Build It Even If They Don’t Come
A report by the Bond Accountability Commission reveals the Cleveland school district “continues to plan for new elementary schools in blighted neighborhoods where enrollment has plunged.”
The district created its current construction master plan in 2002 and updated it only once since then. In that time, enrollment has dropped from more than 70,000 to about 50,000. But the Cleveland Plain Dealer buries the lede. The last paragraph of the story reads:
The program, nearly half-completed, is on pace to run out of money before it wraps up in 2015. The district, which persuaded voters to pass a $335 million bond issue in 2001, has estimated that it will need to ask for another $217 million.
One commenter didn’t miss that little tidbit, asking:
So let me see, if I read correctly, we are going to build schools we don’t need for students we don’t have AND the school district will ask for even more money to do it? Further, enrollment has dropped 40% and the district can’t buy out teachers. When will this madness end?
