Tonight we had the first in a series of votes to determine the fate of the high school project. It was decided in a 7-2 vote to further pursue Option 2. Director Hart and myself voted against this motion. This option is a combination renovation/new construction option. Honestly, without knowing exactly what Option 2 entails, I can't tell you what I think of it. Is it a phased approach? Will it require a referendum? Can a full solution for the high school like the one presented by a Mt Lebanon resident and architect be completed for under $110 million? I am not sure if the answers to these questions are available right now.
Tonight there was a large group of people at the meeting that voiced their support of pursuing option 2. The group Build Our School Now, which was vocally in support of Option 3 last week, changed to be behind Option 2 instead. Additionally, three Board members that were last week in favor of Option 3 changed to back Option 2 tonight. I am not faulting anyone for this. Opinions are formed and can be changed when more information becomes available.
As you can probably guess, the will of the community continued to be fluid throughout this process. This is why I was in support of sending Option 3 to referendum to see what the community thought about it. If the community was fully informed about the pros and cons of such an approach then it could make an educated vote in a referendum. If it was to pass then this Board would build the best facility it could for the money. If it failed then this Board would have to go back and figure out what it could do under the debt limit.
As it stands now, I look forward to working with other Board members in figuring out what form Option 2 will take.
Thanks for reading.
James
