school kids around a school that's much bigger than what they're used to.

Easton Area School Board Meeting Tonight (11/15)

The Easton Area School Board's meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Easton Area Education Center, 1801 Bushkill Drive, Easton, as it does the third Saturday of every month. What makes tonight different is they'll be discussing (and likely voting on) plans to renovate March and Paxinosa Schools. It's item K under section XI. NEW BUSINESS of the agenda. As part of these renovations, the school district has stated they intend to close Paxinosa and March schools next year (2008-2009) and have the students attend the old Middle School instead (its students having been moved to the new Middle School in Forks).

Parents of the affected schools met about two weeks ago to discuss this, and submitted a number of questions about the projects and their associated plans to the school board. The board has said they'll answer at least some of those tonight.

My wife and I live on College Hill and our daughter would have attended kindergarten at March next year, so this issue's of keen interest to us. I'm planning to attend the meeting; I'll be the guy with the dark green shirt, orange tie and the MacBook Pro in tow. :)

March School Closing for Renovations?

College Hill is a abuzz with news that March School, as well as Paxinosa Elementary in Forks, may be closing during the 2008-09 school year for $30 million in renovations and expansions. Read the story in the Express-Times.

Students from both schools would be sent downtown to the former middle school, and no ones particularly thrilled about the decision, or how the school board made the preliminary decision without soliciting public input. The board votes on the plan at its November meeting, but folks in College Hill intend to meet and talk about it before then. There will be a meeting of concerned citizens at 7:30 PM in the basement hall of the College Hill Presbyterian Church on Monday.

Followup

There's also an article about this at the Morning Call. The article echos the express one; there are a few more quotes but that's about it. There's no reference to how/if the school might be modified (or procedures at the school modified) to accommodate the new students or if the administrative structure (principles, etc.) will remain the same or be merged. The Call article also has a six-post comment thread that gives some of the history on previous elementary school movies and shows some of the anger parents have for how the move came about (as well as previous promises made).

I'm coming into this late; our daughter will be entering preschool next fall, so it wasn't on our radar until this year, so I can't really comment on what's come before.