It’s time for Charles City to move forward

By Chris Baldus  |   cbaldus@charlescitypress.com

I want to clarify a few things about recent columns that were not intended to be launch pads for anti-school district conspiratorialists.

You see, mostly I think the Charles City School District is on the right path. Where I have doubts, well, sometimes you’re right, sometimes you’re not as right and sometimes you’re even (gasp) wrong. I get nervous around people who are absolutely convinced they are always right. Don’t confuse these people with leaders.

So, to clarify, the Charles City School Board and the district’s administrative team did the right thing in getting the new middle school built. They did the right thing to build it on the high school campus. They did the right things for our children’s education and they were fiscally responsible. You are not paying any higher taxes.

I’ve questioned the timing and location of some other projects only because the high school needs to be the top priority. I’ve also pointed out a shuffling of responsibilities is needed so we have the right people for each job that needs doing. Bridge builders should build bridges. Teachers ought to teach. You get the idea.

The school district’s sports complex effort should be shelved, but that doesn’t mean ignoring the needs. The city should really step up to take responsibility for sport facilities. The district needs to be able to focus and spend on educational needs.

On the old middle school, well, school districts are not staffed to do redevelopment. Cities and counties are. This building has got to be taken off the school district’s hands. Some good options sit before us.

While the old middle school issues was being studied to death, the community had been shown a wide array of options, including the Ames City Hall, which is a renovated 1938 school building. Ironically, it was a middle school when the school district walked away from it in the 1980s.

And then there is Charley Thomson’s proposal to turn the historic part of the school into apartments. It’s a sound idea as well. A junior high school in my home school district in St. Paul Park was converted into senior apartments. Interestingly enough, that historic school building was attached to a newer junior high school. The two operations co-existed just fine.

There have been proposals floating around town for years about how to use the newer part of the old middle school. Some have to do with recreation. An idea drawn up in 2010 actually calls for adding an aquatic center in place of the back parking lot next to the existing competition pool. The idea being that right smack in the middle of a neighborhood would be an ideal place for a facility designed for families and children.

If it’s recreation, it should be the city and the YMCA making it happen, not the school district.

There is also a post-secondary idea floating around out there as well. In this scenario, our community would be attempting to help our industries with their need for skilled workers. The old shop and art classrooms would be used to teach these skills — a technical skills academy, if you will. It’s a worthwhile idea, but it would be best taken on by a community college, economic development agencies and industry.

This is the time for leaders to emerge, a vision to come into focus and decisions to be made.

Managing Editor Chris Baldus can be reached at cbaldus@charlescitypress.com.

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