Fayetteville HS Update

Last evening (March 26) the committee studying the future Fayetteville HS sought input from the community at an open meeting at Ramay Jr. High. About 150 people showed up and about 40 spoke on behalf of either keeping the school at the current site or building a whole new school on a different site. The atmosphere was very civilized, and the variety of view points pointed to the complexity of the issue.

There are good arguments for both options, but after listening to everyone speak, I tend to agree with those who want to keep the high school at the current site. The most compelling arguments to me are that it is adjacent to the university (with access to its facilities) and is centrally located.

The consensus seems to be that Fayetteville deserves a world class high school for the 21st century. One of the proposals is to build a new building across the street from the current structure and renovate the current structure. This (to me) seems like a good compromise between those who want a totally new building and those who simply want to renovate the old HS.

The site in NW Fayetteville just seems too far for many students, especially those on the east side of town. If there were to be a new high school on a new site, I guess I would favor the Morningside site between Huntsville Road and 15th St. This is still centrally located.

For those who are interested in some of the working papers on this issue, the Fayetteville schools site has downloadable files:

http://schoolcenter.fayar.net/education/dept/dept.php?sectiondetailid=24097

The issues are extremely complex, but I was impressed by the dedication of the committee in considering all points of view. There will be another public meeting on April 3 at a site yet to be determined.

For more information about the meeting and different points of view on the issue:

http://www.nwarktimes.com/nwat/News/63536/
http://www.nwaonline.com/articles/2008/03/27/news/032708fzpublicoutcry.txt