A couple of months ago, I went to the first meeting about Park Hill's long range facility plan but haven't had a chance to comment on it. Basically a bunch of well intentioned and caring parents showed up to the meeting. Like most pubic meetings, it involved people who define special interests and are not representative of the district as a whole.
So unless you want us to wind up with an elaborate, expensive performing arts complex that only gets used 10 times a year rather than laptops and electronic chalkboards that get used daily and contribute to learning skills that are needed to get a real paying job, I encourage you to find the 5-10 minutes to fill out the Park Hill School District survey here.
My biggest comment at the meeting is that after being in so many facilities in the Missouri side of the metro, I think Park Hill does a great job being efficient with their buildings and designs. They have not allowed architects and staff to go crazy designing facilities that are wasteful and have huge operating costs (ie 4 story glass foyers, overuse of marble/granite, gyms, etc).
That being said, some of our older schools are rather dark and uninviting (Plaza example #1). I recommended some paint and simple updating without blowing the place up.
Also, make sure you put in there somewhere that all the faucets need to be on sensors. The best way to reduce germ spreading is to get clean hands and not have people turn off the germy faucet with clean hands. This also saves on water usage as the faucet is only running when it is being used.
Clip credit to CBS from the Big Bang Theory.
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