Mixed feelings : Input session draws several viewpoints from residents on Fayetteville High debate
Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2008
More than 40 people spoke and nearly 150 people attended the first public input session on the future location of Fayetteville High School on Wednesday evening.
Among the residents who signed up to speak to the Fayetteville High School Select Committee 2, a majority favored retaining the current location and building a new school on the site, but the committee also heard a variety of opinions in favor of changing locations. FHS currently occupies about 40 acres along the 1000 block of West Stone Street.
Two other locations under consideration by the committee are 101 acres of district-owned land along Deane Solomon Road and 73 acres for sale along Morningside Drive.
Committee leader Tim Hudson gave a comment praising one speaker, Dot Neely, for offering two options to consider.
Neely said she favored keeping the current location and building a new facility on the north side of Stone Street, but if the school has to move, she thought the 73 acres along Morningside Drive was a "more palatable"location than the Deane Solomon site.
Many patrons who favored keeping the current site because of its proximity to the University of Arkansas shunned arguments that trying to construct the building while stu- dents are using the campus would be too difficult.
Vernon Richardson, a UA employee who supports building on the current site, said he had worked in other college towns and a high school near the university was always a benefit.
"No other school (in Northwest Arkansas ) has this advantage," he said.
"If we look at the whole of this, if we look at the opportunity to have a 21 st century high school near the university, why wouldn't we take it ? "John Ray said.
Matthew Petty and some other speakers also argued that retrofitting the current site was the more environmentally sound option.
"The proximity of the school to the University of Arkansas is what makes it so worthwhile," he added. "That makes it priceless. You will never pay for the loss of that."
"I know it has a lot of problems, but I also know it's the place where our students should be," Julia Jernigan said of the current site. "We don't give up because something is hard or challenging. If that is the best solution, you go for it."
Steve Sheppard said construction happens all the time and people work through it, noting examples of elementary school students adjusting to construction projects.
"I think the arguments about security and construction are nonsense," he said.
While some of their faculty and employees favor using the current site for a high school, the UA administration and board of trustees have expressed an interest in acquiring the property should the district decide to build a new school elsewhere.
The board of trustees is scheduled to meet Friday in Little Rock, but an agenda was not available Wednesday afternoon.
Stephen Smith, of Local 965, a union that represents UA employees, criticized the administration for reviewing the possibility of financing the purchase with a tuition increase, given the salaries some employees make. He said the union supports the high school remaining where it is.
Many of the speakers who favored a new site said selling the school could keep down construction costs and allow students to attend a school not under construction. They also discussed what they viewed as the current site's shortcomings.
Judy McDonald, of Students First, a group that supports a new site, said economics and the ability to get a new school at a new site are two of the reasons she supports the move. She said the group also supports limiting the high school population to 3, 000 students.
"I support a new school on a new site, particularly at the Morningside site," Marti Sharkey said.
Susan Anders said she would not favor any renovation of the current facility, as workers will likely encounter problems that keep driving up costs.
"I have done renovation work. It is surprise after surprise," she said.
Larry Long said selling the school can be a "winwin-win-win-win"for many parties, including the university, which he said needs the land.
"If we build a new high school, everybody's property will go up," he said.
Tia King said one of the major shortcomings to the current site is a lack of parking for students due to its size.
"Nobody here is admitting our kids don't ride the bus to school," she said.
The committee is scheduled to hold another input meeting at 6: 30 p.m. April 3, but a location for the meeting has not been determined. The meeting Wednesday was at Ramay Junior High School.
The group is scheduled to issue its recommendation to the Fayetteville Board of Education in April.
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