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Did anyone know that District 150 is planning to turn the old Social Security building on Knoxville into an alternative school? If it wasn’t for Bob Manning passing out a letter for a meeting that the city organized for residents affected we would have had no clue until it was done.
I attended the meeting instead of my husband (Brad Carter) because he had cub scouts so here is the low down:
It will serve 5-8th grade but down the road they may even serve 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. There will “hopefully” be 100 students and 1-2 staffers per 10 students. Currently this program is housed at Manual and has 40 some students and 8 staff members. Children will be bussed in and the busses will load and unload along Gift Ave.
We are concerned because this is already an unstable neighborhood. How will that help children at risk? I can name several houses in a small perimeter to the school that sell drugs. This needs to be put in a more stable area to help the children succeed.
Someone asked the school representatives if this was a done deal and if it was a waste of our time to even voice our concerns and that was danced around a bit. They plan to have another forum at a later date that we can attend and voice concerns. Trust me we will be attending.
Has anyone heard that the Social Security Building on Knoxville has been ‘given’ to D150? The school has been ‘redesigned’ by PSA to move the alternative high school from Manual to that building?
What will the impact be on Manual?
Any impact on the surrounding neighborhood — Manual and now the new neighborhood?
Yes, that’s been in the works since last year. Still, it’s kind of surprising, isn’t it? I mean, considering that the Social Security office is not located on 15 acres of land, doesn’t have soccer fields, isn’t near a zoo, etc., etc. How will the children ever learn anything? [/sarcasm]
15 acres — ha ha — Did you ever try to park in the parking lot when the Social Security office was at that location? Talk about treacherous and dangerous…. no matter, perhaps the D150 can turn it into a soccer field .. end sarcasm.
Doesn’t everyone know by now that it is easier for District 150 to ask for forgiveness instead asking permission? They don’t give three craps about the surrounding neighborhood. They will just do whatever the hell they want and the tax paying public as a whole will just have to deal with it. They wonder why no one trusts them when this is probably the first time the people in the affected neighborhoods are even hearing about it.
My wife attended the public forum Monday night.(I was at scouts) The forum was at Bob Manning’s reauest, not D150. The building was supposed to be used as administration offices only. Now they are going to put up to 100 5th – 8th grades students with the possibility of adding 2nd – 4th in the future. They are going to install a “walking track” and green areas on the site. They also are going to have to install a large fence along the back of the property. It’s funny how at least one school board member had no clue this idea was even being considered. In my opinion, this is the first step in closing Manual.
I’m working on a post on this. Suffice it to say for now that the building cannot be used for administrative offices; the way the district acquired it precluded that use — it has to be used for education, and that’s been the plan since the district got the property last year.
Nevertheless, I agree that it’s a terrible building for a school and in a terrible location. It’s completely illogical that the district would have even acquired it in the first place. And yes, it’s very possible this is another step toward closing Manual.
And because they are using it for educating, they do not have to go before zoning. We, the citizens, have no say. A police officer said today, he predicts plenty of accidents on Knoxville. Also, you should see the plans for parking buses.
I thought when I had first read this or possibly heard about it about a year ago, that the building was to be used for adminstrative offices and possibly a few adult classes???? What are the plans for bus parking?
They are going to park 2 busses at the corner of Gift and Knoxville throughout the day. This is a very narrow street and it is difficult to turn on to Gift from Knoxville already. With the busses parked there, Gift will be one lane. Not a good idea!
Speaking of Manual, I recently attended the ribbon cutting for the new cooperative School District and Workforce Network Vo-Tech center. There are a total of twenty new computers available now to the public and the area is open till 8 PM. Would someone update how this is catching on? I visted recently at 6 PM. The only person present was the teacher.
Ray LaHood, in his canned speech to get $35,000,000.00 for the Library Board to spend as they wish, stated that Libraries were the only places people could use free computers. Maybe Ray is spending too much time in DC to be really in touch with what is happening locally.