Monrovia School Link ~ Number 177 ~ July 23, 2006
Some steps forward for the high school renovation should be coming up at this Wednesday's meeting, July 26.
Which reminds me of how annoyed I am with the State. Last time I heard, California's Division of the State Architect (DSA) had STILL not approved plans for an itty-bitty snack bar and restroom facility at MHS. I think it's been at least a year or more. So, if construction costs keep rising and if the state takes the same amount of time to approve the construction of classroom buildings at MHS, how many more millions of dollars is the state going to cost Monrovia voters while we're sitting around twiddling our thumbs waiting on the state?
Which raises another question. Why does the state need to approve these buildings at all? What skill does the state have that the city and county building departments don't have? If there are a few critical things the state absolutely needs to check, why not let the city check the rest? Is the state arguing that it is more concerned for the safety of Monrovia's kids than the people of Monrovia?
Maybe someone ought to chat with our representatives in Sacramento; not so we can get bumped up in line, but so the whole system can be fixed, because it sure seems to me that there is something really wrong with the way it works now.
~ brad@sacklunch.net
It looks like the High School renovation is going to take a big step forward this Wednesday. The board is going to decide on whether to authorize "the Issuance of Monrovia Unified School District General Obligation Bonds, Series A." I'm bettin' the board votes in favor of this.
The board will also vote (in favor, I'm betting) to establish a citizens' bond oversight committee and approve the committee's bylaws; and it will again consider whether to hire WLC Architects for the design work for the high school renovation. The board was going to do this at the last meeting, but if I recall correctly, all the i's hadn't been dotted on the contract at that time. If the matter is before the board now, I guess they got a new ballpoint pen that finished off those bothersome dots.
Also on the agenda of the main meeting:
- There will be the annual report on Adult Education.
- The board will accept (believe me, it will accept) a gift of $10,000 from Mayflower Elementary School PTA to be used to purchase computers for use at Mayflower Elementary School. Wow! That's a big chunk of cash!
- There will be an evaluation report on the District's English Learner programs.
Before the main meeting there will be:
- A study session to discuss the budget at 5 p.m.
- A closed session "Performance Evaluation Review for Superintendent / District Administrators" at 6:15 p.m. You can't go to that, so step out and have a cup of coffee until the main meeting starts.
Also on the Web at www.monroviaschoollink.com