From the Shadyside Action Committee Minutes of November 13, 2008:
· Peggy Ott, Skip Schwab of ELDI and Rob Pfaffmann, Zoning Chair of SAC met with Paul Gil, the COO of the School Board about Reizenstein School. Reizenstein will most likely move to Peabody. The group reminded Mr. Gil that the Reizenstein property is zoned residential and the community will work to preserve this zoning classification.
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8 comments:
I am so glad that this is being pursued and not letting the district become laissez-faire about letting the students stay in the substandard building that the Reizenstein facility is. As previously posted, it was proven that the Reizenstein facility would cost more than the Schenley facility, in the long run, to bring it up to a high school quality building. The Reizenstein property is also the only PPS property that is a desirable property, that would actually make money for the district. As the district has been told, it would be fiscally irresponsible not to sell Reizestein. Look at all the development around it!!!!
The Peabody building does seem superior in terms of providing quiet classrooms and the facilities that a high school needs.
The district should be up front however about what will become of students who would otherwise have attended Peabody- an IB magnet will not necessarily be the right program for all of those students, and space in other magnets is very limited (and they may be further away than some students should be expected to travel). Any renovations that will be needed to attract students to Peabody should also be openly discussed.
Thanks for bringing up the distance issue of kids going to schools with long commutes. We promote dual enrollment, kids get to be upperclassmen and want to get part-time jobs, if a kid has a 6:00 athletic event at school, it makes no sense to go all the way home and possibly not make it back. How do kids handle a schedule like this? Where do they eat and are they alone? I am sure other parents have other thoughts too. Are we able to make accomodations for all the possibilities? Granted, the headaches at Reizenstein appeared to calmdown quickly as the year started, but in picking a magnet there are many small issues to consider.
Have the headaches at Reizenstein calmed down or are we just learning to live with migraines?
Two of PURE Reform's questions from the Questions about High School Reform are:
What length of travel time to and from school is reasonable for 6th - 8th grade students?
What length of travel time to and from school is reasonable for 9th - 12th grade students?
A few kids are so passionate about a subject that they'll travel anywhere, but for most kids- given other responsibilities and interests- whether a school is conveniently located is a big factor.
Let us not forget that Bill Isler named Peabody as a choice for parent in the East End that wanted a full service, comprehensive high school, that did not live in Squirrel Hill and did not want either a sci-tech magnet or an IB magnet for their child. And if Westinghouse is proposed for some other magnet (Sports Science?) then we really have limited options.
That is a very good point!
It's a very strange system where one section of the city has only small themed schools readily available, and other sections of the city will apparently not be able to easily access the themed school that the international studies schools are supposed to feed into.
Bill Isler named Peabody as a choice for East End parents who want a comprehensive high school. Bill Isler safely resides in Sq Hill in the Allderdice feeder area. Let's be honest. Most white people are not comfortable in the Peabody area of East Liberty. If they move IB to Peabody or make Peabody the only option for white East Enders there there will be a white flight like never seen before in the district. Sad, but a true reality.
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