Hoover Down, But Not Out

The School Board lowered the boom on Hoover Elementary tonight, voting 5-2 to close the school by 2017-2018...  parents had been organized and opposed to the move and two School Board members including Board President Maria Swesey and Tuyet Dorau casting the dissenting votes.

Ostensibly, the move makes a twisted kind of sense.  The School Board is considering a 300 student addition to City High to bring it's enrollment in line with West and the soon to be built third high school and Hoover is really the only place that they can expand unless they start snapping up large chunks of the eastside neighborhoods- which would be unpopular and probably a real pain in the ass.

Problem is that the School Board hasn't committed to what Hoover would actually be used for.  If it's just going to be another parking lot for City High, people have a right to be pissed about that.  I mean, what's the point then?  You're closing down an existing, living breathing school- one that's already built to make a parking lot?  Uncool and dick move, says I.   However, I've seen some chatter on the Interwebs about it possibly being repurposed as a Ninth Grade Center which might actually make a lot of sense.   It'd be a bummer to lose the playground but you could probably bring back baseball and maybe even soccer to the CHS Campus which means you'd get more space, more parking and most of the sports back in one place.   I'd call that a mild win.

Yet it still seems counterintuitive to me to close Hoover and then build three new elementary schools- I mean, aren't we looking to make more schools not take one away? 

If the School Board is smart, they'll get people answers sooner rather than later. As Save Hoover was quick to point out, there are two school board elections between now and the 2017-2018 school year and this has now officially become an election issue.

I'm admittedly conflicted by this...  I know there's a need for new facilities on the East Side-  East Side parents have been asking for new buildings for awhile and it's good the School Board is committed to that but I'm curious as to the locations they're picking- north of Pleasant Valley Golf Course way south on Sycamore Street?  Where's the other one going to go?  North on the Scott Boulevard extension?  East on Lower West Branch Road?  Do they need to be so big?  If the model has been for neighborhood schools within walking distance of their student bodies, then why are we moving away from that?  Should we?   What's the plan, people?  If the School Board offered some clarity the community would be at least able to see where they stand.

Either way, we'll see what develops but I have a feeling it's going to be 'game on' come the fall.