Falling enrollment threatens $1B plan

As the district subtracts students, spending dilemmas multiply

By Jennifer Mrozowski

The Cincinnati Enquirer

 

Plummeting enrollment is forcing Cincinnati Public Schools to consider trimming staff, cutting the budget and scaling back its $1 billion school construction project before one new school is built.

 

School board members Monday will discuss the impact of declining enrollment on the decade-long project, being funded in part by a $480 million bond issue voters passed last May.

Since Cincinnati passed a levy, is in the beginnings of a $1 billion facilities master plan, is closing down schools, is in the red, and is losing students while hiring more teachers....

 

You get the idea.  I thought having one thread to discuss all of the drama that is CPS would be a good idea.  I'll kick-start it with an article from the 11/19/04 Enquirer:

 

School plan angers parents

Many threaten to pull students out

By Jennifer Mrozowski

Enquirer staff writer

 

MADISONVILLE - Cincinnati Public Schools' plan to close school buildings and cut hundreds of staff members has some angry parents threatening to pull their children out of the dwindling district.

 

The district's plan was unveiled Wednesday as a way to save money in the cash-strapped school system, but a new exodus could add to the school system's financial problems.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041119/NEWS0102/411190361/1077/NEWS01

Do they list what schools would be closed? I had a class in a trailer back in the fourth grade....

I can't find a map, but preliminary reports are that it will be:

 

1) Kirby Road School (Northside) to send students to Chase School (Northside) and Pleasant Hill School (College Hill)

2) Losantiville School (Amberley Village) to send students to Roselawn Condon School and Pleasant Ridge School

3) Hyde Park School (Hyde Park) to send students to Parham School (Evanston) and Hoffman School (E. Walnut Hills)

4) Eastwood Paideia Academy (Madisonville) to send students to Woodford Paideia Academy (Kennedy Hts.)

5) Bramble School (Madisonville) to send students to John P. Parker School (Madisonville)

6) Linwood School (Linwood) to send students to new East End school currently under construction

7) McKinley (Columbia Tusculum) to send students to new East End school currently under construction

 

All of them have enrollments under 300.

I had a class in a trailer back in the fourth grade....

Thankfully, I never had to deal with that, though my junior high school started sprouting trailers about the time I graduated high school. I think they still have them. That must suck.

Here's how the meeting went.  From the 11/23/04 Cincinnati Post:

 

 

School closing opponents speak up

By Crystal Harden

and Kevin Eigelbach

Post staff reporters

 

Tears choked off Alain Blanton's voice Monday as she pleaded with the Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education not to close Hyde Park School.

 

"Our children are not a financial liability. We love them," said the Mount Carmel resident, who is also an instructional assistant at the school. She proposed that the board instead send students from Oakley in the 45209 Zip code, no more than five minutes away, to Hyde Park. The problem with Hyde Park enrollment is that residents of the upscale neighborhood aren't sending their children to the local school, she said. 

 

http://www.cincypost.com/2004/11/23/cps112304.html

CPS superintendent Alton Frailey stepped down today to accept a job in suburban Dallas.

 

He just couldn't hack it.  It's pretty typical with CPS...every time the going gets tough, the superintendent bails.

In Florida I had several classes in trailers because of over crowdings.

 

One school I was happy to see go was the West End school next to City West.  I saw it was torn down when I drove by it on Monday.

I grew up in West Chester and I had classes in a trailer in 6th grade when I was at Lakota (Hopewell Jr. School). Even suburban schools have to deal with them.  I didn't like it very much.

 

Thank god I'm in the city now. It's not because of the schools, it's just so much more fun!

^ Not Mason  :-D

 

Lakota can't get levies passed although I think the $92 million they were asking for was high.  Lakota school district should split the district in half and rename the schools West Chester High School and Liberty High School.  The schools aren't even "East" and "West", they are "North" and "South".

 

I wish the CPS could get their act together, this is a major hurdle for moving into the city limits.  My wife wouldn't pull my daughter out of Mason School district (7th best school district in the state) and put her into CPS (academic watch) and I couldn't afford private school and the higher property taxes.

