AJC Picks Up On Trailers v. Westchester
Decatur Metro | July 30, 2010 | 9:50 amThough the opening of a new 4/5 Academy is supposed to relieve pressure on Decatur’s school system next year, the “temporary trailers for 1 year” v. “free Westchester” debate rages on. Days before the start of a new, extra early school year, the AJC picks up the story and quotes all our favorite quotables.
Some interesting tidbits for your reading pleasure…
CSD’s Bruce Roaden tells the AJC that it would cost $300,000 a year to lease a new facility for the administration, while the 10 trailers strewn across school properties currently cost just $75,000 total. As for why the administrators don’t work out of portables, Roaden cites the need for a central location for parents to get service.
In the meantime, as has been mentioned by parents here before, while trailers relieve pressure on classrooms, cafeterias, libraries and gyms are becoming even more crowded as the schools grow outside their brick-and-mortar footprints.
Not to mention issues with overcrowded sewers. The article cites how sewage backed up into one of the portables last year.
Ultimately, the trailers are a done deal for the coming year. And with the 5th Avenue Academy now a sure reality for the 2011-2012 school year, only time (and enrollment levels) will tell whether this issue of trailers will again rear its ugly, prefab head.
DAMN! Gee, so glad we are “saving” money with the “portables.” I for one, think they should put a few trailers at Westchester for “servicing the parents” and let the kids be taught in the main building, where there is a gym, cafeteria, playground, library, REAL CLASSROOMS, and oh yeah–bathrooms designed for their little bodies! FREE WESTCHESTER!!
Like a trailer city?
Oh and don’t we want to minimize redistricting? Opening Westchester this year would require a redistricting this year and then another next year when 5th Ave opened, no?
That said, it would make more logical sense to reopen Westchester next year when 5th Ave opens.
I don’t think anyone is advocating opening up Westchester for the kids this year. It’s a little late for that?
I assume so. But the article and all the arguments in it all referred to trailers in the current situation and not post- Fifth Ave. When PreK needed portables, and some residents cried “free westchester” I didn’t hear anyone say that while they hated trailers, it didn’t make sense to open the school and redistrict a year prior to another redistricting.
So I was just pointing that out,
Well, I don’t think there are any STUDENTS at Westchester right now, are they? The kids in trailers are at other schools, where there ARE gyms, etc. Cranky, you’re picturing administrators hogging offices inside a school building while kids are outside their windows in trailers, and that’s not the case. The kids are in trailers at other schools.
It’s the same thing regardless of where the trailers are. The administrators ARE hogging the classrooms while the children ARE in trailers outside the windows, just not at Westchester.
Some of that classroom space at Westchester is being hogged for storage of cardboard boxes. Put the boxes in the trailers.
Hon, you can’t just plop down a bunch of kids in a classroom at Westchester. You’d have to have a principal there, a cafeteria, books, etc. A school has a whole lot of ancillary stuff.
Don’t get me wrong. I’d rather see the system use Westchester as a school and put the administrators somewhere else. But they seem determined not to consider that. \
It’s not a particularly good administrative space, either, since there’s not enough parking for all the administrators plus the people who visit. I never find a space there on the rare occasions I go over there.
No, you don’t, Diane. College Heights has been spread across the entire school system. Trailers could have been avoided at College Heights this year by using four classrooms at Westchester. The principal has always traveled, the media center and speech pathologist could travel (they do just up the road in DeKalb); janitorial is already onsite there; there is already reception. So cafeteria is about all they need and College Heights has one lunchroom person who brings in food from another school, so that is something they already do. What’s the rest of the staff they could not accommodate?
When you say College Heights has been spread across the system, what do you mean? Does that mean they’ve put pre-K classrooms in existing schools where there are already administrators in place? From a practical standpoint, that’s not quite the same as having a principal who travels to a school that, right now, isn’t a school. I think there’s a big difference between a pre-k classroom at an elementary school and classrooms at a Westchester/admin complex.
And, it WOULD cost something to relocate administrators. It wouldn’t be free.
OTOH, I’m not sure that the argument about needing central services for parents is all that valid. I believe that administrators in other county school systems have been housed in trailers.
Yes, to your first question. And I really think there are no easy answers to any of this…
Vote Cranky!
Can someone please tell me what happened to the HairWerks Salon? I called last Friday to make an appointment and the phone was disconnected. I drove by later that day and the place has been vacated. What’s up
Did you check Westchester?
Ooooh, a hair salon at Westchester? If they add massage and nails, I can support this use of Westdchester. Forget the children, forget the administration, Mom wants a pedicure!
Now that’s what I call “servicing parents”!
Gibbs, i don’t think that’s legal, even at Westchester
No, that’s not what I’m picturing all. What I’m picturing is administrators hogging a perfectly good school facility. That’s all. I know that the trailers won’t be put at Westchester, that there won’t be any redistricting for now, and that everyone will be starting school where they were assigned to be. It’s just goes back to the old–and I admit, quite tiring for many people–arguement–that we have a facility that is being used for purposes in which it wasn’t designed (OK, convoluted sentence structure here …) As someone with children who are no longer in the school system, it does not affect us direclty. What it affects is our property values–yes it does, don’t you forget it–and it just doesn’t make any real sense at all to me why we have this lovely property that is being used by administrators, while children are being put in trailers. So …again, I say, FREE WESTCHESTER.
Cranky, you know we love ya, but why say that they’re “hogging” it? Will that sort of assertion help the dialogue find resolution?
Have you been in there since it’s been an admin facility? I get your point, but hogging is a fairly accurate description of a handful of people hoarding an enormous amount of space meant for 400 kids. It echos in there now. Makes absolutely no sense. Never did…it’s all about pride and the inability for the system to admit they screwed up years ago. And it isn’t just the wasted interior space, but the wasted fields, playgrounds, and gorgeous woods behind the school.
That can only be possibly true if it’s easily explained how CSD comes up with the extra money to pay for an additional facility to house the administration. Financial concerns are pretty real for everyone in today’s economy, no? If there are easy ways for CSD to cut back in other areas to lease a new property and employ kitchen and janitorial staff for Westchester, lets hear ’em.
Regardless of what you believe their motives are, I’m still curious how we pay to “Free Westchester” in a sagging economy and in a city where taxes are already quite high. Perhaps it’s doable, but I’d rather spend time discussing that than to rehash 2003 for the millionth time.
