NOTE: Max Brandle is our School Affairs Contributor and a Senior at East Providence High School
East Providence High School has been
standing since the Eisenhower Administration. Since it opened its doors in
1952, it has generated thousands upon thousands of citizens who have
contributed to our community, and our nation. It has employed countless teachers
who possessed a complete devotion to professionalism. The city is always
grateful to what has remained the cornerstone of our community for more than
half a century. As the ancient maxim goes, “He who opens a school door
closes a prison door.”
On March 5th the city council approved
the new school bond in a 5-0 vote. The choice of finalizing this bond will now
be up to the voters this November. As of early estimate, the new school would
cost between $115 to $120 million. Renovating it would cost almost as much, and
would only kick the can further down the road. The final cost is now placed at
$189 million, with at-least 54% state reimbursement and potential for up-front
money from Governor’s bond proposal. This deal will not exist next year, with
other districts sweeping in and taking the state money available, which is why
the debate has become the heart of East Providence politics. At the end of the
day, the necessity for a new school remains clear as day.
A tour in East Providence High School
exhibits an alarming eye sore. Boilers that can fail at any moment. Leaking
ceilings. Classroom heaters function to their own volition. Old lockers
becoming irrevocably jammed with personal belongings are ripped from their
hinges. Window shades appear and disappear at will. Basement Pillars ready to
collapse under their own weight. Add all of this on top of classrooms that are
ridiculously undersized, and you have a school that would cost as much to
repair as it would to build a new one.
Students and Teachers interviewed
unanimously agree that they do not wish to carry out their job under these
conditions. They also stressed the importance that, in the likely event of a
new facility, the core of this issue also be addressed. If a new school is
built, we must ensure that the school is taken care of by maintenance to keep
the building in exceptional condition, to prevent this issue from being
inherited by a future generation.
When pushing this proposal through the
mill of objection, the only issue arises in the possibility of hurting
community members in or near poverty. Assuming property values rise, property
taxes would subsequently rise and that could trigger higher rents. However
homeowners would obviously benefit through the increase in equity.
As previously said, the positives far
outweigh the negatives in this proposal. While maintenance strategies must
change, this new school would be a success for the City of East Providence.