School Board Showdown

Step right up folks, step right up!
Get yourself in line to see the greatest show in town tonight!
That's right folks, the Trenton Board of Education is meeting again, and this time they'll have to let the public speak, which should provide for some fireworks.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m., but you have to sign in to speak by 6:15 p.m., and not one, but two controversial issues concerning city high schools should have passionate participants turning out en masse.


One issue involves the Daylight/Twilight High School, where faculty and staff feel the district has been systematically taking their program apart since the school's popular principal Bill Tracy was suspended late last year. No charges have been filed against Tracy, but he's been suspended with pay for about the past two months. Superintendent Rodney Lofton has said the district is investigating Tracy and the school for improprieties involving grading, testing and attendance procedures.
Since Tracy's removal, Daylight/Twilight staff loyal to their leader have said the district and the school board have taken aim at the program in general and they fear large numbers of their students will not graduate this year as a result. District officials have denied, however, that they are targeting the school in any way other than their investigation of its leadership.
The group amassing around the issue has already had about 100 of their members turn out for one school board meeting and organized an even larger rally outside of city hall earlier this month.
All this comes as the school gets set to move into a brand new $45 million building downtown, built with state funds.
We'll see what kind of turnout they can muster tonight.


The second issue also involves new high school buildings and state funds, as the board is scheduled to vote tonight on a plan of action regarding the district's regular high school.
Trenton Central High School, the grand old, majestic building along Chambers Street, is rotting from the inside, providing a lackluster and potentially unhealthy learning environment for city students. The district has had a plan on file to renovate the building to bring it up to contemporary standards. But state funding for that project was lost along the way, and the board's potential vote tonight would be to move to a new plan of constructing two brand new schools, which would likely lead to the demolition of the old TCHS.
Lofton and other school officials have said that the vote wouldn't necessarily mean tearing down the old school, but is instead an attempt at getting the ball rolling for these new schools.
But preservationists say the plan would get the wrecking ball rolling too, as TCHS would be left to crumble.
Lofton said his new plan would ultimately call for three smaller schools, the third of which could incorporate some portion of a renovated TCHS, though there are no concrete plans laid out for that option as of yet.
Opponents of tonight's vote feel there have been little in the way of concrete plans offered for inspection throughout the process of moving toward the new schools. District officials have said that new construction would be cheaper than renovation, but their numbers have been loose estimates, nothing has been in writing and no construction sites have been proposed for the new buildings, making the projection of any final costs of the project questionable.
The Trenton Historical Society has worked out some figures showing how both plans could cost about the same, see them here.
At a special meeting last week, held to discuss the high school project, state officials told the board that taking more time to discuss the plan wouldn't hinder its completion, and said they'd be willing to join in the process. Trenton's City Council also passed a resolution prior to that meeting asking that the school board slow down its decision. But despite those two developments, board members still seem primed to move forward with their vote tonight.
South Ward Councilman Jim Coston sent a letter yesterday to Lofton, again asking that he influence the board to delay the vote. That letter can be read here, but we'll have to wait until tonight for the reply.


Again, that meeting is at 7 p.m., but you must sign in to speak by 6:15 p.m. It's held in the district's central office at 108 North Clinton Avenue.


See you there!

School Board Showdown

Step right up folks, step right up!
Get yourself in line to see the greatest show in town tonight!
That's right folks, the Trenton Board of Education is meeting again, and this time they'll have to let the public speak, which should provide for some fireworks.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m., but you have to sign in to speak by 6:15 p.m., and not one, but two controversial issues concerning city high schools should have passionate participants turning out en masse.


One issue involves the Daylight/Twilight High School, where faculty and staff feel the district has been systematically taking their program apart since the school's popular principal Bill Tracy was suspended late last year. No charges have been filed against Tracy, but he's been suspended with pay for about the past two months. Superintendent Rodney Lofton has said the district is investigating Tracy and the school for improprieties involving grading, testing and attendance procedures.
Since Tracy's removal, Daylight/Twilight staff loyal to their leader have said the district and the school board have taken aim at the program in general and they fear large numbers of their students will not graduate this year as a result. District officials have denied, however, that they are targeting the school in any way other than their investigation of its leadership.
The group amassing around the issue has already had about 100 of their members turn out for one school board meeting and organized an even larger rally outside of city hall earlier this month.
All this comes as the school gets set to move into a brand new $45 million building downtown, built with state funds.
We'll see what kind of turnout they can muster tonight.


The second issue also involves new high school buildings and state funds, as the board is scheduled to vote tonight on a plan of action regarding the district's regular high school.
Trenton Central High School, the grand old, majestic building along Chambers Street, is rotting from the inside, providing a lackluster and potentially unhealthy learning environment for city students. The district has had a plan on file to renovate the building to bring it up to contemporary standards. But state funding for that project was lost along the way, and the board's potential vote tonight would be to move to a new plan of constructing two brand new schools, which would likely lead to the demolition of the old TCHS.
Lofton and other school officials have said that the vote wouldn't necessarily mean tearing down the old school, but is instead an attempt at getting the ball rolling for these new schools.
But preservationists say the plan would get the wrecking ball rolling too, as TCHS would be left to crumble.
Lofton said his new plan would ultimately call for three smaller schools, the third of which could incorporate some portion of a renovated TCHS, though there are no concrete plans laid out for that option as of yet.
Opponents of tonight's vote feel there have been little in the way of concrete plans offered for inspection throughout the process of moving toward the new schools. District officials have said that new construction would be cheaper than renovation, but their numbers have been loose estimates, nothing has been in writing and no construction sites have been proposed for the new buildings, making the projection of any final costs of the project questionable.
The Trenton Historical Society has worked out some figures showing how both plans could cost about the same, see them here.
At a special meeting last week, held to discuss the high school project, state officials told the board that taking more time to discuss the plan wouldn't hinder its completion, and said they'd be willing to join in the process. Trenton's City Council also passed a resolution prior to that meeting asking that the school board slow down its decision. But despite those two developments, board members still seem primed to move forward with their vote tonight.
South Ward Councilman Jim Coston sent a letter yesterday to Lofton, again asking that he influence the board to delay the vote. That letter can be read here, but we'll have to wait until tonight for the reply.


Again, that meeting is at 7 p.m., but you must sign in to speak by 6:15 p.m. It's held in the district's central office at 108 North Clinton Avenue.


See you there!