What I wonder is why a bunch of preK classrooms couldn’t have been located (four actually) at Westchester and avoided the College Heights Trailers for Toddlers. The kitchen argument is crap because College Heights has one lunch lady and the food is BROUGHT OVER from a school with a kitchen. Surely Tasha The Librarian at CH could have loaded up some books and done a media center day once a week at Westchester. Surely the MONEY SAVED by not renting four classrooms could have helped defray the costs….
I think a lot of it boils down to the fact that a lot of people just don’t trust Phyllis Edwards; she has stated communicating with parents isn’t part of her job. Maybe that’s not in the job description, but I think Decatur parents – heck, even people who AREN’T parents questions it – want that so I don’t understand why she thinks the ivory tower approach is going to remain effective for her long-term employment prospects.
I’m hearing (reading) echos through time, again.
Cranky: A great school system attracts more students, then gets crowded–how is that bringing our property values down? instead of the economy?
I am a parent and I’ve communicated many times with Dr. Edwards. I don’t know when she ever said that communicating with parents isn’t part of her job, and I rather suspect that might have been misconstrued. She may think she doesn’t need to spend MOST of her time communcating with parents, and Bruce Roaden has taken on the job of being the community liaison.
There are some people who can’t stand Dr. Edwards. But does anybody remember the previous superintendent? I’ll take Dr. E. hands down in a heartbeat.
Honestly, a member of her staff flat out told me that. The sentiment was echoed to me a few times from parents of older kids and a teacher or two. Like I said, I am still trying to figure all this out so I want to hear what most everyone thinks. I am pleased to hear others have different opinions.
DM- they already have to employ janitorial staff. The same staff works at all schools. rotating what time of day they are there.
Rain totally hit it.
Justified or not. Because of this obvious blunder and the continuing hubris that prevents rectifying it, I find it impossible to trust anything any CSD administration official says at face value. That’s a sad place for a Decatur parent to be in.
I loved the use of the word “echo”. That’s exactly what it’s like inside Westchester now. It positively echoes. Anyone who wonders why folks want to “Free Westchester” ought to go visit Central Office and walk around. There’s these wide halls with absolutely no one walking in them, open spaces, empty cafeteria, empty auditorium that’s also a gym and has a stage, not to mention enormous landscaped grounds (with underground sprinkler system evidently). You can almost hear the voices of the crowds of children that used to fill the halls and classrooms. If it is indeed too expensive for Central Office to go to trailers or elsewhere, and many folks have poked holes in that assumption here and elsewhere, then the grown ups ought to at least consolidate and let the common spaces be used by the community or some other group for children. I know for a fact that the after school programs could use that space. Almost all of them have waiting lists this summer, either because of enrollment or parents having to go back to work because of the economy.
The green space is not totally unused. Dr. Edwards has deemed it the overflow parking lot whenever there is an event there. It was full of cars yesterday.
I’m trying to figure out how to voice my opinion of parking on a landscaped lawn with an underground sprinkler system in a residential neighborhood without violating this blog’s rules. Trashy. It’s just plain trashy and inconsiderate. I hope that doesn’t violate the rules.
Just as Fifth Avenue area residents complained when the Fifth Avenue parking lot (or was it a playground) was used for bus parking, I hope the Westchester Neighborhood Association complains about parking on the lawn of their biggest open space.
I send an email to Dr. Edwards whenever I see cars parked there and request that they park on the street or even at the dead end of Harold Byrd (where they are forced to walk 200 ft through the nature trail to the property). Dr. Edwards is well aware of the fact that it is like rubbing salt in the wounds for the neighborhood, but she has made it very clear that she is in control of the entire facility and she will use it how she sees fit.
There are days I feel like the Lorax!
Oh dear. I don’t like to hear this. I like to think that Dr. Edwards is someone I can respect even if I don’t always agree with her. It’s not a question of who is in control, but what is the right thing to do. Being willing to move ~10 buses from Fifth Avenue but not 30 cars from Westchester is showing neighborhood favoritism. Darn. I just can’t see my way around car parking on a lawn being anything but trashy unless you’re at the county fair.
The more I hear about this person, the less I want her in charge of my child’s education. How much longer are people going to put up with her? Seriously. And I started out on the other side of all this when I had child. Didn’t Edwards rehire with our money that same company that royally screwed up the demographic predictions that led to the school reconfig to begin with?
Hmm. What if everyone reading this blog emailed CSD about parking on the lawn with a copy to someone like DM to keep track of the emails? Would a boatload of emails coming from all over town, not just the dreaded Westchester area, make a difference?
When you say 400 kids, what do you mean? My kids were at Westchester, and I was on the PTA the year they closed. We had 235 kids in that school when it was closed.
Another poster introduced the term “hogging” to the dialogue.
p.s. ok, is it effects, or affects? Grammar police anyone?
affect is correct here…
Effects are observable states, nouns or finished actions. Affects are actions themselves.
quibbling, Gibbetts?
Between nouns/subjects and actions? He asked a question.
i didn’t find the article of much substance. A few $ stats, yes, but mainly parents who find heartbreak in a building not being used in the way they want it to be used, and a parent who says their kids sit on the floor in portables and get sick more often in them (I guess because normal classrooms are more spacious? have better air?). Huh. Now from the above post it also appears to be about someone’s property values. So far i’m not on this free westchester bandwagon. Good luck with it though.
Sitting on the floor? Uh, isn’t that what they do in PreK, regardless if you are in a trailer or classroom?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not wild about the trailers at College Heights solution at all. But this article is making me roll my eyes roll a little.
Cranky old timer – as someone who was house hunting in that area last year with small children, I find that hard to believe. Maybe things have changed in a year but Westchester not being open never stopped me from looking in that area.
that’s a good thing Roo. Looking forward to meeting you in my neck of the woods. Cuz you did buy a house in the former Westchester school district, right?
All of Decatur real estate has held up well since 2004 but there’s no question in my mind that whichever school closed, Clairemont or Westchester, the real estate value of the area of the closed school would not go up as fast as it would have. There also is no question in my mind that the 2004 reconfiguration was as much about the personal and business real estate interests of some of the major players as it was about equalizing the quality of the 7 Decatur elementary schools. It’s no accident that the big push for reconfiguration didn’t happen until gentrification started to boom on the south side. Before that, the only force pushing for improvement of schools on the south side was social justice and that evidently wasn’t enough.
