Read the full story here Web Link posted Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 12:56 PM
Town Square
PACT's new campus readies for first day
Original post made on Aug 18, 2009
Read the full story here Web Link posted Tuesday, August 18, 2009, 12:56 PM
Comments (9)
a resident of Jackson Park
on Aug 18, 2009 at 8:19 pm
I'm outraged. Special interests win the day. A new school next to Therakauf? What happened to the idea of neighborhood schools? Two million dollars? This is the first time I've read that figure? Six portable classroom hardly seems to echo all the calls for sustainability and green building. What a joke.
a resident of Monta Loma
on Aug 18, 2009 at 9:25 pm
carol you must understand this is no joke. The pact always gets what they want space,teacher,money they are the most self-serving group.
a resident of Rex Manor
on Aug 19, 2009 at 9:17 am
Folks,
It is not a neighborhood school, it is a district wide program housed at a new site. The new modular (not portable) classroom buildings are quite striking. As has been stated over and over, school district capital funds for buildings cannot be used for operations anyway (regardless of budget constraints). Pact had to give up a neighborhood campus at Slater. Let's see how much conditions improve at Castro during the school year before we judge whether this move only benefits PACT.
With respect to Green Building, the hard facts are that "Green" can still cost 25% more than "normal" construction. Since modulars are less expensive than "normal", a "Green" campus for Stevenson might have cost $3million.
a resident of North Whisman
on Aug 19, 2009 at 9:53 am
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that special interest groups run the United States. The same is true in our local school district. PACT is made up of a large group of strongly dedicated and highly motivated parents AND teachers working towards common goals. If you are unhappy about your school or the district, then you need to volunteer, organize, and lobby for change.
a resident of another community
on Aug 19, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Everyone needs to chill. PACT gets no special treatment. They moved because they are a self-contained CHOICE program, and Castro was overcrowded. They are and always have been run like a separate school, which is open to EVERYONE in the district. I have no problem with PACT, and I honestly can't figure out why people get so incensed. Someone had to move off the Castro campus, and PACT was the logical choice, as I said, because they are a stand-alone program. They are not exclusive, they don't get any more money from the district or state, etc. The do their own fundraising -- but so do the PTAs of all the schools. If they hadn't moved to Stevenson, someone would have, and the money would have been spent on MVWSD students either way.
a resident of Castro City
on Aug 19, 2009 at 9:51 pm
To former pact parent do you think only pact parents volunteer,organize and lobby. Your program is as exclusive as a private school pact disrupts the balance of our district. So get off your high house!!!
a resident of another community
on Aug 21, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Actually, I believe that PACT technically IS like a separate school, according to Education Code regulations, and has been since its inception. It was just always housed at another school's campus. But it's no more exclusive than any other school -- anyone can apply to it, just as you can request a transfer to any school in the district, or to the Dual Immersion program. If there's space, you can go. If you choose PACT, you agree to their model, which includes a certain amount of time volunteering, etc. If you choose DI, you agree to their model -- that your kids' homework will be in Spanish and you might not be able to help them with it, etc.
I don't see that PACT is exclusive in any way.
a resident of Waverly Park
on Aug 24, 2009 at 3:23 pm
To Jenfer and Doug
Sorry, but the correct term is: 'High Horse' . . . not High House.
So do don't make the mistake again.
a resident of Old Mountain View
on Jan 20, 2010 at 9:04 pm
The only actually complaint I see here is that the school/program is funded well enough to have buildings? Are things really so bad that students getting a school to learn in, and their prior campus getting more space for their students to learn in, is this really something to nitpick about?
Shouldn't people who care (ie the folks on this thread who appeared to care enough to read this article and comment) be working together to make MV schools the best in the nation, rather than tearing down any and all MV programs that seem to be working? How ludicrous is that?
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