Paramount Theatre
AISD Needs a PAC but at Mueller?
RECEIVED Mon., Jan. 21, 2008
Dear Editor,
The Austin Independent School District's Citizens' Bond Advisory Committee is reviewing and discussing its recommendations for a proposed bond program in 2008. Current, future, and prospective Mueller residents (Pioneers) and members of the city-appointed Mueller Commission have been working to get the elementary school named on the bond [“Postmarks” online, Jan. 20].
Families with children are moving in, and we want to be a part of a positive boundary discussion that benefits not just our new neighborhood but the surrounding area, as well. Too many parents in the area are sending their kids to private schools. We want to work to change that. We believe in public schools. An elementary school has always been in the Mueller master plan. It has been mentioned in past AISD bond program recommendations. Catellus has donated the land, which would save $2,574,880.
Enrollment projections from the district suggest that neighboring campuses can accommodate the influx of Mueller students until the 2012-13 school year. A school put on the 2008 bond probably wouldn’t be built until 2012. Not waiting until neighborhood schools are at 125% capacity makes sense. Planning for growth makes sense.
There is a chance that the AISD Performing Arts Center is going to be plunked down next to that needed elementary school. This was never presented as a possibility to the Mueller Commission or the Mueller Pioneers. The judgment on whether AISD needs a PAC is not the question. The effect on the Mueller master plan and its principles has not yet been discussed.
Mr. Dick Rathgeber’s generosity is appreciated; however, Mueller is not the best place for the PAC. Participants from the entire district traveling to more than 200 events a year are going to impact this community that is striving to be a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood. Whether AISD needs a PAC is not in question. We wish McCallum could be the location, as our kids will be students there eventually. AISD already owns land at 183 and Loyola. To say that two miles east of the Mueller location isn’t central is just not acceptable when the Delco Center is nearby.
The careful planning that the city has put into Mueller should be respected and continued.
The Austin Independent School District's Citizens' Bond Advisory Committee is reviewing and discussing its recommendations for a proposed bond program in 2008. Current, future, and prospective Mueller residents (Pioneers) and members of the city-appointed Mueller Commission have been working to get the elementary school named on the bond [“Postmarks” online, Jan. 20].
Families with children are moving in, and we want to be a part of a positive boundary discussion that benefits not just our new neighborhood but the surrounding area, as well. Too many parents in the area are sending their kids to private schools. We want to work to change that. We believe in public schools. An elementary school has always been in the Mueller master plan. It has been mentioned in past AISD bond program recommendations. Catellus has donated the land, which would save $2,574,880.
Enrollment projections from the district suggest that neighboring campuses can accommodate the influx of Mueller students until the 2012-13 school year. A school put on the 2008 bond probably wouldn’t be built until 2012. Not waiting until neighborhood schools are at 125% capacity makes sense. Planning for growth makes sense.
There is a chance that the AISD Performing Arts Center is going to be plunked down next to that needed elementary school. This was never presented as a possibility to the Mueller Commission or the Mueller Pioneers. The judgment on whether AISD needs a PAC is not the question. The effect on the Mueller master plan and its principles has not yet been discussed.
Mr. Dick Rathgeber’s generosity is appreciated; however, Mueller is not the best place for the PAC. Participants from the entire district traveling to more than 200 events a year are going to impact this community that is striving to be a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood. Whether AISD needs a PAC is not in question. We wish McCallum could be the location, as our kids will be students there eventually. AISD already owns land at 183 and Loyola. To say that two miles east of the Mueller location isn’t central is just not acceptable when the Delco Center is nearby.
The careful planning that the city has put into Mueller should be respected and continued.
Kim Wine