Recently, someone who was house hunting and new to the area asked me which part of Decatur would be best in terms of elementary schools. I felt quite confident in saying any of the three elementary schools was great, albeit none are perfect. I am happy about that and I do remember when the hierarchy was Clairemont or Winnona Park #1, Westchester #2, Glennwood #3, Oakhurst #4, and College Heights and Fifth Avenue ranking the lowest. But I am under no illusion that the entire motivation for the reconfiguration and how it played out was just about the best education for all children.
B–
Our neighbor was selling and was told by his realtor that his property was worth $10,000 less because the school was closed! We are currently living with poor planning on the CSD side, and it’s been a bitter pill to swallow. You don’t have to join any bandwagon, but if Clairmont or Oakhurst was closed, or used for “administration” you’d probably be seeing red. Then, maybe not, maybe you think we’re a bunch of whining crybabies. : ]
Every one knows how much a realtor’s advice is worth–about 5-6%.
While we are on the topic of schools. Does anyone know if our school buses have air conditioning? I’m concerned about putting my kindergartner on the bus next week b/c I don’t believe they have AC
You are kidding right?
You know the playgrounds are also not air conditioned don’t you?
They are at Westchester…..
No, according to my child, but sometimes the bus drivers have their own fan. There’s windows and no one is on the bus that long. If I was going to add anything to our school buses, it would be seat belts before air conditioning. I don’t understand why seatbelts aren’t required for school buses. It sends a terrible message to kids who have been brainwashed from birth that they need to be in a secure carseat or seatbelt. The argument is that the number of school bus fatalities is low which of course is because school buses are usually driven slowly and carefully. But nonetheless, no one can argue that seatbelts are not protective in buses if there IS an accident. Plus they help keep order in the bus.
FWIW, I was once in a city bus that got hit by a car. When the bus driver pulled over to exchange info, etc., every passenger on the bus was surprised to learn we had been hit. Busses are so big compared to your average vehicle that it didn’t even register. Of course, it would be a different story in a multi-car pile-up, a bridge disaster, Godzilla-attack, etc.
Listen, sugar, the children will be just fine without an air conditioned bus. The windows come down, there’s a breeze, and I doubt a child is on the bus for very long. Plus, if you insist on picking up the child daily, he/she misses out on the joys of riding a bus, and you add pollution to the air. Really.
I grew up in New Orleans and went to school on buses without air conditioning and went to school in CLASSROOMS without air conditioning. It won’t hurt the children. I promise.
I agree with Diane that many kids LOVE the bus ride, especially boys. My older child was a big fan of the reconfiguration because finally they could ride the bus!
OK, guys. I was just asking a simple question so there’s no need for abuse. And yes, I have some concerns about putting a five year old on a bus at Winnona on the first day of school (which, having been a teacher, I know is a little crazy, making loading slow), having that bus go across town to Glennwood and sit in the hot sun while they go through another first day of loading (again, very slow b/c of first day craziness) and then ride back across town to get home. All of this occurring while the heat index is going to be around 105 IN THE SHADE.
Vehicles get dangerously hot sitting in the sun even when windows are open. Couple that with a bunch of overexcited kids who are probably a little dehydrated, and … yes, I am a bit concerned and considering picking up my young child for the first few weeks of school until the temperatures moderate a little.
Skeptic, I am not joking – there are buses with AC – it was just a question. And, Skeptic, I am not at all concerned about my kids playing on “un-airconditioned” playgrounds. They have been doing it all summer and having great fun. A vehicle in the sun is a bit of a different situation.
I’m thrilled that I’ve found myself in a school system where I have to be careful what kinds of questions I ask other parents for fear of looking stupid. Thanks for the welcome guys.
Sorry Sara. I should have caught Skeptic and Diane’s comments earlier. No need to talk down to people folks. FWIW, I couldn’t have told you if school buses down here were air-conditioned or not either.
It is interesting how we put kids on a non-A/Ced buses in the summer, while a majority of the adults I know have a comfort zone of about 4 degrees.
Does anyone in the South still use window fans?
I honestly did not intend for my comments to be demeaning or degrading. I was just saying that not having air conditioning is not going to hurt our children.
I like Bruce Roaden, I really do, but both parts of this statement are wrong on so many levels:
“[Trailers] are no different than a regular classroom,” Roaden said. “And we’re no different than any district in the area.”
Also, the article says there are ten trailers scattered around every elementary school. But is that the total of the classrooms? Aren’t most of them double wides, with two classrooms per trailer? Aren’t there more like 16 or 17 classes in trailers? Can someone in the know address this?
Westchester was closed in 2004, not 2003. Wonder what else in the article is wrong.
And do we really want to be “…no different than any other district in the area?”
The “one” trailer at Clairemont definitely has two classrooms in it. So the accounting is a bit deceptive. I never understand why CSD does this sort of verbal manipulation. Don’t they know that parents know this stuff from having their own kids out there in the schools? Central Office only loses credibility when it fudges stuff. They would do so much better to be proactive and lay all their cards out on the table and just say “here’s what is is, here’s our options, and here’s why we picked this one”. Not doing that make even their fans doubt either their intentions or their logic.
College Heights has two in each of two trailers
I like Mr. Roaden a ton too and was a little disappointed at the response. It sounded so typically CSD administration – they do have a bit of a bad habit of spinning things that really don’t need to be spun. It’s very hard to get PR right in a place like Decatur though, where everyone knows the real deal or is bound and determined to find it out.
At the top of the CSD website, in very large letters, it says
“City Schools of Decatur will be recognized as one of the top ten community school districts in the nation.”
This is completely at odds with Roaden’s statement that “We’re no different than any district in the area.”
Don’t we want to be different? Better?
Just returned from my child’s Meet & Greet with the teachers at College Heights, and was surprisingly impressed with the portables / learning cottages / trailers. They are clean, bright, and spacious. My child was not the least bit fazed with having a classroom outside of the main building. I will agree that trailers on school campuses are not ideal, but it didn’t appear that my child or the teachers will have a less successful year because they are not in a traditional building.
DM, I know you are tired of this conversation, but it continues among the FREE WESTCHESTER crowd because we see a wasted resource. A $300,000 yearly price tag for new administrative offices is expensive. Not good for taxes, and frankly, I don’t see the administration moving anytime soon. Should I sit down and shut up? There might be a constructive way to use this resource that includes administration and classrooms, who knows? We’ll be the hornet in CSD’s hair until they figure out a good compromise. Right now I see that they are unwilling to change ands so neither am I …and the field lays ripe for playing, the classrooms dark, the cafeteria empty. (melodramatic sigh)
Understood Cranky. I think there’s validity to your concerns. I also think it would interesting to know where the $300k number came from, as Nellie asks below.