One school I was happy to see go was the West End school next to City West. I saw it was torn down when I drove by it on Monday.

 

It's going to be new construction.  They're building a new school at Clark and Cutter.

^ YAY!

It's official, and people are pissed.  Expect to hear more about this in the coming weeks.  From the 12/14/04 Cincinnati Post:

 

 

Seven CPS schools are closing

By Crystal Harden

Post staff reporter

 

The Cincinnati school board voted Monday to close seven schools next year as a first step in drastically cutting the district's budget.

 

Outgoing Superintendent Alton Frailey and district administrators recommended the closings last month as part of broader $35 million cost-cutting plan that also would reduce staff by up to 600 positions.

 

http://www.cincypost.com/2004/12/14/cps121404.html

 

Perhaps this really belongs in P&C, but I wanted to keep all of this stuff together.

 

The CPS building program chugs on with a new school...from the 1/3/05 Enquirer:

 

 

New school opens up a new era

Rockdale Academy first of 60 in Cincinnati plan

By Jennifer Mrozowski

Enquirer staff writer

 

AVONDALE - Cincinnati Public Schools will open its first new school in two decades today- a $14 million building complete with many amenities found in wealthier suburban school districts.

 

The new Rockdale Academy has an art room with a kiln, a science lab, water fountains in every classroom, a gymnasium with bleachers and a computer lab that is wired for the latest technology. Unlike most Cincinnati schools, Rockdale has air-conditioning and a modern heating system.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050103/NEWS0102/501030327/1058/news01

Seems like this is going on all over the place..

 

Reported by: 9News

Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller

Photographed by: 9News

2/1/2005 12:13:44 PM

A piece of tri-state history was brought to rubble Tuesday.

 

Crews were out early Tuesday morning, tearing down several old houses and Glenway Chevrolet in Price Hill.

 

The demolition is making way for the new Carson Elementary School which is part of the Cincinnati Public School District.

 

http://www.wcpo.com/news/2005/local/02/01/noon2/demolitiona.jpg

Yeah, it's a huge program.

 

Check out the CPS thread.

I went to that school in 1st grade.

From the 2/4/05 Enquirer:

 

 

Forum discusses student exodus

CPS cutbacks ahead

By Jennifer Mrozowski

Enquirer staff writer

 

CLIFTON HEIGHTS - Dwindling enrollment in Cincinnati Public Schools was a common concern among parents who asked questions of the district's interim superintendent during a forum Thursday night.

 

Rosa Blackwell told the audience of more than 50 people that the district is trying to offset lost revenue by consolidating small schools and reducing staff through a buyout plan.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050204/NEWS0102/502040371/1058/NEWS01

 

The building project is going over budget...no surprise there!  From the 2/9/05 Cincinnati Post:

 

 

7 new schools over budget

By Crystal Harden

Post staff reporter

 

Seven of the 16 school buildings in the first segment of construction for Cincinnati Public Schools are more than $12 million over budget.

 

Many of the overruns weren't expected, but initially school officials set construction costs at 2002 dollars with the expectation of using investment income from bonds to cover additional costs on school construction and renovation projects.

 

http://www.cincypost.com/2005/02/09/cps020905.html

 

Is this really radically over cost?  They're 12% over estimate on the 7 projects they list, but those only comprise $100MM of the $1B project.  Any idea on how much of the $1B has been used to get us here?  If we're, say, $250MM into it, then the overrun is more like 5%, and I have no concept of whether that's egregious or normal in a project of this magnitude...

I don't have the numbers, so I don't really know.

 

One thing is that they're going to scale back the construction since enrollments are dropping, so that might help with the over-spending.

From the 2/15/05 Cincinnati Post:

 

 

CPS board, task force to sit down

By Roy Wood

Post staff reporter

 

The Cincinnati school board wants to work with a task force to study the district's finances -- just not for a few weeks, said CPS board President Florence Newell.

 

At a CPS board meeting Monday night, the board agreed to discuss the proposal from the task force at a future public meeting.

