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SAVE IVANHOE'S CHILDREN!!
Cypress Bay Relief
Citizens United
BROWARD COUNTY SCHOOL BOUNDARIES
Posted
December 11, 2007
Dear friends and
neighbors,
Many of us in Ivanhoe
feel the following scenarios are some of the ones we can support in some
fashion. We know some of you may prefer to attend LLL, until we know
exactly where MMM will be built. Remember, once school boundaries happen
to a neighborhood, we may not be able to return to either Cypress bay or
MMM. Please, whatever your position, be heard by attending this meeting
and speak. Be nice and take the high road, and we prefer you speak as
one of either the very first or very last, so you can make a rebuttal to
what you may feel is being said before you speak. TONIGHT, at the
attached broward school site, we are supposed to have the new staff
scenarios to review. We will make comments once reviewed.
We
are also, as always, asking that Davie officials might wish to attend
and support their residents; however, since we have not seen their
participation in these meetings about the LLL boundaries, we don’t
expect them to participate. If you do attend, please note that Weston,
SW Ranches and Pembroke Pines officials and the town’s school committee
members usually are in attendance to at least show they have an interest
in the process. They may not speak, however they are there to lend
support and gain knowledge about the process. In addition, we did not
see any Davie officials at last evenings’ MMM site decision, which made
many in the audience and some school board members question their
cooperation to at least listen to the issues concerning these sites.
(This is the end of my “political” opinion at this time).
IF you cannot attend,
please write the school board regarding your opinion, for or against any
of these maps or go on the site and express your thoughts for or against
a certain scenario.
http://www.broward.k12.fl.us/schoolboundaries/0809BoundaryProcess/Scenarios.htm
MAKE SURE
TO SEE THE Community Forum II MEETING TIMES BELOW:
We SHOULD like the
following maps: (Please click the above link to see the scenario maps)
9.1 C – This is
preferred, but the upper area may need to be tweaked a bit to satisfy
“Weston’s” needs.
32.1C – Yes, keeps
quite a few of Ivanhoe safe and attending Cypress Bay
26.1C – Gives “Choice”
Not what we want, but will settle as a very last resort if we are all
going to LLL anyway. Right now, we should HATE this map and only go it
as a last resort. It was entered as a last option.
30.1C- Not bad…
actually good, but unfortunately takes an area fairly close to Cypress
Bay to Western, even though it is only five miles from Western.
So… the
following are NO’s!!!!
(in my opinion,
however, you might like them)
Both Staff Scenarios
take everyone south of Griffin to LLL
16.1 C –
NO ….. 19.1 C – NO….. 21.1C – NO…… 22.1C – HELL NO!!!! (This guy doesn’t
not like us)…… 23.1 – NO…..
25.1C –
Although this is good and save’s our area, it may not be acceptable to
some Weston areas – Your can either support or oppose.………
27.1C-
NO………….. 28.1C – No…………….
Posted
December 11, 2007
Broward School Board split on new high school
By Akilah Johnson |
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
- December 11, 2007
The fate of Broward County's newest high school was put
on hold yet again Monday night when School Board members couldn't agree on
where to build the campus, if at all.
School Board members Bob Parks and Stephanie Kraft think the district
should scrap the plans and instead add classrooms at Flanagan and
Everglades high schools as well as at one now under construction, LLL in
Pembroke Pines.
It's the cheapest and quickest solution that fulfills the board's
short-term goal of relieving critically overcrowded Cypress Bay High
School in Weston, Parks said. And, he said, the district can keep looking
for the perfect place to build the new school, dubbed MMM until a formal
name can be chosen.
More than 5,500 students attend Cypress Bay, which was built in 2002 for
3,400.
Superintendent James Notter said he's "played these same story boards out
many, many times," but feels the district needs the school to keep pace
with new developments popping up in south Broward.
It's been a struggle for the school district to find a home for the
much-needed high school. For more than a year, board members and district
staff have debated — and rejected — 18 possible locations for MMM.
The classroom additions would cost $47.16 million, but would only relieve
school overcrowding for five years, the superintendent said.
That's why, Notter said, he recommended building MMM on a 31-acre site at
Flamingo Road and Southwest 26th Street — a location some in Davie oppose.
The board will vote today on whether to support Notter and designate
Flamingo Road and Southwest 26th Street as the future home of MMM. The
land and school would cost $97.1 million
Building the school at the Davie intersection is the least expensive of
the five options the board discussed Monday. Construction at the Southwest
26th Street site would take the least amount of time, with a turnaround
time of 46 months, according to Notter.
Several board members said Monday that MMM is necessary and agreed with
Notter's recommendation, but board member Jennifer Gottlieb said she just
didn't know what to do.
"I'm extremely undecided," she said. "I think there still is no perfect
location."
The district typically needs at least 40 acres for high schools, a problem
in a county where large tracts of land are scarce and price tags are
sky-high for any available large parcels. And the district is under the
gun to find a spot.
If the district doesn't pick a site and sign a construction contract by
next year, it must get permission from the state to build the school.
"Battling it out with the state doesn't give me any warm fuzzies," Notter
said. "In fact, it heightens my worry."
