posted by Mike Madison at 6:53 PM /
Next Monday -- Sept. 21 -- Tonight at 7 pm the Mt. Lebanon School Board and Celli-Flynn, the project architects, will meet with interested members of the public to share an "architect's update" on the high school renovation project. [Updated -- Sorry for any brief confusion about the date!]
Far more interesting, however, is the action outside the meeting.
Yesterday, I noted that Celli-Flynn had prepared a long letter to MTLSD Superintendent Tim Steinhauer responding to detailed criticisms of the current design submitted by Dirk Taylor, Lebo resident, structural engineer, and long-time MTLSD consultant. Today, a full copy of that letter has been posted to the High School Renovation website. Here's a link to that website; here is a link to the CF letter. The website also now includes copies of Dirk Taylor's letters to the Superintendent and the School Board.
All is not well here, however. I note two problems, which are the sources of my "bad behavior" characterization in the post title.
First: Would it have killed the District to have characterized Dirk Taylor's correspondence as "Letter from Mr. Dirk Taylor," rather than "Resident letter," which is what the site says? This strikes me as a patronizing trivialization of someone who has provided many, many hours of volunteer advising to the School District on this project as well as on others.
Second, and more important: The documents that the District has posted fail to include the key material! The CF letter makes no sense to anyone unless the reader can see the documents that CF was asked to respond to -- the material that I've characterized before as "the Taylor Report." Yet the District has failed to include those documents in the public record. Why?
[Updated 9/15/09: It now appears that the "Taylor Report" has been added to the High School Renovation website.]
Given the amount of money at stake and the expected life of a new building, the high school renovation process likely represents the best and perhaps last great opportunity for Mt. Lebanon to celebrate its commitment to community and to education for at least a generation. A well-managed design and planning process would, in the best of worlds, represent numerous opportunities for innovation, inclusion, and building good will. Whether or not the current design is changed at all -- and there is no evidence that it will be -- the secrecy and defensiveness of the current Board and the District's leadership means that an enormous pool of community good will is being squandered, rather than accumulated.
So that the record is clear, the Taylor Report is online, at this post.
Far more interesting, however, is the action outside the meeting.
Yesterday, I noted that Celli-Flynn had prepared a long letter to MTLSD Superintendent Tim Steinhauer responding to detailed criticisms of the current design submitted by Dirk Taylor, Lebo resident, structural engineer, and long-time MTLSD consultant. Today, a full copy of that letter has been posted to the High School Renovation website. Here's a link to that website; here is a link to the CF letter. The website also now includes copies of Dirk Taylor's letters to the Superintendent and the School Board.
All is not well here, however. I note two problems, which are the sources of my "bad behavior" characterization in the post title.
First: Would it have killed the District to have characterized Dirk Taylor's correspondence as "Letter from Mr. Dirk Taylor," rather than "Resident letter," which is what the site says? This strikes me as a patronizing trivialization of someone who has provided many, many hours of volunteer advising to the School District on this project as well as on others.
Second, and more important: The documents that the District has posted fail to include the key material! The CF letter makes no sense to anyone unless the reader can see the documents that CF was asked to respond to -- the material that I've characterized before as "the Taylor Report." Yet the District has failed to include those documents in the public record. Why?
[Updated 9/15/09: It now appears that the "Taylor Report" has been added to the High School Renovation website.]
Given the amount of money at stake and the expected life of a new building, the high school renovation process likely represents the best and perhaps last great opportunity for Mt. Lebanon to celebrate its commitment to community and to education for at least a generation. A well-managed design and planning process would, in the best of worlds, represent numerous opportunities for innovation, inclusion, and building good will. Whether or not the current design is changed at all -- and there is no evidence that it will be -- the secrecy and defensiveness of the current Board and the District's leadership means that an enormous pool of community good will is being squandered, rather than accumulated.
So that the record is clear, the Taylor Report is online, at this post.
Labels: high school renovation
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