CLARIFICATION

In some news reports this week, Superintendent Badams made statements of comparison between Wayne and Harding in order to illustrate the current inequities between school facilities across the City.

While these comparisons are obviously directed only at the condition of the buildings and instructional areas, we also recognize that some misinterpretation of these statements may occur.  Wayne is a great school – but the poor condition of the school building and the inadequate educational facilities available to Wayne's students and staff exemplify the very inequities that this planning process is seeking to address.

IN THE NEWS: From today's Erie Times-News...

Pat Cuneo: Badams' bold ideas welcome
'Without a plan, we're just whining." With those words, Erie schools Superintendent Jay Badams last week unveiled an ambitious, holistic, downright inspiring process that could lead to the most substantive changes in the Erie public schools in a century.

That is the flat-out fact.

Read more »

IN THE NEWS: From today's Erie Times-News...

Our view: Public should see eye-to-eye on new vision for Erie schools
The Erie School District is now equipped with a bold, broad planning tool and multiple, detailed options to update the district's aging buildings. The idea is to "right size" the district's facilities, to create equal educational opportunity for all of our city's public school students and to find innovative ways to pay for restructuring and repairs with public-private partnerships.

McKissick Associates in Harrisburg, which has consulted on strategic planning for school systems from the Scranton to Winston-Salem regions, prepared the "District-Wide Feasibility Study." Last Wednesday, Vern McKissick presented the plan to the Erie Times-News Editorial Board and later to the public at a town-hall meeting.

Read more »

IN THE NEWS: From today's Erie Times-News...

Pat Howard: Badams thinking big in drive to tackle Erie school facilities crisis
In a scene in "Ocean's Eleven," one of the assembled crooks restates as a question the casino heist scheme George Clooney and Brad Pitt just laid out.

So say we beat the security that can't be beaten, we ride the elevator that can't be entered, we get past the guards with the guns, and we crack the vault that can't be penetrated, the guy begins. Then we're just going to walk out of there with $160 million?

Read more »

 CLARIFICATIONS

The volume of news coverage and community discussion as a result of Wednesday's presentation provide opportunities for clarification:

• Phase II of the McKissick study is "the formulation of options for improvement of buildings, operational savings, adjustments to facilities’ curricula and the regional effects of such changes."  Any school closing proposals for next school year will obviously be informed by data from the study, but school closure recommendations due to the 2012-2013 budget crisis are not part of the study.

• No options are "under consideration" by the school board or administration.  As part of a comprehensive feasibility study such as this one, all areas of potential optimization and cost savings must be investigated in order to provide comparisons.  A comprehensive feasibility study assumes nothing is off the table and simply investigates what's feasible to help inform future decision making.

• Superintendent Jay Badams was quoted as saying "If we just sit down and accept this and continue down this road, we'll have a bunch of crappy buildings like Irving, where renovation consists of putting new duct tape on the carpet."  While the quote was obviously directed at the physical condition of the building, unfortunately we also recognize that misinterpretation of this statement is also possible.  Irving is a great school – but the condition of that building and many others in the district exemplify the very inequities that this process is seeking to address.

IN THE NEWS: From today's Erie Times-News...

Erie School District facilities study could lead to mergers, megaschools
The Erie School District has too many schools and not enough money to fix them.

Those are some of the conclusions so far of the district's strategic-facilities plan, an analysis of the district's buildings and demographics that schools Superintendent Jay Badams plans to reshape the district.

Read more »

IN THE NEWS: From WICU/WSEE-TV...

Erie School District Unveils Long Term Plan
Aging facilities, liabilities, air quality issues, and under utilized buildings.  These are just some of the words used to describe the Erie School District Wednesday evening.

"Having been in the district 28 years or something it saddens me that we've let it go on this long with band aid cures and that this wasn't done sooner so that some schools like Central Tech with those horrific statistics have come to be," said district employee Marla Pellegrino.

Read more »

IN THE NEWS: From WJET/WFXP-TV...

Long Road Ahead for Erie School District Improvements
The Erie School District has a long road ahead when it comes to sifting through data to decide how the district will upgrade several buildings.

There are challenges ahead and tonight superintendent Jay Badams and members of the research team presented phase one of the three phase project.

