Save Jack Yates High School: HISD Board Agenda Item Regarding Abatement, Don't Demolish, Renovate for October 8, 2015
- Target:
- HISD Superintendent and Board of Education Trustees, Houston TX
- Region:
- United States of America
We, the Alumni of Jack Yates (Sr.) High School in Harris, County, take pride in our school and in a productive interface between our school, the community and the Houston Independent School District (HISD) that is part of our Legacy. As a follow up to September 10, 2015 Board Meeting concerns regarding (1) Agenda Item H-2: Authority To Negotiate, Execute, And Amend Construction Contract For Jack Yates High School, (2) the status of the improvements of Jack Yates High School, (3) 2012 Bond and (4) its current status based on The Houston Chronicle's front page article published on Monday; September 7, 2015 regarding HISD Board seeks audit.
We have reviewed the following information provided by HISD in order to make an informed decision in the best interest of Jack Yates High School at 3703 Sampson St, its current and future students.
Jack Yates alumni, parents, and community request that Superintendent Terry Grier and the Board of Education Trustees vote in favor to approve the necessary changes to our bond provisions, just as Bellaire and Davis High Schools, in order to move forward with the new provisions to our project.
We request to remodel/renovate Jack Yates in an effort (1) to maintain what we already have, (2) keep our capacity for expected expansion, (3) upgrade our UIL standing to Tier 1 (6A), (4) better technology and (5) a strong curriculum so Jack Yates will have a "Platinum State of the Art" Maritime, School of Communications, and Health Sciences Programs. In addition, we need a true feeder pattern Middle School that's compatible with our pathways to expand enrollment to 2100+, which can be occupied on the campus of Jack Yates.
Under the current rebuild provisions, we lose the following: (1) Historical Landmark (new school will be 100 years before obtaining), (2) 1.5 acres (including 100 ft front, 400 ft wide easement and a retention pond), (3) 80,000 sq ft of building space, (4) swimming pool (learn to swim for students, swim team and Maritime Program), (5) auditorium space, (6) 2 gyms (instead of 1 gym with sliding partition walls), (7) 2 tennis courts ("Mattress Mack" Jim McIngvale donated 4 courts in 2010), (8) outside basketball courts, and (9) Tier 1 enrollment capacity (2100+). Shifting from a new build to a renovation/replacement paradigm, creates a new Jack Yates without losing key elements of our current footprint.
The original $72 million bond offer for Jack Yates was sufficient to build a new school at its current capacity of 2,600 - 3,000 in 2012 but the approved $59 million is only to replace/remodel deficient areas of Jack Yates based on the 2012 Parsons Report. At the amount of $59/$66 million, the choice to rebuild a new school brings our capacity down to 1,300 - 1,500. All of the reports are available at http://www.houstonisd.org/Page/72209, 2012 Bond Overview (on Left), 2012 Parsons Reports (on right), HISD 2012 folder, High Schools, then locate Yates HS or https://docs.google.com/folderview?id=0B1j71etzHPhlMlBVNVVjUXRmRXM&tid=0B1j71etzHPhlNVFBY0lNejBla0k for 2012 Parsons Report for the public to review.
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The Save Jack Yates High School: HISD Board Agenda Item Regarding Abatement, Don't Demolish, Renovate for October 8, 2015 petition to HISD Superintendent and Board of Education Trustees, Houston TX was written by Jack Yates National Alumni Association and is in the category Civil Rights at GoPetition.