Debate looms over Humble ISD elementary school
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Rick Janacek
What was supposed to be a vote regarding design plans for a new Humble ISD elementary school turned into heated debate about when the school should actually be built, as the Humble ISD School Board met to discuss several issues at its December meeting. The school, which is set to open in 2013, will be located in the southern part of the district, near Beltway 8. It will be located near the Sunset Ridge subdivision. The school board’s agenda called for a vote on Superintendent Guy Sconzo’s recommendation to approve the design development document for the school prepared by PBK Architects. However, the item became a springboard for more debate regarding the timing of the construction of the school, which has been debated for several months by board members. HISD board member Robert Scarfo believes plans to open the school in 2013 should be delayed. “I look at our district projections, and I still don’t see them warranting moving forward with a 2013 opening,” Scarfo said. “And I think there is sufficient data that says you can really wait until 2015, because opening a building based on our projections of 50 percent capacity and utilization in 2013. At the very least I think we should wait a year…”
Scarfo says while he is not a big fan of portable buildings being used to teach elementary students, they are used throughout the district and can be used at surrounding schools if needed in the interim. He also suggested there are other ways to relieve possible overcrowding, and once again challenged board members to delay construction.
“It’s not too late to put this off for 12 months,” Scarfo said. “We like to say we our data driven and at least five of my six colleagues say that they are fiscally conservative. But if we move ahead with this, in my opinion, that would not be keeping with either of those tenets, data driven and fiscally conservative.” Scarfo’s comments drew the ire of board member Keith Lapeze, a proponent of the new school.
“We have three schools that can’t fit any more kids in them and your solution is to move those kids around,” Lapeze said. “What are we going to do, bus them to Kingwood?”
Lapeze accused Scarfo of only criticizing the plans and not giving solutions, but Scarfo said the solution is to wait at least a year, given two year enrollment projections at the schools to be relieved by the new building. Other board member who once supported delaying the opening of the school came out in support of the 2013 opening.
“We need to not get too twisted that schools belong to certain communities,” said board member Charles Cunningham. “I think as we move forward, I think we made the right decision, and I am going to stick by that decision. This is not just a Sunset Ridge school. It’s not built just for Sunset Ridge. The population in the south part of the district although might not be homes, it might be apartments, but they have kids. And our job is to educate children, wherever they might live.”
Sconzo also voiced his support, telling Scarfo that they will agree to disagree on this issue. Scarfo did commend the architects for their design of the school, calling it a good-looking building that looks very functional as well. The school board passed the design plans for the school, which remains on track to open in August of 2013.