NEWS
7 New Westbury school will put students under one roof By Lorenzo Moore WESTBURY HIGH SCHOOL
One-fourth of Westbury High School’s student population can be seen crossing the street daily to attend classes in temporary buildings. Bringing all students together under one roof is what’s fueling Westbury’s Project Advisory Team (PAT) committee to reach completion of the school’s bond project. “I look forward to all of us being in one building,” principal Susan Monaghan said. “I want the construction to be done and I hope that HISD is able to stick to the timeline of one year to complete the project.” The bond, a part of HISD’s 2012 rebuilding initiative, would provide all 2,400 students an opportunity learn in one space. On November 6, 2012, Houston voters approved a 1.89 billion dollar bond to rebuild 40 HISD schools, 29 of which were high schools. Westbury was included in the initiative and already has begun construction.
“The PAT is meeting their deadlines and everything is falling in place for the project,” PAT member Carolyn Clemmons said. “I’m very excited to see it all happen before my eyes and I’m even more excited to see what we have in store for students.” Westbury is one of the first schools pushing through to get their new addition built and eliminate the old building between campus. That seems to be causing problems with students, teachers and administration – predominantly in learning and communication. “There is no synchronization in learning between the learning process that we implement in the main building and those on the temporary campus,” teacher Cedric Williams said. “There are additional problems that make learning inefficient that is caused by a split communication process between the facilities. This results in a delay of information between campuses.” Moreso, freshman students are divided from their fellow classmates, some feeling overlooked.
“I don’t feel as if I’m part of the school’s population,” freshman Marco Mejia said. “Seven out of eight of my classes are here in the temporary buildings. I spend most of the day here and I have gym in the main building. If my classes were in the main building, I would not have to cross the streets in the elements to get to class.” The teachers have had problems with the poor conditions of the classrooms, leading to a difficult and even unsafe learning environment. “Teaching in the Ninth Grade Academy can be difficult mainly due to the air-conditioning being very loud,” freshman teacher Wade Griener said. “In Houston the air conditioning runs all the time so it can be difficult to be heard when teaching students. There were also issues with flooring over there. There have been a few times where teachers have fallen into holes in the temporary
building. This has, at times, made it dangerous for teachers and students.” Many teachers are hoping that the new schools also come with other educational improvements. “I’m hoping that the facilities will be more modern than what we have now, with more technology and classrooms that will be conducive to the technology,” Griener said. A new replacement building will fix these issues and hopefully call for a culture change all over campus between freshman and upperclassmen and teachers as well, many say.
“I don’t feel as if I’m part of the school’s population.”
Davis High School sees no money from 2012 bond
By Alexis Medrano DAVIS HIGH SCHOOL
Three years ago Davis High School was promised a new campus worth $45 million dollars. Jump to the year 2015, the 89-year-old building is still standing and is filled with broken hopes and dreams students and staff. As part of the 2012 HISD Bond Project, Davis was one of the 29 high schools that was promised a new campus. Davis’ students and staff put on a parade in order to get the community to vote for the bond project and were successful in the process. However three years later no construction has started. HISD bought property for the new campus that now sits empty and the building is falling apart. HISD has begun making some changes that many say is due to Facebook posts by a Davis teacher. AP English Language and Literature teacher Diane Morrow took to Facebook and expressed her frustration with HISD putting Davis on the back burner. “The problem is HISD is not going to rebuild the school and it was a complete shock. The bond
was passed and we were promised a new school,” said Morrow who wants HISD and all of Houston to understand the hurt Davis feels. Morrow explains what led to the post and her concerns for the school. “It was the restroom that bothered me a lot. The students deserve more. The school was moved to Cower stadium - before we had Delmar and the fields are in better in shape and were taken care of. Cower stadium is in horrible condition. The fields aren’t even marked and the refer-
ees can’t tell if the balls are in or out,” she said. Another teacher feels the frustration of the broken promises of the bond. Anna Bass is an art instructor and the swim coach at Davis. “Utter disappointment” is how she described her feelings. “It was sad to hear the news because when the bond was presented, it showed how the school would be built and they asked for the teachers input,” she said. “It feels like a slap in the face. I don’t undertand why we don’t get
a new school. Why was all the effort?” Bass explained how difficult it is for her swim team to practice when the pool keeps breaking down. “The district does minor repairs but it needs to be redone. The pool was built around the 1940’s and both the pool and the school are old,” she said. Even principal Dr. Julissa Alcanatar is disappointed and is extremely hurt she can’t provide for the students and school as promised.
“We started the parades and went door to door to get people to vote. When the bond was passed we were very excited. But now they are telling us the school is getting renovated and repainted.” Alcanatar said she knows and believes the community deserves a better school for the future students of Jefferson Davis. “The school has a lot of needs but we had a budget and we stuck to it. We had our PAT meetings for over two years. Davis has kids who are involved in Magnet programs, digital media, band, mariachi, orchestra and dance. We were hoping the bond would help us extend our fine arts. We wanted to find something better for the kids,” Alcanatar said. However Alcanatar, herself is at a loss for words and doesn’t know how to explain this to the school. “How do I explain this? The economy changed, other schools are getting more money? At the end of the day, I pray a lot and hope something will change,” she said. For now Morrow hopes HISD will make a decision that will benefit the school and its future. “This is a savage inequality. Where’s the money? HISD promised us a new school and the keyword is promised,” Morrow said. “We will begin to lose the trust of the community. The people with power need to take responsibility and own up to what they did. I said what needed to be said, but I’m angry and heartbroken.”