Rebuild vs Remodel (or the Hatfields and the McCoys)

And it's controversy time in Byron again. I guess we can't go one or two years without some sort of debate dividing the population now, can we? I'm just glad the library isn't at the epicenter of it this time.

So the big issue now is whether or not it's really necessary to tear down the 2 - 5 wing of the Mary Morgan Elementary School and build a new one. So far there have been letters to the Ogle County Life in support of the new building and a "newsletter" (hand delivered in the dead of night; what does that tell you?) supporting the other side.

I have to say after five years working as a substitute aide in Byron I have to agree with a lot of their points. None of the restrooms in that section of the school are handicapped-friendly, save for maybe one staff/guest restroom near the conference room. At the moment there's only one student at Mary Morgan that I know of who is confined to a wheelchair. Now he's in the Pre K - 1 wing, but what about down the line when he's older and switches classrooms?

The "newsletter" claimed that contractors had been through the school in 2007 and saw nothing that constituted an "emergency". Well, I'm sorry but small electrical fires in the ceiling while school is in session? In a building that has no sprinkler system but seems to have more missing ceiling tiles and buckets on the floor to catch leaks every time I work there? That doesn't constitute an emergency? And I've lost count of how many kids I've seen in that building with coughs and other bronchial problems. Hell, it seems like after every time I worked at Mary Morgan I got sick and it was always with a horrible cough. Coincidence?

And really when it comes down to rebuilding vs remodeling the current building, which is more feasible? With all the electrical, plumbing and room layout problems not to mention the fact that it's at least forty years old so is probably filled with asbestos, the entire building would more than likely have to be gutted and then everything would have to be rebuilt to fit the existing framework. Lord knows how long that would take, certainly longer than the three months we have off for summer vacation. If it did go longer where do these people against a new building proposing that the displaced students have their classes? Try and squeeze them into the same wing as the preschoolers, kindergartners and first graders? Try and squeeze them somewhere into the high school or the new middle school? Or bus them over to the old middle school and try to fit four grades into a building that could barely fit three?

I guess the bottom line here is people need to stop worrying about how much money the school board is spending and focus on what's really important: the safety of their kids. According to the State of Illinois, Mary Morgan is in violation of SEVERAL school health and safety codes. Not one, not just a couple, several. If the school district continues to be in violation of those issues then Byron loses its state funding. Which means there won't be any money for the people of Byron to fight over/complain about how it's being spent or not being spent.

If that happens, I hope these people can live with themselves.