I thought at one point the Superintendent was talking about starting a discussion about Westchester. Am I the only one that remembers this?
I guess it’s possible. I’ve had a very long week and I guess I’m just a little punchy.
Hey, Punchy, can you ask Bruce to clarify that $300k statement?
Put adminstrators in trailers; kids in a school building rennovated for that purpose. How many more bad decisions will the CSD board make?
Why would it cost $300k to lease space for forty? I mean, seriously. I actually know what it costs to rent space for approx. 60 in a building smack in downtown Decatur and it ain’t nowhere near $300k.
Excellent point. I can’t figure out $300,000 either. It’s simple office space with IT connections and a small meeting room that is needed not highly technical specifications, like an operating suite or production line. For large meetings, we now have all the renovated space at school facilities.
Let me put it this way- I work for a company that rents offices for 90 people in 5 locations in 4 local towns- including two spaces in downtown Decatur that house 55ish people in 2 separate offices. Everyone – secretaries included- has his/her own office and in Decatur we have two meeting rooms.The aggregate rent for ALL those locations is just over $300,000. Utilities are of course extra but not enough to make CSD’s admin cost $300,000 in comparison!
Welcome aboard, Nelliebelle.
$300,000 per year would get you roughly 16,000-17,000 square feet of decent office space in Decatur.
How much space does the Administration need? Not criticizing, just wondering.
The $300,000 comes from including a large amount of square footage (10,000 sq feet?) for a meeting room. It was in the Configuration figures, near the end.
I think the advocates for putting classrooms at Westchester instead of College Heights, were also advocating to share space. The administration would not have needed to move.
DM – The school board has kept taxes artificially low by borrowing a lot of money. The administration is relying on SPLOST to pass for the next 25-30 years. If it doesn’t, you will see the effect pretty quickly.
Where was the administration located prior to Westchester?
The high school.
It had horrible digs for years and years in some weird part of the high school that was either part of the old gym building or connected to it somehow. It was definitely vintage at best. So something smaller than Westchester but better than the old digs ought to be pretty obtainable.
Nice use of “effect” RachelF
Proper use.
Easy enough to find a large space for a meeting room without renting it. There are auditoriums and cafeterias and an entire theatre owned by the school system.
I think other folks have hit the nail on the head. The school system closed Westchester, took a lot of flak, and don’t want to admit that might not have been the best move. I don’t really understand why they’re spending money renovating Fifth Avenue for the 4/5 academy, when Westchester is there, already renovated. But, I know their numbers must add up right.
Well, I have been floating on cloud nine after seeing all my colleagues this week. Yesterday’s open house was full of happy faces and excitement. My classroom is beautiful, my plans are complete and my spirit is well rested. I can’t wait for my students to arrive.
I’m sorry I read this thread.
It is perfectly legitimate for parents and taxpayers to hold the administration accountable for its actions. Decatur citizens have been doing this for decades and the reason metro Atlanta has a decent public school system for you to teach in is because of people like Cranky, CSDMom (who I believe is either a current or former teacher for CSD), Rachel and karass. They don’t just post here; they are actively trying to improve things for the kids around here. You should be happy that people fight for this system and are vocal about it, even if you don’t like what they say. I don’t always agree with everything the very vocal CSD commentators post, but I read them respectfully because they might teach me something.
Nelliebelle,
I am thrilled that people fight for the system. That is one of Decatur’s greatest assets. An apathetic city is not successful.
You read much more into my reply than was there. You are insinuating that I don’t “read them respectfully.” That is nowhere in my post.
What I AM saying is that this thread is a downer after a great week.
I am sorry this brought you down, seriously. I probably did read more into it (those damn annoying English degrees…). Thank you for your enthusiasm and excitement. I guess my concern for the direction of the school system is really wearing on me. A collective of a lot of things- the reconfiguration, the school system’s continued reliance on the consultant who produced the initial bad data that led to the reconfig, what I and many other parents consider an absolute disaster at College Heights, what can seem like an Abbot and Costello who’s on first skit shuffling kids and buildings… I’ve only been on this negative side for a couple of months and it’s hard for me. It’s seems like the school does a good job with teachers and curriculum but the issues seem to be that no one knows what the hell to do with facilities and that’s frustrating and a little scary. Does that make sense?
Whoa Nellie! Are you serious?
You are jumping on someone for merely commenting on how incredibly depressing this thread is [it is], and aren’t you–other than I–the first one who gets mad when someone does the same thing to your opinion? Respect indeed. They are, folks, just comments.
That’s absolutely not true Gibbets and you know it. It’s absolutely not fair either since it’s my my tendency to actually try to talk to people and have a discussion – even though yes, I am blunt- than just to jump all over them with snark and short absolutist statements. Until “Teach” posted her second post after I posted mine, it was very easy to read what she posted as a criticism of people “complaining” about the school.
Redirection and “English degrees” have nothing to do with it–but, well met ma’am, carry on…
Lawdy, folks. My kid was in a trailer (*ahem*Learning Cottage) this past year at Oakhurst. He loved it, the room was clean, and his teacher was excellent. The whole Westchester thing infuriates me, too, but let’s start this year on a positive note, shall we?
To close my previous post I wish I had said instead, “This is a bit depressing.” The tone of the first post could be interpreted as caustic- that’s not what I intended.
No, no–nellie (and this argument) can be caustic, ‘specially when it comes to Westchester and past perceived slights from the imperialistic CSD school board–er, star chamber bent on destroying our lives, ruining our property values and corrupting our children.
Let it go,
acknowledge, move on.
Oops, nod to TeeRuss for the star chamber reference.
Her first reply to me was removed. This one was much more tame. We all need to be respectful here or this blog will digress into personal attacks.
Wow! (then I say again, Whoa, Nellie!)
DM removes personal attacks–and nellie is usually better behaved than this…
Seriously, Gibbets, you are one to talk.
Ignore that last post. Sorry Gibbs. I’m hormonal and home on bedrest, prone to emotion and tears right now. I spent $50 on iTunes last night at midnight downloading digitals of old albums I played on my Mickey Mouse mono record player for absolutely no apparent reason.
I am also extremely worried over some things going on at College Heights and how incredibly poor transition planning and the overcrowding and suddenly large classrooms, partially because of the expanded headstart, is going to impact my son next week and beyond. I am still trying to work out how I feel about this school system after what’s happened at College Heights and still don’t feel I can 100% trust the administration, so that is probably coming out more strongly than it should. I just can’t get 100% comfortable with the decisions they are making for my child, and I am really surprised I am having such a hard time with this.
