Thursday, April 26, 2012

Proposal to accept bids for Schenley rejected

From the PG:

"Board members wanted to further explore whether the district could retain use of the addition -- built in the 1980s -- housing the gym and pool to meet heavy demand at other schools."



http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/breaking/city-school-board-delays-sale-of-schenley-high-school-building-633044/

- After all, it is unneeded facilities that the district is supposed to be selling, and athletic facilities are very much needed for East End schools.  These schools are already  losing the extensive, convenient outdoor sports fields surrounding the Reizenstein building.  Equity must trump sales proceeds.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

It looks like this vote was spilt along racial lines. Anyone wonder why that is?

Questioner said...

Well Bill Isler is not black of course. The split really seems to be those who represent East End areas (voting no) v those not representing the (non-Allderdice) East End and maybe with less knowledge of the athletic facility situation in the East End (voting yes).

Anonymous said...

Wonder? Which students have the least access to good facilities? The 6-12 schools do not have enough athletic space to run programs properly for all those grades in their current spaces. All are "East End" or Hill/close to Schenley.

As Questioner said, it's members understanding the needs of their communities.

Anonymous said...

Well Mr Brentley is not from the east end, is he? I thought he was the Northside, but I may be wrong.

The real deal here is that Dr. Isler made it known to people in his inner circle, which I used to be one, that to avoid it ever looking like a Black white racially divided vote or board, he would always insure that one white member would always vote with the Black board members to ensure it didnt that look members voted along racial lines. But the trick is to get one to change in the off season and come back to what he wants later.

Its a very Clever stategy, as he did it a couple times during the Thompson days.

Anonymous said...

Bill Isler does not have a doctorate, but he does have influence that is used strategically.

Bill is just a guy from Squirrel Hill where influence reigns. PPS is a mini private school system in that region of the city where there are a lot of doctorate titles, but Isler is not one of them

Anonymous said...

Sorry meant to say Mr. Isler, not Dr. Isler.

Questioner said...

Here is the link to the original PG article from January 2009 about other Pittsburgh public schools with substantial asbestos plaster and incidents involving damaged plaster but which have remained open:

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/schenley-group-questions-asbestos-work-at-other-schools-290403/

Questioner said...

As Mr. Brentley noted in this week's legislative review, potential purchasers of the Schenley building do not seem to view the asbestos plaster as a major problem. The main bidder last fall was able to budget for a completely new, residential use of the building for less than half the cost Mr. Roosevelt said would be needed to continue using the building as a school.