Following the unjust actions of the Orange County Commission, with the exception of Commmissioner Bill Segal and former Commissioner Teresa Jacobs, to deny the rebuilding plans for Evans High School, the burden now rests on the new school board as a leadership team, with the superintendent, to develop a solution that is in the best interests of current and future students.
This would have been resolved a year ago, and the new school would have been completed this next school year. What a shame that children were caught in such regressive politics.
The solution that is developed should be one that rejects these prejudices and adult agendas, embraces its relationship to achieving unitary status and its symbolism within the goals of unitary status, and responds to what it is and what it needs to become, not, through nostalgia, what it used to be. It should not be lost on anyone that the current plan remains the best option, and so any other options short of that will have a much higher hurdle of credibility to leap and much larger challenges to overcome to achieve the positive outcomes necessary for our high school children in Pine Hills.
Regardless of what the solution is determined to be, the burden also rests on Orange County government, and the City of Orlando government, to develop and implement a comprehensive plan of action to address the crime, decay, neglect, prejudice and apathy that plague Pine Hills. Orange County Public Schools, under Superintendent Blocker and the last school board, were very dedicated in investing in Pine Hills and other urban neighborhoods in Orange County through school campus renovations, placement of strong principals and faculty, establishment of rigorous academics, including seven International Baccalaureate programs, and expanding community and business partnerships to ensure that these schools are successful. For a community like Pine Hills, though, it requires everyone in collaboration and cooperation to make it a healthy, safe and vibrant community. It will require an earnest and sustained partnership between the school board, the county commission, city council, and both mayors, developed hand in hand with the community.
Knowing that there are myths, misperceptions and mischaracterizations still circulating about this process, as well as false linkages to the renovation of Edgewater, I offer the following facts:
The Evans rebuilding plan DID follow all county rules. The school district went BEYOND the rules and made many COMPROMISES in negotiations. The mayor and three commissioners who voted against this plan accused the school district of giving Evans less, but THEY were the ones who forced the compromises that their OWN rules, within the County's Comprehensive Plan, do not require. Although there is newfound trepidation about high schools in rural settlements, there is no current restriction on the books. Therefore, there was no problem when the land north of the freshman campus was purchased and no problem as it made its way through the county process. To prove this fact, the mayor’s staff always endorsed the plan because there was no rule that prohibited it. It only became a problem when one was manufactured based on “not in my backyard.” This is all public record.
Public comments by commissioners and others about “fears” of the campus "encroaching" on adjacent property are troubling. When did a school become a noxious use? Schools form the fabric of neighborhoods where teachers teach, children learn, sports are played, plays and concerts are performed, and families build community. Schools are not big-box stores. School districts are not developers.
Every school is unique. Within the overall scope and limits of the capital budget, the amount of money is not the point. It is how well it is spent and how it best serves students in each school. Plans for Evans and Edgewater reveal that. Rebuilding Edgewater in a different location, as was suggested last year and I fought against because it was NOT in the best interests of students, would have put the school AT risk. Rebuilding Evans on its freshman campus, another issue I fought FOR because it IS in the best interests of students, would take the school OUT of risk.
For three years, Edgewater’s projected budget was exorbitant. My concerns about these costs put me at odds early on with the Edgewater Task Force, a community group advocating for Edgewater's renovation. Despite this, care taken by me personally, and actions of the school board, facilities staff, architectural team, and the Superintendent's COVE committee finally contained it. Maintaining it will be necessary as the new school board monitors the capital program. (The Edgewater community has a campus design that should satisfy them and serve students for years to come. They should respect the need to protect its budget ceiling. The four plus acres along Edgewater Drive, and possibly the property to the north of Maury Road should be considered for surplus, and sold or placed in a ground lease at the most advantageous time to help replenish the district’s capital budget.)
While various cost-effective options were being explored for Edgewater’s renovation, protests erupted over one option that considered temporarily swinging students to the Evans main campus during construction. Their discomfort with the main campus was mirrored by Evans families who have transferred their children to other high schools for years.
These protests east of Pine Hills occurred simultaneously with protests from communities west of Pine Hills about the Evans rebuilding plan. They inferred, "Give THEM the same thing, but keep THEM over THERE." Combined, these protests deepened the stigma of the Evans main campus.
Short of the county commission reversing their unjust decision, which would be the right thing to do, if these politics force rebuilding on the Evans main campus, with 20 million more public dollars and three more years of construction, Orange County and City of Orlando governments would have to aggressively address the crime and decay in Pine Hills. It would require more than new buildings and more land. It would require more than a quick and efficient solution. It would require satisfying the goals of "unitary status." Students can no longer be marginalized.
I will continue to advocate, unfettered by politics, for the equitable treatment of our children in Orange County. The problems that we faced with the rebuilding of Evans should remain outside the school district and should be confronted head-on by those who choose to place our children first.
8 months ago