I have decided that Nelliebell1197 is absolutely insane.
Maybe less time monitoring blog comments on Decatur Metro and actually trying to help the schools work work better.
Nice. Really nice, Susan.
RE the comment “Maybe less time monitoring blog comments on Decatur Metro and actually trying to help the schools work work better”:
The irony is that some of the most vocal parents are also the biggest contributors to the schools in terms of $ support, volunteer time, and caring about the kids. If everyone sat down and kept quiet, it might make the lives of a few administrators pleasanter for a little while, but it would lead to
passivity which is deadly for parent involvement which we all know is necessary for public schools to be high-achieving. Despite its progressiveness otherwise, the educational culture outside of the classroom is very top-down and controlling. I think it’s because most educational leaders start out in the classroom where they have total responsibility for the kids and total control. They bring some of that authoritarian attitude with them as they rise even though it becomes less and less appropriate in dealing with adults, not kids, and the general community. Just like many marriages and work places have control issues, I think many school systems do too.
That’s the second time in a week you’ve made a personal attack against someone Susan.
Dial it back.
[chuckling to self…] Honestly, Susan, I have thought the sane thing for a while.
I don’t believe that this really was a personal attack, because you would have deleted it. Who else have I personally attacked, DM? I don’t remember.
I, frankly, have found the comments to this post to be one gigantic and savage personal attack against a very honorable person and leader in our community – Phyllis Edwards – and you haven’t done one darn thing about them (not even calling them out like you did me). In fact, commenters regularly engage in vicious personal attacks on this blog (whether we’re discussing the 315 project or the past election) and you haven’t done anything about certain attempts at ruining reputations.
So continue your selective screening.
I’m a Dr. Edwards fan, Susan, and try to chime in with supportive comments whenever called for but check the Comments policy before getting too bent out of shape. The standards for private individuals are more sensitive than they are for public figures. That’s pretty standard, journalistically speaking.
Of course it’s selective. How else would one go about moderating comments?
As Scott says, public figures have a higher threshold. But even so, no one called Dr. Edwards insane. If they had, I would have moderated it. I’ve done similar things when someone called the city manager a name a while back.
It’s unnecessary and more importantly, unproductive.
Questioning someone’s policies and motives is a bit different than just saying they’re nuts. How? Because you and others can refute the arguments of those who do that questioning. But when you say someone is “insane” or call them a name, there’s no counter-argument. It just devolves into a fight. There’s no upside for me or the community in that.
My moderating may be selective, but it’s not random.
And as I’ve often said, when it comes to discussing CSD, my goal is to disappoint all parties. Depending on who you ask, I either defend the administration too often or I apparently allow savage attacks on Dr. Edwards to go unchecked.
It didn’t come across as caustic to me. I was wondering myself why I had read this thread. Approaching with respect and willingness to learn something (which I had) did nothing to alter the fact there was nothing new here, nothing new at all, and a lot that is so wearying.
I told my 1st grader that he got to be in a “club house” (aka trailer/learning cottage) this year. He’s psyched and thinks he got some sort of special treatment. I think he’ll be fine! I do worry a bit about a lot of germs going around though in such a small room… but maybe it will actually be fewer germs since there are fewer kids there than in the big building. Or maybe it just doesn’t make a difference. Who knows?
If we all start puking though, I’ll blame Dr. Edwards. (just kidding!!!!). 😉
I have posted here before about how thankful I am for CSD teachers. Of course, the response from the Free Weschester Society (FWS) is that it is precisely because they love the teachers that they do the things they do. I find that reasoning a little icky.
Apparently there is no connection between the superintendent, good principals, and good teachers. The super just focuses on the buildings I guess. I suppose the varying quality of schools under the old superintendent was just a coincidence. Perhaps she’s available for re-hire. Westchester was open under her, you know.
I wonder how Dr Edwards figures that trailers fit into her goal to be a top ten USA school system?
Maybe the school system should lease space at the centrally located Rec Center. Then maybe the City would have the revenue stream to renovate it.
smalltowngal – I wish that article hadn’t been written, or that it had been written 6-months ago.
At the same time, when the school board has been shown that it wouldn’t have been difficult or expensive to put preK students for one year at Westchester, and yet chooses to provide quotes for the paper on how difficult and expensive it would be, there aren’t that many recourses except to publicly disagree.
Putting students in classrooms at Westchester, which has classrooms designed for PreK children, for one year wasn’t about freeing Westchester. It really was about students. One year of PreK students was a temporary thing.
I’m not prepared to argue the finer points of where these kids should be housed this year, primarily because I’m not a member of the CSD administration and I don’t know all the factors and variables involved in their decision.
What I find so wearisome is that for some people, EVERYTHING seems to be about freeing Westchester. I have the strong impression–and I suspect I’m not alone–that a few folks never got over not getting their way in the 2003 reconfiguration, and have become obsessed with haranguing the CSD administration at every possible opportunity–and when no opportunity presents itself, some people are comfortable making one up. I hear so many wonderful things about our school system from so many different families, I have to think that overall, our school leadership knows what they’re doing. Meanwhile, the decisions that have to be made about juggling facilities are complex and in any given situation, there may well be more than one right answer (or more than one lesser-of-evils answer) and therefore it’s necessary to make a judgment call. My tax dollars are paying professionals to make those decisions. Concerned questions and criticisms are appropriate, but we are not paying the administration (nor do we elect school board members) to cater to each and every parent with an opinion. Nor are we paying them to spend time justifying to the press every move they make. Some people feel entitled to demand those justifications, explanations, etc. My tax dollars are just as green, and I feel entitled to demand that our professional education administrators be left alone to do their jobs. Honestly, I refuse to believe any child is going to be harmed by attending classes in a trailer.
It’s obvious that some individuals are simply never going to give Dr. Edwards credit for anything positive she’s accomplished, and instead seem bent on tearing her down every chance they get. How is that productive? How does that contribute to improving our schools? That is what I find so tiresome whenever the blog threads turn to any topic remotely pertaining to CSD.
Well said, Small town gal.
Great thoughts, STG, that needed to be said. Not as an apologist for CSD, which you’re clearly not, but as one of the people out there who feels pretty good about the system’s overall direction and leadership and acknowledges that every decision doesn’t have to be made in a way that caters to people of contrary opinion, and that those with access to the most comprehensive info should be given enough leeway to do what we pay them to do.
