Philanthropy

“Moving forward, the district is committed to creating spaces and opportunities to engage in constructive dialogue with the city to address any misunderstandings and work toward mutually beneficial solutions. Our focus has been, and will continue to be, providing the best education and educational environments for our students. We will take all necessary steps to vigorously defend our authority to do so.”

At their special meeting on Feb. 27th, the board of trustees voted to eliminate Friends Field as an option and to proceed with further examination of the current site for potential construction of the Middle School. “If we need to concede what I feel is the better site, then we will need revenue from this site to make up for the additional expenses,” Trustee Michele Crncich Hodge said. We’re going to need to have that site become a resource for our district children and provide and ongoing revenues as we navigate a new expense plan. We need to immediately (negotiate) a monthly agreement with the city.”

District officials see the field option as an educational and environmental benefit because it would mean students wouldn’t have to attend classes in temporary portable buildings for two years while the new school is built. Others have pointed to the possibility that not moving students into temporary classrooms, it will just be much less disruptive. District officials indicated the cost savings could be somewhere between $6 million to $8 million in savings.

“This process may feel rushed,” Nakatani told the board and attendees who were able to attend the meeting in person. “But we have been engaging with our community partners since last September. We want to make sure it’s clear that no decision has been made.”