When local school bond hawkers want to make a splash they point to the many trailers that have to be used for classrooms. These are ruinous to an adequate classroom environment, they have told us for years. But what about Creekside Elementary school in south Durham? They’re positively relieved that their kids are likely going to have a bunch of trailer classrooms instead of being moved to permanent classrooms in another school. Here’s PTA president Jennifer Bartnik’s comment after the decision was made:
“It’s exactly what we wanted to see. They’re thinking outside the box,” she said, complimenting DPS officials for looking at alternatives to reassignment.
Boy, that’s some real out-of-the-box thinking by the school board: Put some trailers on the property and try to expedite building a permanent addition to the school. They must have imported consultants from Harvard to come up with that.
Truth is, the modern trailer classrooms (really a modular building rather than a trailer) have been more than adequate for years. My children went to classes in them for a couple of years and don’t seem to be the worse for wear. But to hear education administrators and some parents tell it, it’s the educational equivalent of Gitmo.
Two school board members told the parents there would likely be tradeoffs, but at least they did it gently (emphasis added):
School board Vice Chairman Stephen Schewel and member Heidi Carter raised concerns about the elementary school’s size, gently cautioning parents in attendance of the difficulties encountered in large schools.
“A big school can be a good school, but it’s harder,” Schewel said. “If we’re going to do this, everyone has to realize there will be sacrifices. You won’t have the playground space you’d like. There will be lunch problems.”
Question: Did the school board address how the growing illegal immigrant population in Durham might have affected Creekside’s attendance growth, either directly by enrollment at Creekside or indirectly by overcrowding at other schools, making the construction of Creekside necessary in the first place? I guess not. It’s not addressed in the story, gently or otherwise.
