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Friday, March 12, 2010
School moving from old Marshall School to Thomas Jefferson Elementary
by Jonathan Mendick, published on November 4, 2009 at 7:04PM
Storyline: News in Sacramento
Community Tags: ada americans with disabilities act business calfornia montessori project capitol campus cmp college glen culture education field act jonathan raymond marshall school old marshall school politics primary school sacramento city unified school district school scusd superintendent raymond thomas jefferson thomas jefferson elementary
It was confirmed last week California Montessori Project's Capitol Campus will move from the Marshall School to Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in the College Glen neighborhood.
Since August, CMP leased the Marshall School building from the Sacramento City Unified School District, which also oversees its charter. Next Thursday and Friday, the school will be closed for the move and will resume at the new campus on Nov. 16.
SCUSD superintendent Jonathan Raymond met with CMP board members, students and parents Tuesday night at the campus' new location. After stating reasons for the move, he answered questions from parents.
"The old Marshall School, although a very beautiful facility and by all appearances structurally sound, does not comply with two very important requirements," Raymond said. "No. 1, the Field Act, (which) simply relates to the ability of a building to withstand a seismic event; the other important component is this building does not meet state building codes - it is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act."
He stated that charter schools are required by Prop 39, which passed in 2005, to comply with either one of these codes, and the Marshall School does not. Raymond also took responsibility for the error, and said he looks forward to helping CMP move to the Jefferson campus, which is Field Act and ADA compliant.
"We're going to do it expeditiously, with (the) least disruption to the children and to the families of California Montessori Project, first and foremost," Raymond said to the crowd of nearly 200 gathered in the multi-purpose/lunch room.
This includes providing bus transportation to the new school site throughout the remainder of the school year. Details on the bus routes will be given in the next week, Raymond said.
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School closed at the end of the 2008-09 school year after suffering from low enrollment and loss of revenue. Although CMP Capitol Campus' enrollment is also low, in the low 200s, moving to this location is an opportunity for the school to expand and use the facility the way it should be used, Raymond said.
The school also has a new rooftop ventilation system with furnaces and thermostats added last year, said Mellissa Truitt, SCUSD Associate Superintendent of Capital Asset Management Services.
Some parents said they were still upset about leaving the downtown location so quickly in the middle of a school year. They were notified in late October about a possible move.
"The move is disappointing because we lived in the (Marshall) neighborhood," said Rachelle Barbour, parent of a first-grade student at CMP. "If it wasn't for the liability reasons [if a seismic event did occur, the district and the CMP board would be liable for any injury], it wouldn't have happened so fast."
However, Barbour said she felt "reassured" that the superintendent met with parents and will use the buses provided by the school district. She also noted that there are too few schools in the grid, and said she would like for another school to open in the downtown area.
Darrin Greer, another parent of a first-grade student, thought that the meeting was informative and answered questions.
"The superintendent was open and it helps (that) the district is committed to transportation," he said. "Moving is difficult to do in the middle of the year."
Greer said it would be interesting to see how many people will stay at CMP and how many will leave, but he expects most will stay for at least the rest of this year. He also wanted to know if any other schools in the SCUSD have ADA or Field Act compliance issues.
"This was the only one," Raymond said in an interview after the meeting. "We want to see it thrive. We want to provide whatever support we can to ensure that they do, it's important for the community."
He also said that creating downtown-area schools is a priority.
"We have people living and moving in there, and we need to provide school facilities for those children too and those families," Raymond said. "I've told the community and others in the neighborhood that's something I want to work toward."
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I went to TJ in the 70's. It has a huge field and big trees and new playground equipment. It's nestled in a quiet, safe neighborhood. It's not located downtown, but it's not too far. I hope the families will be ok with this move. Good luck to all of you!
I wonder if the school district got a better offer for the land where the Marshall School building sits? They received such an offer for the old Jefferson School site a few years ago (on 16th & N) and they are looking for ways to monetize their properties and plug the holes in their budgets.
There are some who consider the central city altogether unlivable for kids and families, and may even have a vested economic interest in maintaining that agenda--the 'target market' for Midtown/Downtown is empty-nesters or young couples who haven't had kids yet. The traditional model is that those young couples meet in Midtown, move to the suburbs to raise their kids, then move back--if you're between 30 and 50 years old, apparently there is no place for you here. But it sounds like a generation with different ideas about cities has been trying to change that image--and they just met another big obstacle, in the form of a "no entry" sign hung in front of their school.
When preparing the lease and after a two-year study, our highly educated SCUSD staff had no idea apparently that they were leasing a building to Montessori that did not meet the Field Act or ADA compliant. BUT within a couple of weeks there was a flash of brilliance to someone that in the name of safety, students had to move out IMMEDIATELY. Hadn't been an earthquake in Sacramento before or after the Field Act, other than some vibrations that felt like an 18 wheeler semi-truck rumbling by resulting from the Oroville and Loma Prieta quakes. BUT suddenly students were in imminent danger of the building falling in on them if they didn't get out at once!
But not to worry, parents, SCUSD just happened to have another campus available. Well, not close but in the suburbs several miles away. And one in which neighbors around it had been trying get a middle school on that campus to fill that demand. But SCUSD didn't want a middle school there. So, more than generous staff would force that school upon the parents to keep children safe--it complies with the Field Act.
How coincidental! Or was it? Might it have been planned all along to get Thomas Jefferson occupied? OR was it sheer staff incompentnency, for which SCUSD has a very good track record. I have been told that Supt Raymond is from one of the Carolinas, so knows nothing about local history including the steel beamed construction of Marshall School with quality wood and craftsmanship that will never be again and how such construction holds up during earthquakes.
The Field Act was passed as a one-size-fits-all protection for California schools. So many other newer buildings were built with those protections in mind, and all slept soundly content that new construction would withstand the quakes. Then came the Sylmar earthquake! It woke up everyone! The new Olive View Hospital structures which had opened just a month prior to the earthquake collapsed BUT the original old quality construction hospital remained standing with much less damage and no patients were killed. They were lucky enough to have not yet been transferred. Unfortunately, that cannot be said for for some of the persons who died in the new structure .
Your California earthquake history lesson for today Superintendent Raymond with a some district incompetency and/or inner politics thrown in.
I agree with you about the central city. I have spoken at board meetings about the growth expected in downtown and I was told by one of the facilities guys that they were expecting the growth to be the young people with no kids and the empty-nesters, just like you said. If a city wants to be liveable, it needs to provide for families. It's crazy that the central city and midtown don't have good schools.
Mr. Kooyman, I agree that Old Marshall is probably sturdier than newer structures. I remember they had a heck of a time trying to knock down the original brick Sacramento High School in order to build a new, "safer" structure. That newer, "safer" structure was literally falling apart and has been gutted to the tune of $24 M. I wish they would have let those buildings stand. They don't build 'em like they used to.
I don't blame you for distrusting this district. It has been so bad for so long. There is a brand new school board that represents their own districts (this is new) and a brand new superintendent. I am hoping that things will finally start getting straightened out. These newcomers have a colossal mess to clean up due to the incompetence of the previous boards and superintendents.