Profiles in vacillation
The St. Joseph Board of Education needs to make a decision about the future of public high schools.
This decision needs to be based on what’s best for children – not just today but two or three decades from now. The board is under no obligation to appease the Facebook groups or bend to the will of developers who want to sell big houses on the northeast side of town.
This plan must be based on the reality of the St. Joseph School District’s current situation. Enrollment is declining and finances don’t look good. Appeasement won’t fix that.
The board must consider political realities. The best plan involves the construction of a new south side and north side high school because it guarantees equal income distribution. In this city, voters are unlikely to approve new high school construction.
A good plan shouldn’t be discarded because it’s not a great plan. Board members shouldn’t look too hard for red herrings, like a particular grade school closing, when the big picture is about the future of high schools.
Finally, board members shouldn’t believe there’s a lifeline out there. Another study or another focus group will not tie this up in a bow and provide the answer that’s been eluding us. The district’s financial problems are real and can’t be fixed by blaming Colgan-era shenanigans.
A few weeks ago, the board squelched momentum toward consolidation and voted in favor of three high schools. We believe this was a missed opportunity. A two-high school model would set the school district on a more sustainable path and allow the district to provide similar course offerings and extracurriculars for all students.
Mostly, we disagreed because Plan E, the one that retains three high schools, doesn’t fix the district’s long-term problems. There was a nagging realization that another board would be in exactly the same position one, five or 10 years from now.
We didn’t realize it would be this board, in just a matter of weeks. At a work session Monday night, the board signaled its intent to hit “pause” on Plan E and take another look at the proposals to consolidate high schools.
On Tuesday morning, the gasp in the community was audible. Here we go again.
If this were how the Missouri Department of Transportation made decisions, we’d still be talking about what to do with the Interstate 229 double-decker.
Heck, we’d still be talking about whether to build it in the first place.
