Comments on: Plan B meets Duluth School Board

By: Amy Hietala

Amy Hietala — Sat, 22 May 2010 09:43:47 +0000

I disagree with everyone. I don’t care really for any of the plans, but everyone here says go with the red because it is the lesser of the evils? Whoa… slow down. I am all for progress, but lets not just choose one to get it over with. Remember, this is a LONG TERM facilities plan. We should not take that decision lightly. Yes, it would be nice to make a decision soon, but do we really need to rush into something affecting the future of our kids. Anyways, this is what I think: None of the High Schools want to close because… lets face it, each one has school pride, deep rooted traditions, and reasons they think they should stay open. We need to throw tradition out the window and come up with new ones to stop this silly “tradition” argument and to be fair to all while continuing progress. Next, I think that the red plan (unfortunately) will happen and we will see a decline in the enrollment to the Duluth schools. Many people that went to Central live closer to Hermantown and Marshall than east or denfeld. Hmmm, wonder where they will end up choosing to enroll at? Anyways… I live in St. Paul now but Duluth is close to my heart. Please think about the right thing to do for your children. Ok, now let the hate comments toward me begin.

By: Linkin Mall

Linkin Mall — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 06:48:26 +0000

Harry Welty’s various groups and websites are merchandising their concepts at http://www.CafePress.com/Let_Duluth_Vote and at http://www.CafePress.com/ISD709_Election .

By: The Big E

The Big E — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:31:49 +0000

I grew up in a town of about 120,000 that dropped to 85,000 or so and failed to axe one of its three high schools because too many people complained (it was the high school I wound up attending that was slated to be dropped, for what it’s worth)--twenty-five years on, the school district has never really gotten out of crisis mode.

By: jay

jay — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 23:00:31 +0000

Both plans have their faults.The best part of the Red Plan is realizing we only need 2 high schools.1 may be sufficient but I do not think anyone wants to fight that battle.
The worst part,that it is being shoved down our throats.
By proposing we keep 3 high schools the Let Duluth Vote are failing to make the tough decisions.
Since the red plan seems a forgone conclusion my concern is that people in the trades are telling me that many out of town laborers have already been hired for some projects.
Any comments?

By: Calk

Calk — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:07:32 +0000

Reg Iguana, this kind of thing was one major reason i’ve been on the fence — I’m not familiar with the Piedmont school, but I do think the Ordean location is too small for a high school. The Red Plan indeed has some serious flaws. But the Plan B people seem to have made it a Red Plan or Plan B scenario. I want Duluth to move forward, so, despite my misgivings about the Red Plan, I’m going to have to support it over the Plan B plan, which seems to a bid to maintain the status quo.

By: rediguana

rediguana — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:27:37 +0000

I think it’s time to stop focusing on the big, over-arching “plans” and start picking apart the individual pieces of the facilities plan--those that make sense and those that don’t. For instance, it makes sense to me to build a new Western Middle School--a new facility in a more central location that can serve the specialized needs of that area’s student population and not be as high of a maintenance burden. But it doesn’t make sense to me to replace a relatively newly-renovated, large enough and perfectly operable Lincoln Park school with a new Piedmont elementary school on a cramped lot surrounded by houses and shopping malls far away from highly utilized park space. The devil is in the details--let’s start fleshing out their impact, shall we?

By: Calk

Calk — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:12:52 +0000

Tim K, I think the newspaper is doing it to sell newspapers, it seems to be their SOP these days — manufacture controversy when there isn’t any, and stoke the fires of controversy if there is some. But, I think as time passes, more and more fence-sitters *like me* will conclude that while the Red Plan has its flaws, it is indeed preferable to Plan B — which does indeed seem to be sour grapes by some people who really don’t give a damn about our children’s education b/ they are satisfied with mediocrity.

By: Tim K

Tim K — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:22:50 +0000

I think the core group behind plan B just has the sour grapes bug because they didn’t bother to go to any of the community meetings, planning sessions, etc. for the long range facilities plan- which, after much community and staff input, the School Board decided on the Red Plan. Now, if you got a bug up your butt and don’t have a clue, the first thing you gripe about is the price. This gets folks riled up and the anti-tax mantra becomes a rallying cry- whether or not taxes will be higher or lower with whatever plan. People will back a plan with a simplistic message: Let Duluth Vote. Referendums for the District have always been a tough sell, so ISD 709 got smart and went the community input route. It’s kind of hard to sell that message when the local media have done such a lousy job with the actual facts and given the squeeky, uninformed wheels the majority of column inches.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:27:20 +0000

Well Calk, if what the Plan B folks believe about the plan is at odds with what they presented to the school board, then you tell me what that might say about their motivation.

By: Calk

Calk — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:09:12 +0000

But Paul, if the group believes that it keeps their taxes down, wouldn’t that be motivation enough? I hate to think there’d be anything more nefarious behind this — who knows maybe it’s nothing more than Harry Welty’s ego wanting to be stroked. And stoked.