A decision by voters on whether to spend $266.9 million for campus overhauls — including the demolition and rebuilding of Ware Elementary — might also affect a 37-year-old court order in Longview Independent School District.
If the May 10 bond proposal passes, the district will begin working toward being released from a federal desegregation mandate, said Jennifer Scott, assistant superintendent for administrative and pupil services.
|
|
Jacob Croft Botter/News-Journal Photo | Teacher Bryan Warren goes over a lesson about time with his students at Ware Elementary School. Deteriorating infrastructure inside and small classrooms are two of the problems with the campus, officials say.
|
|
|
A release could ultimately translate to a lot of students attending schools in their own neighborhoods, as opposed to 45-minute bus rides to the other side of town. Some students are bused to schools beyond their geographic zones to maintain a racial balance at each campus.
It also would eliminate piles of paperwork and at least 90 hours of time clocked in annually by Scott and her staff, she said.
Desegregation history
Integration orders by the federal courts are nothing new in Longview ISD, Scott said:
- A 1962 case filed against the board of trustees resulted in a freedom of choice integration plan the following year, beginning with first grade, Scott said. The plan allowed black students to attend their campus of choice.
- By 1967, Longview ISD had been ordered to offer the integration choice to students in all grades.
- In 1968, the federal court ordered LISD to assign more black teachers to schools with predominantly white students and more white teachers to schools mostly filled with black students.
- A 1969 Supreme Court decision overruled all freedom of choice plans, and Longview ISD fully integrated its staff by the second semester of the 1969-70 school year.
- The U.S. District Court in Beaumont approved a neighborhood schools plan in June 1970. A 5th Circuit Court judge later informed the district that the plan was illegal because it allowed four all-black schools.
- On Aug. 27, 1970, the U.S. District Court reapproved an earlier plan for desegregation. As a result, three all-black elementary schools and a black high school were closed. Longview ISD was rezoned so each campus had 30 percent minority enrollment. Plan J, as it has become known, has been in effect since.
There have been slight modifications to the order in the years since — most recently in 2004, when the courts allowed the magnet school concept as a desegregation tool. Five campuses that were considered racially isolated were included.
Defragmenting
The proposed bond package calls for reconstruction and possible relocation of all but Doris McQueen Primary and South Ward Elementary schools, the district's newest campuses. Ware and other elementary schools would be razed and possibly built elsewhere.
New campuses on different plots of land, however, won't necessarily be enough to get the district released from a court order, Scott said.
"The first thing we have to do is get attendance zones lined up fairly and equitably," Scott said. "The (U.S. Department of Justice) will look at neighborhoods around the schools and racial makeups of those schools."
Scott said the department will be looking for the racial demographics at each campus to be within 15 percent — one way or the other — of districtwide demographics. She said about 50 percent of the district's students are black.
District officials have kept land acquisition plans quiet, pending the outcome of the bond proposal.
"If there is a reason why a school can't be established within those ranges, we'll need to file a compelling reason with the courts," Scott said. "They'll be looking at racial diversity but also at equity in our facilities."
Each new elementary school in the bond proposal would be identical except for the facades.
The projected cost for each new elementary school is between $19.2 million and $20.7 million.
"This is the first time in any of our lives that we can create true equity for all our children," LISD Board President Sam Satterwhite said during a February bond committee meeting. "For every year that we put off building new elementary schools, we're talking $2 million more per year (each) to build them."
* * *
About the series
The Longview News-Journal's Longview ISD series looks at schools that could be affected by a proposed bond package.
March 9: Pinewood Park International Education Magnet School
Today: Ware Elementary School and neighborhood schools concept
March 23: Forest Park Magnet School
About Ware Elementary
Built: 1959; Partly rebuilt in 2001 after fire
Classrooms: 28
Portable classrooms: 5
Classroom square feet: 550, on average
Campus land acres: 7.98
Enrollment: 392
Source: LISD; Texas Association of School Administrators Facilities Study
* * *
Ware's problems
- Like most other elementary campuses in Longview Independent School District, an outside facilities study suggested that Ware should be replaced.
- Though the exterior of the building is in good shape, portions of the interior have deteriorated and part of the site has eroded from drainage, said Paul Trautman, a facilities specialist with the Texas Association of School Administrators.
