How do you solve a problem like... I bet you thought I was going to say Maria. But I am thinking of another plucky, well loved underdog in a decades long local saga - Chattanooga School for the Liberal Arts. Not unlike many schools and teachers in the county, CSLA teachers have been essentially like Maria making play clothes out of old drapes as they creatively navigate the hurdles of teaching in an outdated facility. All the while winning accolades and awards and consistently delivering high test scores. In the MGT study last year, CSLA walked away with the lowest facility condition score of all. This wasn’t really a surprise considering the sitting School Board in 1999 concluded that CSLA needed to be replaced within a decade.
Here are a few things to remember. First - the school board held a vote in February of 2017 where they ranked facility priorities. Harrison Elementary was the top priority, CSLA was ranked second, and a new East Hamilton Middle was third. In October of 2017 the county commission allocated funds for new construction for Harrison and East Hamilton and a plan was made to move CSLA to a renovated Tyner Middle. Both Harrison and East Hamilton are nearing completion (or complete) as I type. But the Tyner plan fell apart after Tyner Middle was found to be the second worst facility in the system. It seems throwing good money after bad was a poor approach (surprise!)- but unfortunately the architects were paid a few million of our tax dollars on that poorly developed option before the plan was halted. Are those architects now working for free or for a reduced rate on new designs for CSLA? Or are taxpayers continuing to pay a premium? I would love to know, wouldn’t you?
This brings us to the present. The school board has been given three options for what to do with CSLA and they are to vote later this week: renovate the Sears building at Northgate Mall for around $33 million, renovate Lakeside Elementary and add new construction for around $27 million, or build CSLA a new school on its existing property for around $35 million. The Sears plan is apparently not a viable option any longer so it was confusing that it was even presented, and Lakeside was the option that was pushed as the recommendation at last night’s School Board Work Session. No one talked about whether a traffic study had been done at Lakeside to see how doubling the student population would impact Jersey Pike. It wasn’t clear how the numbers on the renovation were any more realistic than the underdeveloped Tyner plan from three years ago (in fact it seems likely that the Lakeside plan is priced unrealistically low by commercial renovation standards). And although everyone wanted to guarantee that Lakeside magnet kids would have a seat at a new building, they didn’t actually do the math to make sure that current students at both schools could all keep their seats. Great idea in theory- but does the math work? No- lots of details were left unanswered in the recommended plan and I have a dozen more questions like these.
I find the proposal on CSLA land to be the most interesting. For over five years, the dollar figures for building CSLA on its land continued to rise well over $55 million, officially landing at $64 million in 2017. All while other school proposals remained within the $20-$35 million range. During the session last night these numbers were explained away by simply saying the current proposal is for something smaller- but why was something smaller not pushed before? CSLA parents have been fighting against those figures for years because, not only did the cost not align with other recent and proposed school construction, it was clear to the CSLA community that a school would never be built on existing land at that astronomical price point (which obviously was the goal).
Commissioner Tim Boyd and former School Board member David Testerman visited schools in North Georgia in May of 2017 to address the construction cost disparities between our county and neighboring regions and to argue for lower costs. As we see the construction cost for CSLA miraculously drop by $30 million, one can’t help but wonder if the CSLA price tag has been an elaborate shell game- to what end no one knows. Presumably they want to save the land for an indefinite number of years for a unnamed future project instead of tackling a real and immediate need right now on a piece of property that is perfectly suited for a K-12 magnet school in the eastern half of the county.
Taxpayers should be pleased that HCS is now looking for ways to implement cost saving measures. But is it too late for CSLA to get the school in their current location that has been the hope of parents and staff for over 20 years? Board member Tiffanie Robinson kept asking: What do CSLA parents want? And I hope she could hear the shouts through the screen from a unified CSLA voice saying: We want to stay in our current location!
I hope the Lakeside community heard that too. I hope Tyner and Brainerd and every other school that has ever come on the radar as a potential home for CSLA hears loudly and clearly that we don’t want to be displaced any more than you do- and we certainly don’t want to be the displacers. Please know that all CSLA has ever wanted is the same thing that every single school in our county wants: To be housed in a safe, clean modern facility that allows the students and teachers to flourish- preferably in our established location.
Eight million dollars is the amount that separates the CSLA plan and the Lakeside plan. Just $8 million to stay on the current site- the only one CSLA has known for over 25 years. It is very hard to think that we will come this close after fighting for so long only to be the latest casualty of the financial woes of this pandemic. Surely the savings from closing these older facilities and their massive maintenance bills will help offset that amount. I'm sure buyers would be interested in some of the historic doors and knobs in the 1949 CSLA building. Maybe Elbert Long alums would want to buy a brick to help out. If only the can hadn’t been kicked down the road for quite so long. Or if only there was a Captain Von Trapp here to offer an extra $8 million (I’m looking at you, Mayor Coppinger). Will you encourage your school board member and commissioner to find a way to keep CSLA at its current location? It really is the right thing to do and we would sure appreciate your support.
Lesley Rice