On Nov 16, 2016, at 7:01 AM, Scott S. <[email protected]> wrote: Good news South High Supporters, Take a moment and give yourself a little pat on the back. Have a mini celebration, because the South High athletic fields took its first baby step in a LONG time tonight! But remember, the Tigers still aren’t walking yet, much less running on the track or field. It’s just good to see some little movement by the Board in a favorable direction. It was just a “yes” to agree to apply for funding from the Hennepin Youth Sports Program, but at least it was a “yes”. I have heard there have been a lot of “no” replies over the years, a lot of “we’re going to do this for you” over the years and we still don’t have a field, or a plan, so please keep talking, keep emailing, keep asking for a timeline, keep asking for space, keep asking for better communication, keep asking for South input, keep asking for a long-term plan. This is the first MPS Board meeting that I’ve stayed into the regular meeting. It is fascinating, exhausting, heart-wrenching and boring, all at the same time. I just wanted to share a couple of this evening’s highlights (at least to me). You can also watch the entire meeting on the MPS Board website. Don’t though, because there’s an old guy who nervously reads off his notes (me). Anyway. I first want to thank Timothy Rank and Monique MacKenzie who also spoke up for South High during the public commentary. Nice job! Clap, clap, clap! What I do want to mention was that the Board said resolutions brought up one month are usually voted on the next month. To me, the South High (and North High) athletic fields resolution to apply for funding seemed like a no brainer. You’re just asking for a “yes” to apply to see if you can get funding. That’s it. Anyway, rules are rules when it comes to big organizations. At that time, Director Arneson, Vice Chair of the Board, spoke up and asked if anyone had a problem with voting on this resolution tonight. She said approving it tonight would be a good sign of moving forward. She then asked Stephen Flisk, Deputy Chief of Schools, to give his opinion on timelines and whether waiting would make a difference or would voting now be better. Thank you Mr. Flisk for saying that voting yes now is better than waiting. Thank you Director Arneson and Mr. Flisk for getting some positive, though small, movement forward tonight! Director Arneson went on to say that this vote, this request for a grant and matching MPS funds, is not about specifics, but about resources. (And BTW, we need a lot more money than this grant and match for the fields.) It’s about the grant, not the design. She went on to say that this grant vote is about thinking differently and collaborating. This was good to hear. We need a different way of thinking and collaborating AND communicating. I so hope this holds true and that the Board and the District keep to these values. You’ve heard it, so let all of us help them keep them as well. Mr. Flisk spoke to me afterwards and explained more of the expected timeline. The grant application is in December. He was expecting the next step would be in February, but is very aware of the South High community’s desire to get moving now. Because of that, he expects the next step taking place much sooner, but I don’t have a date on that. He did promise a communication from the District to the South High community very shortly regarding the MPS Board vote tonight and what that means and what that doesn’t mean. (ie. we don’t have a plan yet, we don’t have a field yet, it’s not a done deal yet, etc.) I’m also looking forward to seeing what the South High students vision of South High should look like and what they want it to look like in the future. Some students are working on that this week. I hope one of them is your student! If not, ask them. What do they want, what do they think South High should look like, what South High should be in the future? For us, the future is in our hands right now. The property adjacent the athletic field might be what the future of South needs. The property that MPS has told us is a “done deal” for T+/ABE. But, it is not built yet. My understanding is that there will be more voting, movement, discussion on that property with the Board this month. We know we can build a football field, a lacrosse field, a soccer field, a 400 meter track with high jump and long jump in the existing footprint, but what about pole vault, discus, softball, baseball, ultimate frisbee, nordic, cross country and I’m probably forgetting something. And what about practice space for all of these students? Do we just keep bussing them everywhere while the Asst. AD and myriads of coaches spend hours on the phone trying to get the busses to show up on time or show up at all? Take a look at the MN Dept of Children, Families and Learning Guide for School Construction suggestion for 41 acres! (Thank you Monique) How about if we just keep the two acres MPS has on the north side of the field right now? So while I’m excited that we’re moving a baby step forward, let’s please remember that the District now has it’s fourth property (the 20th and 21st blocks of Lake St.) next to South that it is not utilizing for South. MPS had the YWCA property and was to have collaborated with the Y to have a pool South could use to compete with, but the Y built it how the Y wanted regardless. South had won city for 20 years in a row in swimming before then, according to South High Asst. AD Tony Stewart. MPS still owns the property under the Y’s fieldhouse, but can only use the property 2 1/2 hours per day, and only on school days. That two acres would have made great practice space for the students. MPS sold 6 1/2 acres that ABE (with six more years on its lease by the way) is currently sitting on that’s just a couple hundred feet from South. What could we have done with 6 1/2 acres? If there had been a long-term plan for South, for our 1921 students, would these same decisions to sell off property and to sell off opportunities for South students have been made this way? Mr. Flisk, Deputy Chief of Schools, when I asked him, what’s the one question for us to ask MPS, he replied, “What’s our (MPS’s) commitment to getting this done?" Keep asking the questions. Keep up the emails. Keep telling others. Thank you, Scott Schluter South High parent [email protected]
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Scott Schluter
|