Do you think the Board made the right choice on Cass High?
Posted on September 12, 2007 by mattshultz
Let your voice be heard! Please click on the link below and vote in the online poll about the boards decision to place Cass High school behind White Elementary.
Update: Voting more than once only keeps the true feelings of the community from being heard!
Just 2 questions: Did the board look at another specific piece of property that was more to your liking that was rejected?
And: Is last Monday’s decision final?
Thanks.
We looked at a number of properties on the West side of I-75 that would have made more sense than what we ended up with. There was a particular parcel on Hwy 411 that would have been less expensive and allowed us to manage this school systems growth much easier. It’s never final until the land has been closed on and that could be weeks from now.
Thanks for your prompt response. Three follow up questions:
Was the land you referenced for sale?
Did the layout of the land require more grading than the property selected to make it usable?
Were utilities already run to the property on 411?
The land was available and the site work would have been more extensive but at no cost to the system. The utilities would have been more expensive but because of less acreage and the mitigated site work the total cost would have been less to the system. We are overspending in White by at least 1.8 million dollars for land that will not be needed for years. That is enough money to purchase two elementary school sites. We will need those schools in the next five years and the extra land in White will still be sitting unused.
Sounds like the 411 site was a no-brainer.
Can you shed any light as to the reasons given to pick the other site?
Is there any possibility of purchasing both sites?
I wish I could tell you why but I still can’t explain it myself. If enough pressure was applied it could be possible to buy both tracts.
Matt, it’s been rumored for years that all that open land on 411 towards Rome was going to be some big development(mega-mall, amusement park, etc.)-do you think there was pressure applied to not buy that property because that would essentially take it off the tax rolls?
I really don’t think that was it….There are some huge residential developments that are in the works especially in the Kingston area (2,000 homes). This makes it even a worse decision to put the high school in White. The end result of all of this will be mass redistricting as we get closer to the new school opening up. Outside of the Cass faithful who do not want to see the school in White…The other big loser in all of this is Woodland. Woodland has over 1800 students and putting Cass in the Hwy 411 area could have made it easier to relieve their growth. As it stands now a new high school will not be built in the South for at least 7-8 years and I really do not know how we can help that school now outside of mass redistricting and lots of portable classrooms.
I hate the idea of the school going to White.
Matt, You are a great spin doctor!!!! Tell the truth. Why did the board not pick this land? Oh, Woodland is the loser? They are the loser now due to the fact that over 200 Cass student walk the halls now, over 1850 students. Take your Cass students back to Cass, but for some reason they don’t want to b e at Cass!
I have told the truth about the land….Woodlands overcrowding problem would have been helped more by a school located on the West side of I-75. There are students attending Woodland from all over the county and the city. That may all end pretty soon as well.
Many of the people in the school system support what you are saying, but are afraid to speak out because of retaliation. (I am not employed by the school system.) It is very obvious that something is wrong with the selection of this site. The Highway 411 site makes much more sense.
I guess the name will be changed to Cass High School at White. Or, what about Cass-White High School; then the Cartersville students will come along a cover up the “C” in Cass.
Jack I agree with you!
All one has to do is look at the map and the distribution of children to know that the decision to place the new Cass High School in White is a gross error in judgment and definitely not in the best interest of the majority of students, the school and the community. The map clearly shows the number of students living on the west side of I-75, the Cass area, greatly outnumber the number of students in the White area.
The Cass-White exit of I-75 is extremely congested with traffic especially during the morning hours when buses and student drivers will be trying to make their way to the school. A great number of vehicles causing the congestion are large trucks. The Cass-White road is also very curvy and narrow.
How could Dr. Boring and our elected board members expect us to believe this to be the best decision? Could it be that personal agendas are involved?
I hate the idea of the new high school being in White. The road is not wide enough for the amount of traffic and is not as safe. As parents of high schoolers we should complain about this til something is done. I have a junior and a freshman at Cass so the new school will probably not affect my family but for the safety of all children this is a HUGE MISTAKE that the BOE has made.
Matt, I applaude you for doing what is right and fighting them on this issue. This is not the first mistake the school board has recenetly made and I hope they can fix it before someones child is KILLED on that road trying to get to school. The BOE has to do a better job in protecting the interest of our children and do the job they were elected to do.
Matt, How will this work into Sonny’s plans for this area? I recal an AJC article from just after the TOYO debacle in which Sonny proclaimed this area a mega industrial site that would reach from the TOYO site to I-75. That doesn’t seem like it would include a school.
The county and city are developing hundreds of acres off of Zion road for an industrial park that will only make this traffic problem worse. Here is a link to a map of the CBC industrial park:
http://www.locationbartow.com/corp_park_docs/05-01-06%20B%20JDA%20Park%20layout.pdf
You are on to something. This was a horrible site and is way to expensive
Has anyone thought about building another elementary school on Hwy 20 end to replace Cloverleaf. Traffic is terrible coming and going from here. Anyone who has a child or grandchild knows that if you are not in the car line by 1:45 - 2:00 you are backed up in traffic on Felton Road and at times backing up the red lite on Tennesse Street. This school has really seen its last days and they’re is not much more they can do in this spot to improve things.
Cloverleaf has been identified as a school in need of replacement….I am not sure what the timeline will be but i know it is on the radar.
hey i think its a good idea cause i love cass im going there next year but right now i go to adairsville and it sucks bad