More than 50 people sign Change.org petition to save Anna Yates Elementary School; Seek more information about school operating and construction costs
The number of signatures is growing on a Change. org petition opposing the School Board’s plan to eventually close Anna Yates and combine both elementary and high school students on the campus of the Emeryville Center of Community Life (ECCL). While the construction of ECCL is expected to take years, the new school buildings are slated for completion in 2013-14. Construction will begin soon on the site of the existing high school, which will be torn down this summer.
The citizens’ group is also requesting construction and operating budgets for all city school sites.
School Superintendent Debbra Lindo denied the group’s request to be heard at the June 11 School Board meeting, saying there was no room on the agenda. She said she “is working to find a space” on the June 25 agenda but is making no promises.
Here are some names and comments of those who signed the Change.org petition:
-
Parent, Triangle Resident, property tax payer, ECDC Advisory Committee Member. I’ve been opposed to many facets of this project from the outset. I want to retain Anna Yates as an anchor to our Triangle neighborhood, don’t want young children co-located on the same campus as big kids and teens, and think such a large project is financially irresponsible.
-
I am not a parent but I support community control of education and development driven by student’s and community needs not money. The ECCL project is over-centralizing students like it’s a warehouse. The money should go to hiring, reducing class sizes, and making existing schools and communities resilient through this 2nd Great Depression that is seeing no real “recovery” in sight.
-
Anna Yates is in a wonderful side street in Emeryville that somehow manages to escape the urban feeling of nearby San Pablo. Maybe it is the fact that residential housing is on both adjoining streets and the school’s garden is on Adeline, another mainly residential street with many single family homes. In contrast, Emery Secondary is across from the AC Transit yard and will front right on San Pablo! Let’s keep Anna Yates in its nicer setting, and keep older high school students away from our younger kids! ~ Michael Webber, resident with 3 school ages kids, and City Council candidate in 2011.
-
15 year resident, former measure j citizens oversight committee member, r.u.l.e. member
-
I, too, have thought of the school as an anchor to a family-oriented neighborhood during my 35 years in Emeryville. There is an elementary school on San Pablo in Berkeley, with an institutional feel, fronting on lots of traffic and business. Just drive North on San Pablo toward Berkeley to see it on the right side of the street and consider the advantages of the nestled Anna Yates. In Italy the word used for nursery school and lower grade levels is nido, or nest. The children need this intimacy.
-
24-year resident of Emeryville
-
Elementary school students need their own campus, not the anxiety of being in corridors with older students. The ridiculous cost of the ECCL is coming at the expense of all the quality educational programs in Emeryville. Sincerely, Alice Rico, Friends of ECDC President
-
Teacher, writer, 22-year Emeryville resident
-
I FEEL THEY SHOULD KEEP ANA YATE SCHOOL IM A PARENT AND THIS IS A GREAT SCHOOL MY KIDS LEARNED THEIR FIRST MATH SPELLING AND ALL ACADEMIC AT THIS SCHOOL. CLOSING THIS SCHOOL WOULD BE A DISGRACE AND IN HUMANE IN MY OPINION. I SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY IN KEEPING THIS SCHOOL OPEN. IHAVE SPENT MY TAX PAYING DOLLARS TO SUPPORT EMERY SCHOOLS. MY FAMILY WENT TO SCHOOL IN EMERYVILLE/ AND HAVE MADE ME PROUD WITH THE EDUCATION THEY HAVE ACQUIRED FROM THE SCHOOLS. MY YOUNGER GENERATION ARE PLANNING TO GO THRU OUT THEY SCHOOL SYSTEM AS WELL.
-
This entire project should have been scraped when the property at AC Transit was not acquired. This is way too ambitious of a project on way too small of a piece of land. Anyways, my son loved going to Anna Yates not for the building, but for the teachers.
-
As a former City Council Member this project, and now Director of the Emeryville Property Owners Association (EPOA) I can say this project has had many problems from its inception. It is a top down project. It is not something the community asked for. It is something a small group of elected officials decided we were going to have. They The concept of the project is sound. But the determination to have their way is the issue. They are not going to listen to any other ideas. The voters were provided with false information during the Measure J campaign. The bond counsel misled the voters into believing the city could sell a $95 Million Bond. The bond counsel and the developer of the project financed the campaign. for personal gain. A definite conflict of interest. The campaign consultant refused to provide any information to property owners about this project. The voters adopt it, and property owners pay for it.
The recent decision by the State to take the City redevelopment money set aside for this project means its not the same project. The current design plans are no longer applicable without the City portion of the project… DA….. It is certainly time to reevaluate this project. Without the full amount of money. the resulting phased project, with no real idea of when additional bond money would be available, means this project will be on going for too long. Future construction would be disruptive. With only 5% of residents with kids in school, 20% of city staff time is devoted to ECCL. WE HAVE NO REAL IDEA HOW MUCH WE HAVE PAID FOR THIS PROJECT.?
It’s time to think about simply rebuilding the high school and making further improvements to Anna Yates. We need to shift the focus away from the project, with more focus on the kids. We need a business plan, and definite answers about the future of this project., including the future of Anna Yates, and Ralph Hawley Schools. The Emeryville Property Owners Association is watching this project very carefully. We will provide updates on this project and other information of community interest at www.EPOA.US.
-
Believe young children should grow with
young children. -
Time to start thinking frugally!
Others who have signed the petition:
-
Richard D. Ambro (Emeryville, CA)
-
KEN BUKOWSKI (EMERYVILLE, CA)
-
Amanda Klobas (Emeryville, CA)
-
Mary Malec (Oakland, CA)
-
Ian Malec (Oakland, CA)
-
karyl nakamura (Sacramento, CA)
-
Elizabeth Altieri (Emeryville, CA)
-
Rachel Brown (Emeryville, CA)
-
Juanita Carroll Young (Emeryville, CA)
(If viewing this story from the homepage: To make a comment, or to read the comments of others, click on the headline to go to the story page, then scroll down to the bottom.)