As a parent myself, I haven’t been thrilled with every decision or change CSD has made but overall I see a trend of improvement. And that works for me. (Others’ mileage may vary…)
In whatever case, I’m comfortable letting the administration rise or fall on their own successes and failures. We periodically get a chance to boot ’em out, if everyone feels they’re blowing it. Maybe part of the difficulty is when we react as though the alternative to “optimum” is “unacceptable” when oftentimes the alternative is just “workable” or “not too shabby.” Would I prefer “optimum?” Sure, but if it’s something temporary on an otherwise upward climb, I can handle “workable.”
To clarify, in “booting out” administrators, I’m talking about the kind of change that would likely occur if we had serious turnover of the board. Not suggesting the administrators are elected.
I think you have some really, really good points, but the other side does, too. I tended to be one of those “WE PAY THEM SO LET THEM DO THEIR JOBS” people- I have even stated that in these pages. On the other hand, the reconfiguration was a mistake, based on faulty data by a company CSD continues to employ. I think a lot of it boils down to lack of trust- after the reconfiguration and the way Phyllis Edwards is PERCEIVED as reacting- rather a bit arrogantly from I what I have heard. I don’t know if she plays her small town politics as well as someone in that position invariably has to do… regardless, I think the reconfiguration wouldn’t have left so many people on the defense about Westchester & CSD administration in general if it had actually worked or if its failure had been handled well.
It boils down to trust- a bunch of parents lost a lot of trust in the school administration and the administration hasn’t won it back. I hate that I am edging towards that mistrust camp and I hope the next couple years prove me wrong
I’m with you, NB, which is why my main jist was that STG’s point just needed to be heard, lest the tenor of the thread paint a less-than-accurate picture of the community at large.
You’re absolutely right that, ultimately, it’s all about trust. Currently, they have mine. Maybe they’ll veer so far off course that they lose it, at which time I’ll apply my vote towards different leadership. But until then, I’m gonna relax a bit and keep an eye out for any holes or deficiencies that pop up that, as a parent, I can address on my own.
I’m just one guy, of course. If too many others already lack trust, we may have a change in course anyways. Even one I may not be fully thrilled with. But if that’s the way it plays out, I’ll give them a chance to prove themselves. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised and, if I’m not, there’s always the voting booth…
I agree with you 110% Smalltowngal. Way to go!
I think that Phyllis Edwards has done an outstanding job as Superintendent of CSD. She is probably, by far, the best Superintendent that CSD has ever had. We are lucky to have her.
The 2003 reconfiguration was the right move then and it continues to be the right move now. While some of the enrollment numbers might have been off, we are much better off as a system now than we were before. The remarkable turnaround and success of Oakhurst and the ECLC is a prime example.
If we were to change leadership now, I’m afraid things would go south. Are you really willing to take that risk?
I’m pretty sure the people who wanted to use Westchester for the preK students weren’t even in the system in 2003.
Great post, STG. I completely agree. The reconfiguration was the board and superintendent’s signature move, and it has been a runaway success. It has made our schools the envy of every intown community in the ATL, and positioned the entire city (not just the North side) to grow and be resilient during the economic downturn.
It has also required some tough follow-on decisions, due to the growth in enrollment that success brings. They are dealing with it the best that they can, I’m sure of that.
If I were in their shoes, I would recognize that out of several thousand parents, there are going to be some extremists who will never be reasonable, and that addressing their constant complaints is not a productive use of time. The vocal minority cannot dictate the direction of the entire system.
There is a lot to say about the environment in which you spend your day. Why would we as adults spend so much time and money making our homes nice…renovating our kitchens, buying a nicer sofa, painting walls, etc. if it didn’t matter? Sure, you can make a trailer nice. If you had to be in a trailer, you make do and have a good attitude about it. Same if you had to be in a basement…you just make the best of it and have the best experience you can.
My main gripe is the misuse of resources. We have a facility meant for 400 kids being used by a handful of adults. It’s irresponsible. In all the shuffling and redistricting that has gone on, they could have made Westchester work as school. I don’t buy for a second that it’s not a feasible thing to do financially. Over the past almost decade, there could have been a way to make it work. I can’t imagine getting admin to leave though after having such cushy digs. They will find a way to stay. And, it seems that the only parents that are vocal are the ones that have actually had their children in the school. I have nothing to gain or lose personally, but I do think the gross misuse of resources is disgraceful.
Some of us don’t spend time and money (or don’t have time and money) to make our homes cushy. Instead, we make do with an adequate home and focus on the family living inside, rather than the things we put in it. My house is a dump, but my kids are happy and healthy.That’s kinda how I see the trailer thing. A good teacher could teach my child in a linen closet and I’d be satisfied. Maybe not thrilled, but it’s what goes on in the room that matters, not the room itself.
Defeatism much?
The building already exists. No money necessary. The trailers cost money .
I definitely wouldn’t call myself a defeatist. I’m a realist. Or, hell, maybe I live in a fantasyland…but… I had a kid in a trailer and his year was spectacular. Wouldn’t have been any better if he had been in the building. He missed no days of school from being sick, loved his room, teacher, class, school. I assure you, he did not care a bit that the administrators were hanging out in cushy offices and parking on sprinkler systems (yeah, that’s pretty uncool, I agree). I’m not totally disagreeing with you Free Westchesturians (Westchestians? Westies? Chesties?) People write in on this topic because they are angry or have some snarky comment (which is cool by me, I love me some good snark). Sometimes, in my opinion, it boarders on entitlement .Not all of the time, just some folks. BUT… That’s just my opinion. Before you jump on me, I just wanted to show another point of view. Especially because we all know good and well that it’s not going to change by Monday morning. And I don’t want any panic stricken parents to have a negative view of how their child’s year is going to be because they are stuck in a dreaded trailer. So let’s put on a happy face for the first day, shall we?
I do have to say I love who ever that was above who her kid thought he was wicked cool because he was in one of the trailers
That was my son. Actually, I may have gone to far. He was telling a buddy on the way to school today that he was in a special club with a club house for a classroom and that he was going to try to use his connections with the teacher to get his friend out of the building and in the club too. I hate it that I may have to break it to him that he in fact is not “the chosen one.” His teacher may have already done that for me though! I’m sure he told her, and she was like, “Huh???”
