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Greater Clark County School Board - $99 MM spending plan needs more input

By Eric Blackwell on Jan 16, 2008 in Uncategorized

I try to avoid political issues, but I find myself hard pressed to explain what the Greater Clark County School Board is up to. They have the authority to spend $99 Million to renovate an aging Jeffersonville high school. You’d think that they would seek input from everywhere.

The school board has instead opted to get far less input than needed, cutting the cost down for the project by NOT renovating the fine arts wing of the high  school. But that is not what irks me. I can respect differences of opinion about where money is spent. I cannot respect the following:

They did not let the affected teachers in the arts wing know that they would be part of the “alternate” plan and would be cut out of the base budget until after the base budget was in place. How conVEEENient.

They did not post details of the base bid online on their website for public comment in a timely manner at all. This is 2008. You are teaching our kids about computers and yet your latest posted material in some cases is May 2006?? Huh?

School board members.. meetings at 2:00pm or 5:00pm are not the kind that will get public input. I’d encourage you to have more meetings when parents can attend.

Bottom line: You are spending $99 million on renovating a high school. There ARE going to be tough decisions made. Some folks will be upset. But they will be less upset if you allow us some input into the decision.

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  1. 13 Comment(s)

  2. By chip on Jan 17, 2008 | Reply

    Too bad there was never a good maintence program for keeping the buildings up to par. Now we have 30+ year old school buildings and only the fine arts wing at JHS is NOT being renovated, whereas New Washington has left over money and Charlestown gets a 2/3 new school! Why doesn’t jhs cut down on some of the high tech equipment coming into each classroom at JHS till they can afford to at least fix up the whole building?! They’ve always been able to afford new computers, why not now? Why do you get all the high tech stuff at the front part of the school but leaking roofs, (and falling in ceilings in the audotorium) and no ventilation in the other end?

  3. By chip on Jan 17, 2008 | Reply

    I also noticed on GCCS school board web site they don’t have the minutes up on the Jan 8th study that had the architechs and principals talking about the school building renovations, any way Eric can get these up on the web from the administration? Also, the video of the study is on cable 25 4 times a day.

  4. By Tyler Paxton on Feb 19, 2008 | Reply

    i believe that the school renovation project is a good idea, i mean u gotta look at how us students including me suffer in gym with no airconditioning in the school at all. it’s hard to get air conditioning in the gym i understand but it gets hot and when it gets hot, students asthma heats up and then they suffer.

  5. By Tyler Paxton on Feb 19, 2008 | Reply

    HighTech Equipment is good for the school because in some areas they have old computers and don’t even have the internet so we can get information when we need it.

  6. By chip on Feb 19, 2008 | Reply

    I remember running the stairs in the old jeff high school, and there wasn;t any air conditioner… maybe students are too used to being pampered with air conditioning…. also, we didn’t have internet, we got our information from the library….. and yet, the fine arts department the roof leaks and NOTHING is being done to the fine arts department… and no air ventilation for the painting that is done in the art classes…. that’s true health issues than air conditioning in the gym… my point of view. Too bad gccs cant get it all done… and the 2nd gym doesn’t get used all that much.

  7. By Tyler PAxton on Feb 23, 2008 | Reply

    chip i see what ur sayin but i mean some of the teachers think it’s long overdue, i mean my grandfather went to the one in downtown jeff and he had classes on the top two condemned floors but if this don’t get done then i have a bad feeling that that is what is goging to happen because i have allergies. i am allergic to every kind of grass mold and mildew. the janitor’s don’t seem to give a crap about what spills in the commons and halls. NOTHING is being done about it until the end of the day which is TOO LATE…

  8. By chip on Feb 23, 2008 | Reply

    we have a lot of janitors on dayshift that honestly work hard, and are constantly being called on to clean stuff up. But, I worry about paint fumes in the arts department with no ventilation. I worry the band director is losing his hearing because of the sound muffling boards in the band room are relics and of no help. Can you imagine being in the band room 8 hours a day with over 100 kids at times playing music? What kind of stuff is being spilled in the commons and halls and not being cleaned up? Take action, report it to the Hyphen or speak at the school board meeting, sign up 1 week in advance and let the school board know, you don’t have to be 18 or 21 to speak there!

  9. By Tyler PAxton on Feb 26, 2008 | Reply

    ok i will try and there is powerade being spilt
    in the hallways. but i can imagine being in there 8 hours a day but i was in d=band for two years at parkview middle school. and it was loud. i played trombone 2 years there.

  10. By TYLER PAXTON on Mar 5, 2008 | Reply

    THERE IS ANOTHER ISSUE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO BRING UP ANOTHER ISSUE THAT BOTHERS ME THE MOST.
    THE SHIRTS STUDENTS WEAR ARE INAPPROPRIATE FOR SSCHOOL CONDUCT. THE DRUGS AND MONEY AND ALCHOL ON STUDENTS SHIRTS ARE WHAT’S BOTHERING MME. THE STAFF OF GREATER CLARK COUNTY SCHOOLS AARE SUPPOSED TO TAKE ACTION BECAUSE THEY ARE SSTRICTLY NOT ALLOWED ON SCHOOL PREMISIS BUT TTHEY WEAR THEM ANYWAYS AND ACTION IS NOT BBEING TAKEN.

  11. By chip on Mar 6, 2008 | Reply

    I agree, but, I think it will be solved next year because GCCS at Jhs is going to have a UNIFORM dress code, which means, probably next year, if not year after next, it’ll be khaki pants and solid color shirts no writing on them. I think the counselors are too overwhelmed with discipline problems to fight the bad dress code decisions kids wear. You should check out the http://www.newsandtribune.com forums! I think your input from a student perspective would be helpful, and there are school board members who respond to posts on that forum, you don’t have to use your real name, but, state you’re a student, they’ll listen and reply to you! You could even start your own topic! Hope to see you there!

  12. By chip on Mar 6, 2008 | Reply

    Also, beware of “for real” on the Jeff topics, he’s known as Culpepper Cooper, little mafia of Jeffersonville. You can’t believe anything he says, BUT there are school board members on there, and people who are running for school board. It’s very informative, and like I said, it would be good to see a students perspecive on the forums.

  13. By Tyler paxton on Sep 2, 2008 | Reply

    ok no prob but now we got a air conditioner in the gym but they won’t turn it on (which is very stupid to be honest)

  14. By TYLER PAXTON on Sep 25, 2008 | Reply

    WELL TO BE “FOR REAL” I THINK CULPEPPER COOPER IS GRDUATED BECAUES IM A SOPHMORE HERE AT JEFF AND I’VE NEVER SEEN HIM

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