 

http://www.cincypost.com/2005/02/15/ohcps021505.html

 

Now they may have to scale back their ambitious building plans due to falling enrollment.  From the 2/23/05 Enquirer:

 

 

CPS may postpone 4 rehab projects

Declining enrollment, plan changes cited

By Jennifer Mrozowski

Enquirer staff writer

 

Cincinnati Public Schools could delay the reconstruction of four buildings because of declining enrollment and scheduling changes in its $1 billion construction plan.

 

School officials are considering postponing construction of a new elementary school at Jacobs and renovation of Oyler, Central Fairmount and Rothenberg schools. The board recently approved delaying the construction of a new Washington Park School.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050223/NEWS0102/502230360/1058/NEWS01

 

(updated April 10, 2005)

Wow, thanks for the recap...

They're going to build a news arts school in OTR.  From the 3/29/05 Enquirer local news briefs:

 

 

Land being bought for arts school

 

Cincinnati Public Schools plans to buy property at 1129-1131 Race St. for the construction of the district's new K-12 arts school. The district plans to spend $322,500 for the property plus closing costs.

 

The arts school is being built to replace the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Pendleton and Schiel Primary School for Arts Enrichment in Corryville. The district also plans to use eminent domain to acquire another piece of property at 12th and Race for the same project. The property is owned by Wayne Harris, according to the school district.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050329/NEWS01/503290366/1056/news01

 

(updated June 11, 2005)

Two schools removed.  From the 4/12/05 Cincinnati Post:

 

 

CPS cuts 2 schools from plan

Post staff report

 

The Cincinnati school board unanimously approved deleting two projects from its massive construction program Monday night in response to declining enrollment in the district.

 

Removal of a new Bramble School in Madisonville and Losantiville Elementary in Roselawn is expected to save the district about $23 million on the $985 million program, said district spokeswoman Janet Walsh.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050412/NEWS01/504120352

 

(14) Douglass K-8 (Walnut Hills)

(new construction, $13M)

STATUS: no groundbreaking, schematic design approved...complete in April 2007

 

This will replace the Windsor School and the Hoffman School.  Here's some pictures of those buildings:

 

Windsor School:

 

 

 

Picture from the CPS Facilities Master Plan - the school includes the red brick building:

 

 

 

Hoffman School, again from the CPS Master Plan - I'll try to run by there and get a picture:

 

Has anyone checked out the construction of the new East End school lately?  It's pretty weird looking, and it's built on cylindrical concrete stilts.

 

Here are some photos--they even have one aerial shot:

http://www.cmw.osfc.state.oh.us/guest/ProjectPhotos.cgi?10280++

 

Work should begin soon on upgraded athletic facilities for Walnut Hills HS.  The project cost is $3.2M.

^good they need updated athletic facilities desperately...

Oh...I should add that it's expected to be done by fall.

:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=2139.msg45642#msg45642

 

pretty impressive.  thanks for the update

Definitely, thanks for the update!  Oh, the "Riverview East Academy photos" link is busted...speaking of which, that one may be the ugliest of these new schools, though none are all that impressive looking.  But I guess we're paying for space to educate kids, not for architectural wonders...

^ Thanks for the heads-up...I fixed the link.

 

The "photo archive" links actually have updated pics from June (that's where I got the pics I posted).  All of the regular CPS links only have pics up to March.

 

I find the East End school to be interesting, to say the least.  That siding is ass, but it's pretty neat how it's built up off of the ground.

Looks like semi trailers on blocks to me, but I do agree that it's interesting!  I wonder if they'll have class when the river gets high enough to make them islands - tell me that wouldn't be cool!

"Bye, ma, I'm off ta catch the boat!"

Hey, RiverViewer...here's a story about the East End school and its stilts from the 6/17/05 Enquirer:

 

 

PHOTO

 

New school is built on stilts

By Molly Linn

Post staff reporter

 

East End students will attend a school on stilts next year.