Akilah Johnson can be reached at
akjohnson@sun-sentinel.com
or 954-356-4527.
Posted
December 3, 2007
Dear friends and neighbors,
Please read the attached article from the Sun-Sentinel.
For many, many weeks many of us have
been saying this site is a better site than all of the others available,
including the Bergeron site in Weston. This site is at 26th Street and
Flamingo Road. It is just about a mile NORTH of Flamingo Gardens on
Flamingo Road. We still need the Davie Town Council to "approve" the
site and concept of a smaller school and we need the neighbors in the
area to at least consider this possibility. Students would draw from our
area, Ivanhoe, Imagination Farms and Stone Ridge Estates as well as
Eastern SW Ranches. There are also students near Sawgrass on the north
side of I- 595 who could attend here. What would then happen is the NW
part of Weston students would relocate to Western High, which is much
closer for them, even from Cypress Bay. This actually makes sense in
regards to proximity and driving. Easy to bounder. Weston will not be
happy, because they do not have the school in their town. We SHOULD be
very happy and proud to have this school being considered in Davie. The
fact is having a nice new school like this is worth more than the fact
the Town will lose some tax revenue due to commercial development.
The problem is TWO of the
five Davie Council members are opposed at this point. Bryan Caletka,
wants the tax base for commercial development and Sue Starkey basically
feels her voters/constituents will not want a high school on Flamingo
Drive. The other three are non-committal
and willing to listen, including Marlon Luis, our Council member.
We need you to understand
what is at stake and to call, write and e-mail both the Davie Town
Council AND the school board with your thoughts, for or against.
The basic challenge is IF MMM is NOT
built, the school board will be forced to "supersize" the other schools
in the area. The new LLL High School out by US 27 and Pines would very
likely be our school if this happens. This school is 8-9 miles from us
where the Flamingo site is 3.5 to 4 miles. We want to stay at Cypress
Bay, however IF we HAVE to move, a closer smaller high school
alternative, like on this Flamingo site, would be very acceptable.
However, we are inclusive to all and we
do NOT exclude any opinions or "ram things down peoples throats".
Please write Mr. Caletka, Ms. Starkey
and all the council with your opinion!!! Today. Go online to the Town of
Davie and write them or go to:
www.ivanhoecivicassociation.com and click on the appropriate links.
John Pickett
Broward schools superintendent wants new high school in Davie
By Kathy Bushouse and Susannah Bryan
| South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Relief for overcrowded Cypress Bay High School
will come in the form of a new high school in Davie, if the School
Board follows a recommendation presented Monday by Superintendent
Jim Notter.
Notter is urging the board to approve Broward's newest high school
on a 31-acre site at Flamingo Road and Southwest 26th Street — a
$97.1 million location that could prove unpopular with leaders in
both Davie and Weston.
Weston parents want a new high school built in their city.
Said Weston Mayor Eric Hersh, when told of
Notter's recommendation: "Whoa. They recommended what? That doesn't
help us one bit. It doesn't help us one iota. It's too far east to
help anyone."
Davie Vice Mayor Bryan Caletka doubted the school district would get
approvals they would need from the town council to get MMM built.
And he said he wouldn't hesitate to push to sue if "the district
tried to ram it down our throat."
Board members will discuss MMM, a project long delayed by questions
about cost and location, at a Dec. 10 workshop.
The proposal would essentially shift students east, moving 2,600
from Cypress Bay in Weston to Western High School in Davie, and
moving 1,000 students from Western High to MMM.
Building MMM at Flamingo Road and Southwest 26th Street is the least
expensive of all the options for a new school site. It also would
take the least amount of time to build, with a turnaround time of 46
months, Notter wrote in his presentation to board members.
He said Monday night he believed the district could work with Davie
officials. In response to Hersh's comment that his recommendation
solved nothing, Notter said, "It certainly solves something to me
when 2,600 kids come out of Cypress Bay."
Notter said the least expensive option the board could consider
would be to simply add classrooms at Flanagan and Everglades high
schools as well as at one now under construction, LLL in Pembrokes
Pines. The classroom additions would cost $47.16 million, but even
then would only relieve school overcrowding for five years, Notter
wrote.
It's been a struggle for the school district to find a home for MMM.
For more than a year, School Board members have debated, and
rejected, possible locations for the new high school. Parents and
Weston city leaders have clamored for a new school to relieve
overcrowding at Cypress Bay, a school built for 3,400 that now
houses more than 5,500 students.
The district needs at least 40 acres for the school — a problem in a
county where large tracts of land are scarce, and price tags are
sky-high for whatever large parcels remain available. And the
district is under the gun to find a spot.
In October, as the search for a spot to build MMM continued, the
School Board capped enrollment at Cypress Bay.
Laurie Levinson, whose son attends class at Cypress Bay's ninth
grade annex, said she wants MMM built. Other options, such as adding
classrooms to existing schools, "don't allow for any growth" in the
student population, Levinson said.
Should the real estate market improve, more space will be needed to
accommodate more families in southwest Broward, she said.
"I believe they should build an MMM," Levinson said. "They've been
promising an MMM and that's what they should do."
Kathy Bushouse can be reached at
kbushouse@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4556.
For more letters of correspondence go to News and Alerts
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