It's official - seventh and eighth graders are moving to Washington High School
The Washington School Board voted 7-2 Monday night to move seventh and eighth graders to the high school. It's a decision opposed by virtually all community members who spoke during public hearings. However, Superintendent Roberta DiLorenzo said it's the most efficient and effective use of district resources for a system the size of Washington.
The plan also calls for a $16 million renovation to the high school. The school administration says the building project will mean a three mill increase in property taxes.
What do you think of the decision?
The plan also calls for a $16 million renovation to the high school. The school administration says the building project will mean a three mill increase in property taxes.
What do you think of the decision?
Labels: Moving seventh and eighth graders to the high school
posted by Dawn Keller at
12:23 PM
12 Comments:
Here is how I feel on this subject: The school board created a Parent/Community Advisory Committee to bridge the gap between the school board and the community. Boy was that a waste of the Committee's time and effort!! Every person on that committee talked with friends and neighbors and they all opposed the move. But here we are talking about how it passed!! The superintendent and the school board owe the committee and the community an apology! The school board did as the super wanted and that was how we all knew it would go down!! The parents who were elected to the committee should be more outraged than the rest of us. They wasted months of their lives as a pawn of the Puppetmaster!! We were led to believe that the administration was concerned what the public felt, but guess again. They, the entire administration/school board, should be forced to resign immediately!!
I am a grandparent who has grandchildren in Washington School District. I have one word for my children and other parents in the district........ MOVE!!!!!!! I am glad as a taxpayer that I don't have to put up with such nonsense. I am only hopeful that my children move into a school district that actually cares what the community wants.
Well, I just realized something. It is not the poor reputation that Washington School Distict has that makes the district look stupid. It is the school board.
As we have seen by this vote that the only concern the current school board has is for the superintendent's wishes. I say that we clean house in November and elect the members of the Parent Advisory Committe! They seem to care..
My children received an outstanding education in Washington School District and I have always sung its praises. However, I am extremely disappointed in the decision of our school board on the matter of renovating and sending 7th and 8th grade students to the high school and their disregard for the Parent Advisory Board. I also noticed that during all the controversy, there was never any information presented by teachers in support of this move. Could it be that their input was never requested or perhaps they just were not in favor of the move. Seems to me that if the teachers were in support, that would be a huge positive and certainly presented as such. It appears that only one person's opinion counted and we all know whose that was.
You know for years I have said that the Super has had her own agenda. In the winter, I called and said its below zero where is the delay, well its hard to get an answer when all you ever gets a machine. When asked about it in the paper it was stated that the Super follows the other districts wether to delay or not. Okay think here, its not that difficult these children WALK to and fro. Now, are these seventh and eigth graders going to walk, because believe me "I WILL MOVE" this town is not safe for children 12 and 13 to be walking the streets to and fro school alone. The schools have been updating since I graduated (89). So, I have to ask myself, is this just a money grab; and of course no one is listening to us, we just pay their salary...I agree that in November we clean house, and elect the Parent Advisory Board to office. This is crazy putting these young children in the same hallways with almost grown young men and women. The social aspect of it is mind boggling.
How dare the Arrogance of the school board and Dr D! They played us like fools in thinking that they actually cared about our opinions. There is not a snowballs chance that my 12 year old daughter will go to the High School. JFK must be very happy
As I see this move...it's a sad day for Washington. Not necessarily because of the obvious transfer of students but because to me in a lot of ways it signals that the best days of the city and school district are behind us. The move indicates that there will not be a rejuvenation of the neighborhoods...no more growth...we are accepting that Washington is stuck in the mire of complacency, crime, grime and absentee landlords. Therefore a move to consolidate is justified because we cannot hope for anything better. I am afraid that the population of the school district and the city will continue a downward trend, especially of the blue-collar families that have provided the foundation. The exodus will continue. For sale signs continue to sprout up in what has been the most stable neighborhoods of the city. My other thoughts are that the Park School was always ill-conceived from the start and a barrier to the most complete education that could be offered. Even with a "Blue Ribbon" tag on the school there, more should have happened. An architect of educational facilities told me that it was a bad choice for a school not only in location but design. A school today would not be built along those guidelines. The effort should have been made to move all students from the Park School to a newly designed and better located building. Instead the high school will absorb some students and use money for a renovation that should be spent on a new building. The board members, while having the facts on the reason behind the move, would have had to then deal with the building across the street that they have already acquired to house the administrative offices. How could they justify that expenditure if they rejected the move of 7th and 8th graders now? Recently, I was in discussion with a young man the wants to move his family from WV to be closer to work here in W PA. He has the means to live comfortably and asked about schools. I couldn't come up with a good reason for him to move to Washington and the Washington School District. This superintendent has presided over the collapse of a very good educational system. While the issues that confronted her would have come to whoever was in the position, her reaction to them has been wrong. The "Good Old Days" of Washington and the district are gone forever. As a post thought...the administration of the city hasn't been much help either.
Since Washington School District is so wealthy, maybe they should buy all of the parents the local newspaper. I'm anxious to see what houses are for sale or rent OUT of the district.
I travel all parts of the City of Washington on a daily basis. What I am seeing happening to this once fine city is very disturbing in the least. Once beautiful well maintained neighborhoods are becoming like slums I have seen in Pittsburgh. I can see by the number of mailboxes on many houses that they are owned by absentee landlords who could have a care about our city. I have seen people dump full ashtrays of cigarette butts onto city streets.
On Allison Ave I have seen an individual take the entire contents of a trash filled automobile and dump this garbage in the middle of the street. At one of the public housing complexes, I see county housing employees picking up trash and garbage left there by tenants the day before. This happens five days a week. Can't these people be responsible for picking up their own mess. The West End neighborhoods are crumbling and decaying at an alarming rate and only a few residents seem to care.
I cannot imagine anyone wanting to move their families into a city in such decline. Instead of Washington School District spending money to renovate, maybe they should contact other districts to possibly work out a merger before things get any worse.
Too late for change now. The idiots who run this "wealthy" school district has decided to gamble the cash reserve away. I sure hope that they agree with the teachers on a contract soon. If not, that just gives my family another reason to relocate outside of the district. Way to go school board!!
Where do I begin? I attended the meeting where the move for 7th and 8th graders to the high school passed. Again the board didn't listen to the community. No one except board members spoke in favor of the move. In fact an audience member asked the question: "We know how many people are against the move, how many people in the community are for the move?" She never received an answer. Instead the board president said "Are there any other comments?" He didn't even acknowledge her question let alone answer it. Thanks for caring about the community's need. We need to do what Trinity district did and elect new members to the board the next election. Maybe we'll get some people on the board who listen.
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