 

Riverview East Academy is being built atop 17-foot-tall concrete columns anchored by metal pilings to keep the new building above Ohio River flood waters that sometimes plague the site.

 

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050617/NEWS01/506170347

That is pretty cool.  And it's nice that they named the school after me: "Riverview East Academy"!

 

I wonder if they'll have an open house?  You're definitely winning me over to the "interesting" side of this one...

^ If I'm remembering correctly, I think that Rockdale might have had an open house before it opened.  I don't know if it was for the general public.

 

If the RiverViewer Academy has one, I'd definitely want to check it out.

Eastwood Paideia at 5030 Duck Creek should be torn down soon.

 

Originally the plan was for a brand new Schroder to be built alongside, and then for Eastwood to merge into that school.  The old Eastwood complex would then be torn down.

 

Due to falling enrollments, Eastwood was one of the schools slated to close down.  So they will go ahead and demolish Eastwood now and send the students to school in Kennedy Hts.  Schroder hasn't started construction yet.

Some (crappy) pictures of Riverview East Academy - I drove past twice, but needed to stop and get out to get a decent shot.  Instead, here's a series - they run east to west - they're painting them, apparently, which does a lot to lose the whole tractor-trailer feel:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I see you managed to get a redneck in one of your shots!

 

That thing's funky looking, to say the least.  I have conflicted feelings about it...I think I might actually like it....

We definitely need some better pictures.  It's a lot cooler than I'd thought it would be - definitely out on a limb.  But I wonder what they do about tornado drills?

I don't know if any of you have been following this, but this is a big victory for the community of Pleasant Ridge.  From the 7/10/05 Enquirer:

 

 

PHOTO: Meg and Barry Thomas, Montessori principals from Amberley Village, tout the school at Saturday's Ridge Festival.  The Enquirer/Keli Dailey

 

Pleasant Ridge will keep its new school

It stays in neighborhood, will become Montessori

By Jennifer Mrozowski

Enquirer staff writer

 

Pleasant Ridge will be home in two years to Cincinnati's first public neighborhood Montessori school, and some residents expect the school to help the east side neighborhood buck the population losses plaguing the city as a whole.

 

Cincinnati school officials hope the school also will help meet the district's Montessori demand, which leads some parents to camp overnight to land one of 2,500 coveted slots. Hundreds more children in elementary and junior high land on waiting lists.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050710/NEWS0102/507100347/-1/rss

 

Grasscat, I dont want to be picky or anything and am not picking a fight, but how do you know that guy is a redneck out of curiousity?  To me, it seems like a close minded thing to say.  What is a redneck anyway?  It seems like a snobbish word to me, but thats just my opinion!  You probably think I am an idiot for saying this, but its kinda true.  Sorry, I was just reading through another post and everyone was calling people in Ohio close minded, etc. but these same people make these type of comments about rednecks or hillbillies all the time based on pictures, etc.  It seems a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.  I am sure I will get criticised for this and shouldnt post this, but it has been on my mind for awhile.  I guess its because I come from what you would call a 'hillbilly' area and am sensitive to such comments.   

His neck was red (actually his whole body was red) and he was riding in the back of a pickup truck.

 

Hasn't the term "redneck" pretty much been co-opted and celebrated by those who are referred to as such, anyway?  I meant no actual harm by it.

 

I'm sorry if I sounded insensitive.  I've lived in areas where people were considered "redneck" and most of my family a generation back was from Kentucky and Tennessee.  I guess I just don't get hung up on labels so much...maybe it's the fact that I'm not easily offended.

 

Atlas...what "hillbilly area" do you come from?  You're from Harrison, right?

yea, I am from Harrison!!!  And yes I know people have adopted it as their own....."redneck women'' by Gretchen Wilson.  But you can see the same thing in a lot of rap songs, but that doesnt make it OK to use the 'n' word.  I could easily see a situation where a picture was taken of guys in, say Northside, or on North High Street, and someone would say, "oh, looks like you got a homo in your picture there" and that would resoundingly be criticised as close minded and insensitive.  Thats all I am gettin' at here!!!