- Trautman also reported that all classrooms at Ware are smaller than the state's minimum standards and that the library and administrative spaces are too small.
- The school also has limited handicapped access, including student rest rooms, Trautman said.
Source: Longview ISD; TASA
* * *
What voters will consider May 10
Five new elementary schools: $99.7 million
Additions at South Ward Elementary and Doris McQueen Primary schools: $21.3 million
Three new middle schools: $107.1 million
Additions at Longview High School: $34.7 million
Districtwide technology: $4 million
Total proposal: $266.9 million
Source: Longview ISD
* * *
New K-5 elementary schools voters will consider
Classroom square feet: Between 750 and 900
Occupancy: 684 students with maximum of 760 students
Campus land acres: At least 15
- New elementary schools would each have a gymnasium and 35 classrooms with a maximum student capacity of 760.
- Three new elementary schools would be planned for occupancy by August 2010. Two others would be planned for opening in August 2011.
Estimated cost: Between $19.2 million and $20.7 million
*District officials have not confirmed which campuses would be consolidated.
Source: Huckabee Architectural Firm; Longview ISD
Comments
By JGB
Mar 17, 2008 8:36 AM | Link to this
Well, very seldom do I make comments on articles in the paper, but I have two children in LISD and one more that will enter school in 2010. I agree that this bond is a huge amount of money and LISD should have taken better care of their schools, but that didn't happen and there is nothing we can do about that now. I have no complaints about my kids education. They have done great and have had great teachers. Yes, LISD has there problem but what school doesn't. If this bond does not pass it means more time for our schools to deteriorate and more cost to the tax payer. Let's get the bond package taken care of so we can get better schools for our kids and the future ones that come behind them.
By Karl F
Feb 22, 2008 6:56 AM | Link to this
Bravo for a school that is new, well designed, and interconnected. Put into that school the very best teachers. Now add a school administration who's main concern is looking good; add students whose parents always believe that a child's failure is the fault of someone else. That shiny new school will fail.
By Rayn
Feb 20, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this
You have to understand that Longview is competing with Spring Hill, Diana, and others in order to keep their students. Longview has not done a good job in keeping the schools up, staying abreast with technology and having sufficient space for the students. If you want your students to have to go to school in an old, cramped, obsolete building then vote it down, by all means. But just remember that having nice schools makes a big difference in the quality of teachers the school system is able to attract, as well as being a big deciding factor for new families moving into the area, as well as those already living in the district who are considering moving to another district.
By kay
Feb 17, 2008 12:29 AM | Link to this
We recently moved to another district in the state that has a daily organized PE. In incliment weather the gymnasium is utilized for recess and structured Pe. I have seen both of my children benefit from the organized PE program that this distict impliments. The statistics for obesity are lower than the state average here. We moved from Longview and attended Doris McQueen Elem. It is a wonderful school however I never understood why that campus did not have a gym. On rainy days the children would use a classroom for "motor Lab" or watch tv in the class room. I would gladly pay more taxes to benefit the health and emotional well being of the children in my district. In the long run it will save tax dollars....the cost to insure and pay for the rising epidemic of obesity is enough to justify the bond package.
By Karl F
Feb 14, 2008 9:29 PM | Link to this
Superintendent Wilcox said that the $166 million dollar version of the bond issue was a survival list. But we now have a $293 million dollar bond issue - which must not be just for survival of the district and its students, since that cost only $166 million dollars. So, according to the Superintendent's words, the new, larger amount contains $127 million dollars of fluff. Lookout, taxpayers!
By Jennifer
Feb 13, 2008 8:13 PM | Link to this
Please explain why the elementary and primary schools need a gymnasium when the kids barely get a recess as it is??!!
By Jennifer
Feb 13, 2008 8:12 PM | Link to this
Please explain why the elementary and primary schools need a gymnasium when the kids barely get a recess as it is??!!
By Matt
Feb 12, 2008 6:25 PM | Link to this
tax man at it again
Commenting is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. M-F, except on Tuesday when it's open until 9 p.m.
Post a comment
*HTML not allowed in comments. Your e-mail address is required.