Ellen Sullivan attended the Eureka City Council Forum on Tuesday, October 17, conducted at Eureka's high school by its civics class. Here's her outtake based on what she heard.
It's a reasonable request for an absolute need. The school administration is not asking for everything they want but just the basic needs. The proposal includes a concept of what they need, the exact layout is yet to be determined and will include public input.
My takeaways are 1) it removes the constant burden of addressing maintenance crisis at the middle school and brings the whole building up to code including making it ADA compliant; 2) it provides much better security, all students are under one large connected roof with separate sections and entrances for the elementary, middle school, and high school and with the touch of one button all three schools can go on lock down, 3) it provides a new kitchen with separate lunchrooms for elementary, middle, and high school; 4) It frees up the elementary gym so that PE classes no longer have to wait for the kids to finish eating and thus students are not rushed through lunch; 5) it will have a new library space that can be easily accessed by both elementary and middle schools at separate times; 6) it will have space for a dedicated music room for elementary and middle schools; 7) it provides a significant amount of additional space for more classrooms in the elementary school and flexible learning spaces for the middle school; and 8) it replaces a decrepit shop used for teaching the trade industries and a building to house the tiny house construction which removes the need to pay expensive rent and transport students off campus.
If you're worried about a tax increase, please visit the school website at lchigh.net and click on the tax impact link. You can find the exact impact on your taxes by using the calculator on the website. School staff will gladly assist you if you encounter difficulty. I calculated my tax increase and came up with $109 per year, 30 cents per day. I will gladly pay that to bring our schools into the 21st Century!
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