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View Full Version : We built a new school and now we have to tear it down


countmein
April 2nd, 2009, 10:07 pm
Look what happens when you build a huge building near/on an old abandoned mine shaft that has been sinking for years......

http://www.southmacoupin-news.com/articles/2009/04/01/news/001%20benld%20school.txt

The good news is that it happened over the weekend and there were no children in the building, so no one got hurt.

I attended the old school that sat right in front of this new school that was torn down after this one was built. There was mine subsidence problems with it too. The new school was built on the old football field that sat right behind the old school. Guess what? It was flooding before they built this school on it.

Now the local papers are saying that it is going to cost $15-20 million to replace the building that was opened only 7 years ago and it may take 5-7 years. This could have been avoided IF they had cooled their heels and did what was advised at the time and filled in that sink hole before building the school. But that would have cost a year's time and an additional $1-3 million. :wall: I would rather had spent the 1-3 than the 15-20 it will cost now. I guess hindsight is 20/20 though.

These poor kids. Until there is a new building, the students are sharing the high school and middle school building. As you can see in the article, the 6-12th grades are going from 6:50 a.m until noon and the 1-5th grades are going from noon until 5:15 in the evening. Can you understand the problems this is causing?! What are working people suppose to do with these young children from the time they leave for work until noon? There aren't enough daycares around here with enough room, or the licensing to handle 500-700 children on a daily basis. This schedule could go on for years, until they can build a new building. These kids are only going to have 4 hour class days for how long? I received one of the messages from the school also telling people with gradeschool children that they were not to send school supplies with them. WTH?

Please say a prayer for these children, especially the younger ones. It has to be hard on them to be in a new big enviroment with nothing of their own.

Oh, btw, there is a 1% county tax increase being proposed on the April 7th ballot, guess what for...........the schools.

sgdp
April 2nd, 2009, 11:56 pm
ARGH!!!! I feel your pain!

One of my old high schools is proposing an expansion estimated to cost $97 million.

Expand to hold how many?

200 more students.

$485,000 per kid! WHAT?!

CaptainPike
April 3rd, 2009, 1:50 am
Oh well. It's only tax money.

jeepers
April 3rd, 2009, 12:03 pm
That schedule is called 'double sessions'. I did it as a kid when they announced that our old school wasn't 'earthquake safe'. The state demanded that it be torn down and a new one put in it's place.

For two years we did afternoon sessions and it sucked rocks, especially in the winter. No longer could we just find our way home, the other school was on the other side of town and by the time school got out, it was dark outside so we had to be picked up by parents. Carpool deals with parents would be the way to go. It really does a number on you as a kid as far as consistancy with your day. It's like being on swing shift. Very weird and it wasn't easy to get back on track with a normal one once it was over with (especially since we were 'tweens' and our natural inclination was to sleep in anyway).

Btw, the irony in this situation was that the wrecking crew had a helluva time bringing that old school down. Turns out the support beams and framing were made of massive redwood beams. I can still see it in my mind's eye, the ball hitting it over and over and it didn't want to come down.

So they built a school in it's place, ugly and a 1/3 of the size. Crap design. It still looks like an eyesore.

Oh, and someone stole those beams from the work site. How they did that, I'll never know but apparently they were worth a lot of salvage cash.

blackcatrun
April 3rd, 2009, 12:10 pm
Wow that stinks. Poor burcratic planning for sure there.


They want to consolidate two very old elementairy schools here into one new school.

The problem is there are les and less kids in these two towns.