October 1, 2007

2nd District, Part 4

Asked now if we need more study of the school plan.
"They've been done already," said Bruce Lydem. He said he has "the utmost faith in the Board of Ed."
Mark Blaschke, however, has another take.
Blaschke said there are people who "can do this job" without outside help. They did the plan wrong. "They're rushing everything in," he said. "They're hurting the kids. They're hurting the taxpayers of this city, and they ought to start over again."
Ken Cockayne said the city has professionals who can do the work needed.
Joe Geladino said, "I'm against any more spending. We have well qualified people. We need to get them to work together."
He said the boards need to communicate better and spend less.
Kevin McCauley said he also opposes an outside bid analysis of the plan. The issue is a need for better communication with the public.
He said the 900-student school is "two schools in one" that is fiscally responsible. There's an elementary school wing and a middle school wing that are separated with shared offices.
"The benefit to us is that it saves us on the cost," McCauley said.
It will be possible to compare with K-6 later, after both systems are running. One way to find which is better "is allowing that to happen," he said.
Again, who gets the pie in the face?


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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lydem is out of his league and McCauley is willing to sacrifice the education of our youth to be fiscally responsible.

Anonymous said...

Democrats deserve the pie in the face this time. Utmost faith in Board of Ed? Sorry Bruce. You know nothing about studies.

Only way to find out if the900 student mega school plan works is to try it? Sorry Kevin, that is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard.

Anonymous said...

How in the world do you get that McCauley is willing to sacrifice the education of our youth? He's looking to see new schools in place that will better suit our students and facilitate better learning. Let's not forget that it will be mostly funded by the state, which so many people neglect to remember or choose to forget. I call that being fiscally responsible AND addressing the needs of our antiquated school infrastructure. As usual, his statements are taken out of context. He did not say the only way to find out if the 900 student mega school plan works is to try it. He said he backs the plan that has been studied. Bruce is not out of his league. Cockayne doesn't have a clue. One minute he's crowing all over the Press that he thinks the downtown should not be taken out of the equation as far as new school sites. Next he's saying it belongs somewhere else. Wishy-washy and is trying to say anything he thinks will get him elected. That's not what I want for a city councilman.

Anonymous said...

Cockayne and Geladino need to take a hike. They're clueless! Actually, add Blaschke to the mix!

Anonymous said...

I find it interesting that people like to say who has won or lost. This was a forum ... not a debate. They were there to tell us what their opinions were on different issues and each did what he was supposed to do. This is not a win/lose proposition. People should take what they've heard and decide which way to go along with everything else. In fact, give them a call with your questions since they're ALL in the phone book.

Anonymous said...

This is how I realized that McCaule is willing to sacrifice the education of our children to be fiscally responsible.

Yes, it may save us money but it creates a chaotic atmosphere. Grades separated by offices doesn't change what it is. It's "two schools in one". Bad idea all the way around.

He said the 900-student school is "two schools in one" that is fiscally responsible. There's an elementary school wing and a middle school wing that are separated with shared offices.
"The benefit to us is that it saves us on the cost," McCauley said.

Anonymous said...

Where is the chaos? They are SEPARATED! Apparently you don't understand what separated means. K thru 5 are in one building and 6 through 8 are in another with offices inbetween. There's no chaos there. You can make it seem as complicated as you want, but it's very simple. There's nothing complex about it. As far as the "900 students" goes, Chippens Hill Middle, 6 thru 8, has 1,200 students in ONE building. With regard to the new schools, the reality is the number is broken down between two schools albeit located on the same parcel of land, but they ARE separated. You won't have first graders running into eighth graders. Let's not over dramatize what's happening. It's interesting to note Mr. Cockayne initially wanted the new schools. Then he said the mall site should be considered. When people hollered over that one, he changed it to now he wants renovated schools. I'd rather go with someone who will stand behind their convictions than someone who just follows whatever he feels will get him a seat on the city council. How will he respond when making tough decisions? I guess he just won't take a stand.

Anonymous said...

Oct 1, 8:03 comment, "This was a forum ... not a debate."

Correct you are. When will someone organize a debate with unknown questions? Let's see what our candidates can do on their own without rehearsal time. We need to hear how they will fare in public, what it is that THEY are thinking -not their cronies or speech writers. Don't they have brains of their own? Sure they do, so get a debate going before the election or we will all lose.

Anonymous said...

The real debate should be between the BOE candidates. It's their project. They haven't told us what their opinions are regarding it. Let's get them out in the open. I even heard one of them say if they're not asked, they won't tell. Just what we need on the BOE.