(File photo)
The Dade County Board of Education at its special called meeting today approved plans to rebuild rather than renovate Davis School’s beloved but decaying rock building.
Superintendent Jan Harris said that two public hearings on the subject had revealed a lot of local affection for and attachment to the geriatric structure but: “Everyone wanted what was best for the children”—which, she said, was generally agreed putting up a new building while preserving as much history as possible from the old one.
Why have a special meeting just for that? The next regular board meeting, delayed by the Martin Luther King holiday, is not until the end of the month. “Our architect is sitting on Go,” she said. But he couldn't pass Go without official approval from the board. “We all know that two weeks is a significant amount of time,” said Dr. H.
Also, the super recommended that the board approve reassigning the roughly $400,000 that had been allotted for improving the old building in the school system’s COP, or capital outlay plan. She explained that the money wouldn’t go away but could be used for other necessary projects, such as replacing existing lighting with LED at the school. However, she said: “That money cannot be used for a new building. It has to be used for improvement.” The board approved this routine request without demur.
The final item on the Jan. 16 agenda was an executive, or closed-door, executive session on personnel—the first since a multi-law-enforcement-agency investigation on the possession and trade at Dade High School of “sexually explicit” images was revealed last month. Terse press briefings by the Dade Sheriff’s Office and Trenton Police Department in December 2019 whipped up public interest and outrage but did little to satisfy public curiosity. Thus the personnel changes announced after executive session have the subject of much public speculation, and there was a robust press attendance at the noon meeting.
The robust press was doomed to disappointment. The board stayed closeted from 12:15-2:03 p.m., but when the public part of the meeting resumed Dr. Harris said she needed to notify affected staff before she released the personnel changes she had recommended and the board had approved. She promised to release the personnel list shortly, perhaps as early as later this afternoon.
The Planet will upon receipt faithfully pass on the list to its readers.