Actually, the folks who are most vocal now, for or against issue, are NOT the ones who were vocal in 2003. The previously vocal folks are way beyond the elementary school issues unless they had one of those big 5 year plus age gaps betwen their children. Most are in RMS or DHS, many went to private school, many have divorced and/or moved out of district, and they are on to other things. And plenty who are upset about the trailers (not actually my big issue but I agree that things weren’t handled proactively) weren’t in the school system in 2003 or even living in Decatur. The folks who were running for election as challengers or were the campaign leaders last election were not the folks who fought the closing of Westchester at all. Many are Clairemont, Glennwood, Winnona Park parents with a smattering from the south side.
It’s a convenient myth that concerns about CSD are all about the closing of Westchester/Fifth Avenue but it’s much larger than that. We’d all like easy black-and-white answers–they are the red team and we’re the blue team, but that’s not where things are at in Decatur now. Of the posters here who I happen to know, most live outside of the Westchester area. The issues of trailers, high school decisions, new Central Office positions, reduction of paraprofessional support, charter, budget cuts, school leadership teams, completely post-date the issues of 2003.
So regarding the issues at hand–people’s concerns about trailers are system-wide not Westchester-based. Not my highes priority issue but I want those concerns addressed in the most responsive, proactive, non-divisive, non-deceptive, open and transparent way possible. (What’s got me irked right now is the trashy parking on the landscaped lawn at Westchester with the underground sprinkler system. It would take so little for CSD to ask folks to park properly. I would have this position whether or not Westchester was open as a school. In fact, when it WAS open as a school, no one dared drive up over the sidewalk and park on the lawn).
“The previously vocal folks are way beyond the elementary school issues unless they had one of those big 5 year plus age gaps betwen their children. Most are in RMS or DHS, many went to private school, many have divorced and/or moved out of district, and they are on to other things.”
Let’s not forget those who discovered the new configuration worked great for their children after all, and are not complaining because they’re not unhappy.
“It’s a convenient myth that concerns about CSD are all about the closing of Westchester/Fifth Avenue but it’s much larger than that.”
If it’s a myth, then it’s perpetuated by the virtually continual insertion of “free Westchester” into any and all discussions pertaining to any aspect of Decatur’s schools (and some discussions that don’t pertain). Why not acknowledge that idea signals–accurately or not–old baggage, and frame current questions and ideas without referring to it?
For instance, in the current chatter about putting some little kids in trailers at College Heights…from what I gather, some people think they should be housed in unused classrooms at Westchester. Okay, that might make sense. On the other hand, then they’d be across town from the rest of ECLC, which might not be feasible at all if they need access to shared resources…Hmmm, I don’t know, but I have to assume the people making the decision know more about it than I do. In the absence of evidence that going to pre-school (or any grade) in trailers actually undermines a child’s educational experience, I have to make room for the possibility that some of the complainers see an opportunity to harp (again) on the closure of Westchester–and then some parents who weren’t even here in 2003 but are hyper-vigilant about every little aspect of their child’s experience being totally perfect and ideal, leap onto the bandwagon. All I’m saying is if it’s not about “free Westchester” then don’t make it sound like it is.
From where I sit, the biggest blunders CSD has made (and continues to make) are in the realm of PR. But you know what? That’s not their primary responsibility, so I’m okay with it.
The reconfiguration implemented in 2003-04 is what made the most sense to the most people at that time. (And lest we forget, the reasons for doing it included some that had nothing to do with facilities and head counts and everything to do with making our school system better in a lot of different ways.) Keeping the board we have is what made the most sense to the most voters the last time out. Obviously, that could change. Meanwhile, Dr. Edwards has plenty of fans in this town and doesn’t need me to defend her. But as one of the few (of her fans) who spends time on this blog, I feel compelled to speak out from time to time.
I hate to say it but until gentrification, business opportunities, and some folks’ political careers made the south side lucrative, the CSD leadership didn’t do anything about the inequalities at Fifth Avenue, College Heights, and Oakhurst. Was it good that they finally did something to address the problem? Yes. Was it all about the children, not totally. Was it an objective, logical, transparent process, not enough. Not in 2003 and not now, IMHO. So now there’s going to be 5 schools on the south side and three on the north side. Eventually some of the leadership and business interests will shift and then CSD will shift and the school locations will shift again. I wish the decisions were driven by student, teacher, and community needs in such a transparent way that most parents, most of whom are accomplished professionals themselves, could understand the logic, if not always like it. Sometimes that happens, sometimes not. Maybe it is unrealist to press CSD to be as responsive to residents as is the City of Decatur leadership. Maybe we just have to accept that we’re so much better off than being in DeKalb County, Clayton County, or Atlanta Public Schools that we should just sit down, be quiet, and enjoy. However, opinions about CSD decisions are not monolithic within CSD, so I wouldn’t expect them to be on this blog either.
The upper for me is the individual teachers and staff, including some admin staff, who are incredibly talented, committed, and productive, combined with families who are dedicated to improving their schools for their children and everyone else’s. That’s really the magic in CSD. Magic happens everyday in CSD, even if there’s occasional deficits in strategic planning, political
maneuvering, and community relations. This magic was there even under the former superintendent who appeared comatose the few times I encountered her. And if you talk to DHS graduates from the past, the magic has been around a long time. I have friend who resided in Allen Wilson Terrace, went to Clairemont, Renfroe, and DHS, and has the greatest loyalty to CSD for her education and all the positive memories even though I’m sure things were not always equitable and comfortable for her. I give credit to Dr. Edwards for sustaining that magic through all of the surprising twists and turns that CSD has taken since she arrived. (But she needs to stop the PARKING ON THE WESTCHESTER LAWN!!! It’s somewhere between tacky and trashy. I’d say the same for any of the school lawns in CSD! Just imagine how the RMS neighbors who complain about street parking during events would feel if the RMS lawn was full of vehicles! Or the Winnona Park neighborhood! We already know how the Fifth Avenue area felt about the buses.)
The biggest change since the reconfiguration has been the affluence of the students, especially in the Oakhurst area.
2004 39% Free and Reduced Lunch, Systemwide
2009 28% Free and Reduced Lunch, Systemwide
2004, Oakhurst Free and Reduced Lunch, 74% (Just before reconfiguration)
2005, Oakhurst, Free and Reduced Lunch, 44% (Just after reconfiguration)
2009, Oakhurst, Free and Reduced Lunch, 22%
http://www.gsci.org/ReportCenter/reportcenter.jsp
Good point! That doesn’t take away from the wonderful principal and teachers at Oakhurst, both before and after the reconfiguration. But it’s not a simple cause and effect of reconfiguration —> better schools. In fact, it’s kind of insulting to Mary Mack to imply that Oakhurst couldn’t cut it without the reconfiguration. I think that Oakhurst was already an ascending star and would have become more and more successful even if no Westchester families had been sent to it.
