The brick and wrought iron fence around West Side School is being demolished.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4096/4823507581_f01587dde6.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39213183@N02/4823507581/)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39213183@N02/4823507581/in/photostream/

Can the school building be far behind?

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4098/4823506303_93e30c291b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/39213183@N02/4823506303/)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39213183@N02/4823506303/in/photostream/

Let's hope so...

It was cleared to be sold by Mid-Del. It doesn't show that the site has sold yet, but if the district is clearing out, then why not take everything of value....knowing whoever buys it is going to doze the place.

The Orchestra is moving to Del City High, which is pretty much the only thing that was left over there. They had moved every aspect of the school out over the last few years.

The alternative program was still there as well as, Parent's as Teachers, Kid's Kampus and Even Start Teen Parent program. The alternative program will be a MCHS in the evenings and the others will be at DCHS.

Why is no one questioning the motives here? At best, they are selling off capital assets to pay operating costs...

It's not a bad motive issue. it's a superfluous property. They've really had to make up reasons to use the building for years and years. When the special needs students were moved back to their home sites and the advanced program moved out, they really had to stretch to make an arguement for the place. These other programs have floated around the district for years in various sites and don't have any ties to West Side. As I said, the Orchestra is moving, so there really isn't any reason to keep the place.

Also, the re-org plan for the district includes other closures, so it's not a hidden agenda thing or anything. It's been tossed around for years and years. Sooner Rose is one of (if not THE) oldest buildings in the district and has huge safety/traffic issues because of it's location. They'd like to close it and split the kids between Traub and I think Parkview???...correct me on that one. Both schools have plenty room to absorb. Traub's site even has room to expand some if they wanted to. While Sooner Rose does have more land availble next to it, it costs a lot more and would require a lot of grade work.

The district is trying to adjust based on the fact that enrollment is shifting. Schools that once had students crawling out the windows, have empty classrooms. It's just how things go. As people move east, the population left in the west doesn't populate the schools as much....there are more older folks, or folks that their kids have grown up and they stay in the same house, etc. Del City High's ADM is a good example of that. With the newest ADM numbers released last week, they are the smallest 6A school now....they're going to be 5A in the next 10 years for sure.

Convenient that Sooner Rose and West Side are in prime retail locations.

Convenient that Sooner Rose and West Side are in prime retail locations.

I heard that the Sooner Rose Elementary will relocate because of the increased traffic. I think they need to speed it up. Tear it all down!

Well the vote didn't pass to close Sooner Rose, so for now, it's not going anywhere. It's one of the smallest elementary schools. It also has the least amount of already owned land to grow on. Compare that lot to say....East Side, Cleveland Bailey, Ridgecrest, Parkview, Country Estates, etc. Sooner Rose is stuck on the land they have. Because the surrounding land is prime, it's too expensive to buy to expand. But again, Traub isn't closing, and it's also prime land.

What's funny is, the district had enough foresight to buy large plots in the neighborhoods, which are the lots where it would have been a LOT more difficult to expand if they needed to. But on the main roads, they never seemed to have bought as large...probably beacuse they land cost more at the time.

I promise there isn't a conspiracy here.

I guess we will suffer with those annoying yellow lights with no kids crossing. :-(

I guess we will suffer with those annoying yellow lights with no kids crossing. :-(

What a strange thing to say.

What a strange thing to say.

Not strange. I try to avoid that area during school season.

So you can't be inconvenienced for the total of 30 seconds it takes to go through a school zone huh? You know how those darned kids are in the way all the time and shouldn't be protected so you can make up 30 seconds on the highway.

Last time I checked, they didn't start the school zones super early and they didn't last very long either.

And when has West Side ever had a school zone on Air Depot? Sooner Rose, yes...but um hello, it's there for a reason. It takes longer for the light to cycle than to drive through it.

Having yellow lights for no good reason (no kids ever seen crossing the busy streets) is a safety hazard when there is congested traffic being backed up. One of these days, these slow-moving traffic could cause a chain reaction wrecks. If you look closely, the yellow lights are positioned too far from the school.

Its like the stupid yellow lights in front of a church (with part school...) on 29th. No kids ever cross the street, but the yellow lights flash endlessly during school season. My guess they wanted special treatment or recognition.

Having yellow lights for no good reason (no kids ever seen crossing the busy streets) is a safety hazard when there is congested traffic being backed up. One of these days, these slow-moving traffic could cause a chain reaction wrecks. If you look closely, the yellow lights are positioned too far from the school.

Its like the stupid yellow lights in front of a church (with part school...) on 29th. No kids ever cross the street, but the yellow lights flash endlessly during school season. My guess they wanted special treatment or recognition.

Wow, just wow.

My same reaction...every time I see a post from Thunder I think, "with every work you make me think you have fewer brain cells than the day before". Can I buy you some duct tape?

Mid-Del Schools start Thursday! So everyone mind those flashing yellow lights and watch for kiddies! Those kids want "special treatment" in the school zones.

My same reaction...every time I see a post from Thunder I think, "with every work you make me think you have fewer brain cells than the day before". Can I buy you some duct tape?

You owe me a keyboard, bombermwc! (And well said also)

We just had a kid run over at Epperly Heights. Why can't these kids learn not to play/walk in traffic? First day... One down.

. Sooner Rose is one of (if not THE) oldest buildings in the district and has huge safety/traffic issues because of it's location. They'd like to close it and split the kids between Traub and I think Parkview???...correct me on that one. Both schools have plenty room to absorb. Traub's site even has room to expand some if they wanted to.
.

Speaking of Traub..............................their gonna sell it also and move that student population east.
THe collage has an offer to buy the traub land......

And I agree with eastern observer, the reasoning as given to sell the capitol assets is inconsistent withtthe efforts of the school board to cover operating expenses

Think about consolidation though, you save a lot on operating costs if you can close a few facilities and still not over populate the classrooms in other buildings...why not do it? Every dollar not spent on taxes/electricity/maintenance/etc on a site, is a dollar back into the operating budget.