Read more »

IN THE NEWS:  From today's Erie Times-News...

Erie school officials to unveil facilities study
Erie schools Superintendent Jay Badams hopes to completely revamp and rebuild the Erie School District over his tenure. And he wants to start that process tonight.

Erie School District officials and McKissick Associates, a Harrisburg-based architecture and educational planning firm, have been taking a close look at the district's buildings, demographics and programs over the past few months. Now they are ready to unveil the results of the first phase of the district's strategic facilities plan.

Read more »

IN THE NEWS:  From today's Erie Times-News...

Erie school officials to unveil facilities study results
Erie School District officials plan to give the public its first glimpse Wednesday into what the next 20 years might look like for the district.

School officials will unveil the results of the district's strategic facilities plan Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the H.O. Hirt Auditorium at Blasco Library, 160 E. Front St.

Read more »

IN THE NEWS:  From today's Erie Times-News...

Our View
"We applaud Superintendent Jay Badams for his ongoing commitment to town-hall style meetings to communicate with parents, students and taxpayers."

Read more »

The following is the text of an electronic memo sent to all Erie School District employees from Superintendent Jay Badams on February 17...

From: Jay Badams
To: All Employees
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2012 11:13 AM
Subject: Feasibility Study Town Hall Invitation: February 22

Dear Colleagues:

As you are all aware, the district has been involved in a strategic planning process over the past year to carefully consider how we can optimize our facilities and resources to increase efficiency and ensure educational equity — equity across the school district and parity with our neighbors across the region and throughout the state.

While there is still a lot of work to be done, I am excited about this process and the positive outcomes it will generate.  This is truly a defining moment in our school system and the decisions we make together as a result of this process will help shape public education — for the better — in the City of Erie for generations to come.

I want to invite you to a staff and community town hall presentation I am hosting on Wednesday, February 22 at 6:00 p.m. in the H.O. Hirt Auditorium at the Blasco Memorial Library.

Vern McKissick, from McKissick Associates in Harrisburg, will be presenting the results of a comprehensive review of our facilities and an examination of how they will best be able to serve the educational needs of our students in the future.  Mr. McKissick will present detailed insight on:

• the condition, capacity, and utilization of district buildings;
• school locations relative to student population;
• enrollment and population trends/projections;
• attendance boundaries; and more.

Please understand that the data Mr. McKissick will share on Wednesday evening will help drive long-term strategic planning decisions and inform any future decisions or recommendations on optimization by the Board and administration. No decisions or proposals have been presented regarding possible school consolidation, only this detailed data and information from which the Board and administration can make decisions.  No decisions will be made without consideration of educational goals, community input, and a detailed financial analysis.

As a member of our team, your awareness of and participation in each step is critical to this process and Wednesday night will be the first of many opportunities for you to be involved.  If you are unable to attend, we will also be recording and airing the presentation on our community access channel (8), making the presentation available online, and providing downloadable charts, graphs, and maps on our website after February 22.

I hope to see you Wednesday evening at the Hirt Auditorium.  And, again, thank you for your continued commitment to our students.

Respectfully,
Jay Badams

Erie School District to host feasibility study town hall presentation, Feb. 22

ERIE, Pa (February 17, 2012) — The Erie School District is hosting a community town hall meeting to present information and data from a feasibility study on district facilities, February 22 at 6 p.m. at the Blasco Memorial Library, 160 East Front Street.

Vern McKissick, from McKissick Associates in Harrisburg, will be presenting information on the condition, capacity, and utilization of district buildings; school locations relative to student population; enrollment and population trends/projections; attendance boundary data; and more — the results of a comprehensive review of the district’s facilities and an examination of how they will best be able to serve the educational needs of students in the future.

“I am excited about this process and the positive outcomes it will generate,” said Erie Schools Superintendent Jay Badams.  “This is truly a defining moment in our school system and the decisions we make together as a result of this process will help shape public education in the City of Erie for generations to come.”

For those unable to attend, the district will also be recording and airing the presentation on its community access channel (8), making the presentation available online, and providing downloadable charts, graphs, and maps on its website after the meeting.

Event Details:
February 22, 2012 | 6 p.m.
H.O. Hirt Auditorium at the Blasco Memorial Library
160 East Front Street
Erie, PA 16507

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