It isn’t an either/or situation. You don’t have to give up a school building to get good teachers. They both exist! My children had both, and yours can too. It’s a public school system with great teachers and good school buildings. It’s why I moved here. And why shouldn’t children have both if both exist?
It all boils down to an allocation issue and someone hasn’t been doing their job. It was a choice to close a perfectly good school building and purchase trailers instead. As a tax payer I am angry to see the resources being wasted and misused.
“It all boils down to an allocation issue and someone hasn’t been doing their job. It was a choice to close a perfectly good school building and purchase trailers instead. As a tax payer I am angry to see the resources being wasted and misused.”
Rain,
A couple of points are in order:
1. The trailers are not a permanent solution. They are a temporary measure to bridge the capacity issues until 5th Avenue opens next year. They need to be understood in this context – they are the least disruptive, least costly, least harmful, most flexible option we have for the short term. Opening Westchester and redrawing district boundaries for 1-2 years, and then redrawing them again when 5th Ave opens, would be silly in my opinion, and would open up the board for some well founded criticism (for once).
2. The process for dealing with the capacity issues was ridiculously open to community input during 2008-2009. I say “ridiculously” because I think it went too far in including everyone’s participation, when the board probably could have done it faster and more effectively with a smaller working group. I guess the board was overly sensitive to the sniping that resulted from past decisions, and wanted to head off those complaints by making the process open and transparent. Alas, people are still complaining about it. Hopefully the lesson learned is that they can’t please everyone, and shouldn’t waste time trying.
3. My son was in a trailer at Oakhurst last year. It was fine. It was infinitely preferable to having him and his sisters redistricted into another elementary school for 1-2 years.
I have a question- I am not being sarcastic, I swear- so 5th Avenue will relieve the pressure on the elementary schools because Glenwood will become an elementary and the big kids will go to 5th Avenue, right? What about the overcrowding at College Heights, for all programs above age 2? I am wondering if anyone has heard anything, cause I don’t think the preK and the daycare program are going to be able to make it there together much longer without bursting the seams of the building! I don’t know if most people know this, but the 0-3 program is one of the only ones of its kind in the country, something we should be proud of and nurturing. But we don’t even have enough parking for 0-3 dropoff thanks to the trailers that were evicted from Clairmont….
Don’t give up on issues that are important to you. Despite the efforts of some posters to make you feel unpatriotic or ungrateful for having concerns about particular decisions that CSD makes, it’s your right as a resident, taxpayer, and voter and your duty as an involved parent to be observant and speak up when needed. That’s what a system charter is all about–involving parents and teachers as stakeholders in decisions. Maybe this blog isn’t the best place to speak up, but, if so, that’s true for all posters, for and against issues, and most people who post on this blog probably also deal with issues in other ways like writing letters to CSD and/or the School Board, supporting candidates, meeting in person with CSD staff or the Board, serving on or speaking up at the PTA or SLTs, volunteering etc. You can be a “whiner” (aka advocate) as well as a doer.
I actually think that having these discussions in the open on blogs is useful. They used to occur just as much before but in more covert, gossipy, sometimes mean-spirited ways. The third hand gossip, behind the scenes phone calls, and snide emails that circulated in 2003-2004 when the decisions about the 2004 reconfiguration were happening ended up being more divisive than the reconfiguration itself, IMHO. Of course, blogs aren’t objective forums–they are shaped by who has the passion to post–but neither is off-line scuttlebutt. The point-counterpoint that occurs on blogs doesn’t usually happen with uncontrolled gossip. That’s why the CSD would be wise to proactively put out all the unadulterated data it can, keep its decisions transparent, and demonstrate all its active listening skills. When folks are uneasy, concerned, worried about an issue, they are particularly vulnerable to uncontrolled gossip.
Yeah, and more discussion doesn’t lead to less sniping, as we’ve discovered.
I’ve actually lived here since 1997. I was also thrilled when they redistricted. I’m still happy about that. I want to clarify, though, that I’m not totally oblivious that things need to change. Just wanted to show that there are good things happening around here.
One more time – the reconfiguration was in 2004, not 2003. Westchester was closed with the 2004-2005 school year. And really, the bottom line is that we just want to see children in the school again, any children. We want to see children on the playground instead of cars. We want talent shows in that cute auditorium instead of board meetings. Every time there is a discussion about the need for more space, we get our hopes up again. We worked hard for this school system, and still do. We don’t want to bash anyone. We just want the magic back in the heart of our neighborhood. Try to understand.
When Westchester served as a school, it also served as a lucrative speed trap for the City of Decatur.
Synergy.
What is it with the phrases “real quick” and “quick question? Wouldn’t it be QUICKER if the speakers eliminated these needless intros and just said what they wanted to say. It’s almost as if they needed to get their brains into gear before they can speak.
Good point. E.g., your query could be shortened thus:
“Why not just ask the question instead of using needless intros like ‘real quick’?” Leaving off the “brains into gear” snark further abbreviates it.
Why bother taking time to comment on others wasting time? Ah, darnit, I did it too, we’re all living the post-modern dream…
You & I can be too much alike, Gibbetties. Why do it? You already know– it’s because sometimes, we pick up the gauntlet even where there’s no real point, except for the momentary flash of satisfaction in needling someone about their pretentiousness. Don’t be actin’ like ye don’t do it yerself! :-p
In regards to Dr. Edwards using the field for overflow parking- have her take a look at this…
Sec. 74-4. Motor vehicles in parks.
No person shall operate a motorized vehicle of any kind or nature in or on any park or other area owned or operated by the city for recreation purposes, provided that this section shall not apply to vehicles used for maintenance purposes or to licensed vehicles using marked roadways, marked driveways and parking areas.
(Ord. No. O-92-04, 3-16-92)
Last time I checked she was not above the law. I see no way to ever validate parking on a field regardless of the time of day. It damages the field and looks terrible, not to mention the safety hazard of having cars parking on a field that kids normally play on!
However, I do not think I would like to see them pave that field to accommodate more parking.
I like the idea of encouraging folks to carpool or to park on Westchester drive when they’re going to a meeting.
o/ o/ o/ “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot…..” o/ o/ o/