The James Logan Courier

wut does solar mean here? and its kitiyama, not kitayama.

[Note: We've checked, and we're pretty sure it's Kitayama. We thank you for spurring us to double-check. At The Courier, we want to get it right.
As to what going "solar" means: An array of panels which convert sunlight into electricity will be installed on the roofs of the schools, as they were earlier at Conley-Carabello. Solar energy will be converted into electrical energy, which will be used to help power the school.]

Posted by water balloons at Wednesday, July 11, 2007 14:59:12

Awesome, it's good to know that the district is willing to make a commitment.

Posted by JZ at Wednesday, July 11, 2007 20:31:28

=/, i thought logan's budget was strained what with all the increases in costs for bus transportation, parking permits (which is actually a new thing), foods, teacher salaries and benefits and the loss of attending students each year. but i keep seeing these new projects arise like the new replacement buildings, the 200's, constant new paint jobs interspersed around school, the recent erection of Delaine Eastin and Conley-Caraballo and the soon-to-be auditorium replacing the temporary teacher parking. even though maintenance of a school is necessary, do we really need to be having constant new paint relining the stairs or an auditorium at a school where students are claimed to be attending less of due to their families moving out of the city? now this ambitious solar project which is expected to save 3.6 million dollars in a THIRTY YEAR TIME PERIOD. geez, i know we're all about clean energy and such but is this really the time for a "1.46 million dollar each" project? i think that the budget should steer directly towards the quality of education and benefits of the educators and much more prioritized than the erection of new buildings at a school with a downing population. i remember a time when bus transportation was self-sustaining and FREE and ON TIME, so while there seems to be enough money to make these new projects happen, students and family tend to be stiffed a few hundred bucks for sub par bus services. (THEY DON'T EVEN OFFER A ZEROTH PERIOD BUS). Educators, as well, should deserve much more attention rather than solar energy at the moment because of the constant strikes for health and financial benefits (which are over at the moment but will eventually arise again), if the school directly serves to the needs of the citizens of the school, i believe that logan would run much more efficiently. rather now, with the new construction buildings causing crowding and illness (mainly asthma) affecting many if not all students and educators on campus.

Posted by Sav (peeved peer) haha pseudonyms=cool at Thursday, July 12, 2007 08:21:28

there should be a zero period bus, so people don't hold back their education just for no ride!

Posted by water balloons at Thursday, July 12, 2007 18:04:31

to Sav:
i see your point and to me, it sounds too optimistic as opposed to realistic. think about it.

just because people are moving away is not a legit reason why the school should not improve itself. i think the auditorium the school is planning to build is a great idea, because it'll attract revenue to the school (such as San Mateo High's auditorium, which has an annual speaker's series which brings in alot of revenue). As for repainting the lines on the stairs, i think the school is legally bounded to do so to meet the needs for the "handicap". i agree, it sounds dumb to us because no one really sees them, but i think there is a state law that requires them to repaint it.

so my point here is that yeah, at first, the auditorium might seem useless, but it'll bring in revenue to the school. as for the lines, it's required for the school to do so.

as for the bus problem... lol, i remember when i used to ride the bus. i hated having to pay $200 for it, but as much hatred i had for doing so, i realized that that's how it's going to have to be. union city is building more and more homes, which would bring in more families. more families would be more kids. more kids would mean there would have to be more buses. endpoint - if the district didn't require people to pay for the bus service, it would lose alot of money. i remember the good times where the bus were free...but that was before they began building homes. so yeah, sucks, but deal with it.

but i do agree with you on one point... the service sucked. what can they do though? too many people, not alot of busses -> bad service.

Posted by anonymous at Friday, July 13, 2007 12:59:35

i think you misread some of my points because there are no lines painted on the stairs. the stairs, walls and poles are repainted every few months and i understand the importance of maintenance, but it seems excessive and not directed towards the disabled.

the new auditorium being built i believe is also excessive because of the already built pavilion and little theater which I'm sure could be renovated for a much lower cost.

as for the bus fares, it is bit over 200 bucks and rising for one way and the round trip is about 375. the buses lately are being reduced in comparison to years before and all management for bus transportation was replaced last year for unknown reasons. buses are jam packed with students that can take over an hour for students to even reach their destined bus stop. if they started charging students higher and higher prices, i expect to see a maintained quality bus service and scheduling rather than cutting down everything.

i'm not actually too concerned about the buses but rather the money management from the school board. why have they been excessively spending on ambitious new projects when output revenue isn't going to be improved in a really long time(like say 30 years). rather they'd be ignoring current issues with the schools to make solar energy? with the possible deconstruction of pioneer, why have they built a new elementary school only ten minutes away? i've seen flyers made by the board claiming that students are leaving in drones causing the district to lose more and more money and their reaction is to jack up prices for almost every student necessity and build new classrooms, auditoriums, expensive solar energy and unnecessary spending for new electronic bulletin boards for all the elementary schools? if they spent the money on trying to encourage student growth wouldn't it be reasonable to stop paring down the course catalog, trying to find effective ways of directing students to the classrooms and improving educator benefits? maybe it's because i'm sixteen and moving on to community college that i don't understand budgetary economics, but how come i don't hear much of the citizens of union city to have say on this solar energy project? since the first sentence of the article claims that the board of education decided on it.

Posted by sav at Friday, July 13, 2007 17:33:38

*might be moving onto community, but if i don't... im going to be stuck at logan for another year...

Posted by sav at Friday, July 13, 2007 17:37:27