Duluth School Board approves bids on final leg of Red Plan
June 11, 2012 at 7:00 pm in Duluth News Tribune
The Duluth School Board voted in a special meeting Monday to approve the first construction bids for the last schools to be completed under the Red Plan. Continue Reading
Once upon a time there was an evil, unscrupulous company named Johnson Controls. They were brought into town by a new smooth talking superintendent. They easily convinced a foolish school board they needed to spend many hundreds of millions to build all new schools. They even told them to close their newest school on 70 acres in the center of the city and sell it for 10 million dollars. Knowing the citizens would not go along with this they twisted a law so could ram it through without their approval. As time went on the citizens complained and protested but to no avail, it was full steam ahead. Johnson Controls easily blew though their budget of $300 million and time and time again told the citizens to pony up more money. Again the citizens were given no choice. This of course was no surprise as Johnson Controls had made themselves manager of the project for a huge percentage of the spending. Schools were destroyed and others sold, some for only $1. No buyer could be found for the school in the center of the city and it eventually sold for a $1. The citizens ran out of money and the school board laid off teachers left and right. Classes were cut, and programs eliminated until most of the students left. Then it became clear they needed only 1 school. As luck would have it they found 70 beautiful acres in the center of the city and they could purchase it for mere $15 million. Hearing about the problem the citizens were having a company flew into town and offered to build them a fancy new school with glass atriums and gold plated walls. All they wanted was a huge percentage of the spending. The school board was very pleased and Johnson Controls lived happily ever after.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
76 
16
Patriot…..LOL!!! Very well put! It sums up the whole story……very well…..LOL!!! In a nutshell….very truthful! Stay tuned folks…..we are NOT done traveling this very winding road……yet! Gonna still cost a bunch more…..in the losing of more students…….more levies….bldg efficiencies not up to par….more teacher lay-offs…..not enough books and supplies…..the list keeps going on…..and on……and on! The fat lady has not sung……YET! OOPS….forgot to wear my rose colored glasses!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
32 
9
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
30 
52
Please note that money from the “General Fund” (that does pay for teachers) is being transferred into the facilities fund to help pay for the Red Ink Plan. Proof that the screwel board values the shiney monuments to their egos than education for our kids. Incompetence, graft and corruption rules!!!
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
52 
16
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
21 
33
That’s how churches work around the world. Giving you a false sense of spirtual well-being in exchange for your pocketbook.
Hot debate. What do you think?
33 
20
Ann Wasson says ” I think it is important that the public is aware of what happens when there are suits brought against this District”……It’s doing harm to the taxpayer and to this project”…..wait a minute…..maybe if this project was not so expensive and gold plated……this kind of reaction would not happen…..320 million to 440 million ( after interest )……and cannot afford teachers, books and supplies……this is the ultimate slap in the taxpayer ( and students ) face…..when are Duluth’s citizenry gonna learn…….never never??
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
35 
10
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Like or Dislike:
6 
17
Has anyone looked at the new LIncoln Middle School? Take a drive on Skyline – There is a full football field with Astroturf! Since when did our middle schools have a football field? with astroturf? And why exactly do we now have two full size football fields within 10 blocks of each other (anyone remember Public Schools stadium that used to be good enough for 4 high schools?? Didn’t we just (and aren’t we still paying for) the improvements on that stadium and now we have another the same size at East and another new one at Lincoln – no matter we can’t afford our teachers now ! Ann Wasson should just not speak – this is the third lawsuit since this stupid red plan started – Maybe it might have been worth the District’s while to actually allow us to vote on the biggest boondoggle in Duluth’s history
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
35 
10
OK, Let’s at least get our facts straight and stop the drama. There is a SOCCER FIELD in front of the new Lincoln Park Middle school (there was one behind Morgan Park, too) and it has regular grass, not astroturf. Sheesh! Where do you think the kids are supposed to have Phy ed classes and after school activities? Kids deserve a place to play.
Like or Dislike:
14 
11
Well Rudy, I wonder why there are football field markings on a soccer field ? And while I have not personally “touched” the field (pretty tough with gates, locks, fencing & Johnson Control banners blocking the roads and entrances) it sure looks like astro turf from skyline. Take a look.
Like or Dislike:
10 
10
The soccer/football field at Morgan Park has the same markings. It’s a multi-use field for the Phy ed program, after school programs and community sports. Morgan Park even had a track but the new school doesn’t. The new Lincoln Park school even has water fountains and more bathrooms – I’m sure that’s an extravagance to many people.
