On Sunday's op-ed page Upper Darby School Board member Rachel Mitchell made the case for why the district is looking to build a new middle school in Clifton Heights.
No one is arguing the need for the school. Upper Darby has not put up a new building in 50 years, and their existing schools are bursting at the seams.
Mitchell made the argument that every school board member would make, that every student in the district - regardless of where they live - deserves an equal education.
You can read her letter here.
A few hours later, she got a response from Clifton Heights residents.
More than 400 of them.
That's how many people gathered at their beloved Springfield Road fields - "sacred ground" as the mayor declared - to oppose the district's plans.
Two things struck me about the "Storm the Field" rally in Clifton Heights. One, everyone there agreed on the need for the school. It's where the district wants to put it, on Clifton Heights only piece of open space, the site of so many community gatherings, youth sports activities and even the annual Fourth of July celebration and fireworks show.
You can read our coverage of the rally here.
And if you still want to voice your opinion, you can attend special meetings being held Wednesday night at Drexel Hill Middle School from 6-7 p.m., and again at Beverly Hills Middle School from 7:15-8:15 p.m.
Comments
"Losing" the green space. Just look at the plans for the grounds as compared to the overhead views of the fields. Less than half will be used for a school and a parking lot. The rest will have brand new fields (and it appears to be more of them), there will be a community building, there will be playground space and plenty of other "green space". The school is not going to take the "open plains" of Clifton and turn it into downtown Manhattan.
The District has repeatedly said they invite Clifton to continue to use the fields. Do I believe them? Nope, I don't trust any government. So Clifton should make up a list of the yearly activities and start to work WITH the district instead of insulting them every step of the way and get it in writing. Get the district to put the agreement in writing and get a Clifton representative as a liaison to ensure scheduling for Clifton activities. Instead of planning for the possibility of "losing" (yeah, in this case "losing" means you get a brand new school and brand new fields) and getting a school a representative would be in place.
It's ok to fight every way that you can to stop the school, I respect that in every way. It's not ok that there's no leadership looking past the ultimate decision of what the UDSD will do on UDSD property.
And based on the news that UDSD wants to terminate the lease to Clifton just shows that the attitude and shade thrown at the UDSD might not have been the best way to go.
But I digress.