Like or Dislike:
11 
11
Interesting to see how they can continue to spend many millions on buildings when they can’t afford to operate them and must cut teachers, classes and programs. Does anyone think their priorities may be in the wrong place?
Like or Dislike:
19 
9
Have you been in any of the schools they replaced? MacArthur? Morgan Park? Central? They were terrible. It’s about time the kids in Duluth had decent, clean and healthy learning spaces. If the levy had passed, teachers and programs wouldn’t be cut. I blame the citizens of Duluth for being too cheap to fund their local schools. Check out what Barnum and other small school districts pay for levies so they can keep programs. They support their schools. Citizens in Duluth can only blame themselves for these cuts.
Like or Dislike:
12 
14
Rudy – Yes, I have been in all the schools – MacArthur? Yes, I will give you that one – it needed replacement, and the replacement is very nice. Morgan Park? No – It needed updates (windows, roof , furnace that sort of thing which easily could have been done for a fourth of what the new Lincoln Park cost) and Morgan Park had the newest pool in the District and is a sound building that will stand long into the future with the proper maintenance. .. and don’t even get me started on Central. How on earth could you say Central was run down and needing to be replace?? Now I know you personally were never in there. Even the Denfeld families that attended or were in Central that last combined year had to admit that it was a beautiful site. Central had the newest campus and brand new tennis courts and football fields that taxpayers will be paying for another 4-5 years. Plus it had room to expand – something niether East , Ordean or Denfeld had much of – (all were older) but they went ahead & chose those buildings over central. Truth is that the board had dollar signs in their eyes thinking of all the money that they could make from that site that would hopefully pay for the work at the other sites – they were sold a rose colored glasses senerio and they ate it hook, line & sinker – now that sits unsold and they continue to pay for it and they will never get what they hoped for out of it. This article is about the last leg to finish off the remaining schools and I believe they do need to be finished but the discussion needs to be continued only because they continue to spend as they lay off teachers and cut programs while they keep adding to the overall cost of the Red Plan.
Like or Dislike:
18 
7
It’s a good thing that you know everything! Actually, I’ve been to Central a lot! I’ve been in ALL the old and the new schools because I felt I needed to inform myself about why schools needed to be replaced. Yes, the Central site is beautiful, but the school building was terrible. The rooms were WAY too small, no windows, too many hallways for safe supervision, bad air quality, no natural light in classrooms and poor design.
Same thing with Morgan Park – rooms too small, bad air and water, stifling hot in the spring and fall, kids burned themselves on the radiators in winter, halls too small, not enough lockers, gym and auditorium were terrible, sewer backups and leaky roofs, not enough bathrooms, etc., etc., etc. And the site is WAY too far west. The new Lincoln Park school will be more centrally located for bussing, families, community events – and it’s gorgeous! Duluth kids deserve great schools. It’s time to get over the “Red Plan” and move on to support our schools and community. I guess I’m just a “glass-half-full” kinda guy!
Like or Dislike:
12 
16
Here here Rudy! Let’s move on! Our schools receive less that the state average in local funding. I don’t even have kids of my own and voted yesyes in the last levy.
The “anti spending” crowd gets me every time because they vote for the biggest supporters of military that costs more than the rest of the world’s armed forces combined. Wake up!
Like or Dislike:
8 
15
Ann Wasson -> stifle.
Like or Dislike:
18 
4
Seems to me that Rudy is just making excuses for this whole Red Plan mess, and I guess I should be grateful he’s not on the
Screwl Board!
Like I’ve said before this town has become a “Money Pit”!
Like or Dislike:
7 
5
Actually, it sounds to me like Rudy is doing the unthinkable, which is speak from an informed position. The worst thing about Forums, or “sound offs”, or Message Boards, is that it becomes an instant opportunity for people with a keyboard to type a comment with little or no knowledge or expertise whatsoever. And then, someone else reads their ignorant post, and says “wow, so and so has a great point”…even though it may be totally false. It really is a shame that more people don’t try to educate themselves rather than just type. Someone drives by and sees a green space with markings on it and immediately, the School Dostrict has a new Artificial surface “Football” stadium at a middle school. Come on folks, improve the content….research, don’t just type!
Like or Dislike:
0 
5