Tuesday, August 07, 2007

For Baton Rouge High, we just cry


I had my say about the deplorable state of my old high school, Baton Rouge Magnet High, here.

Years of abject neglect by the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board has brought it to
this, as reported a couple of weeks ago in The (Baton Rouge) Advocate:

Renovations to Baton Rouge Magnet High School likely would cost twice as much as planned and take twice as long to complete, leading school officials to rethink the whole project.

Instead, a special committee of students, alumni and educators will meet to figure out alternatives, including rebuilding the school in another location.

The partial renovations, scheduled to start this fall, would replace only exterior windows and prevent outside moisture from penetrating the 80-year-old building, built before air conditioning.

The estimated cost is now $7.6 to $9.2 million, based on three construction bids opened last month.

The increases stem from the discovery of no ties between the bricks in the school’s four-story façade and the structure. Fixing that problem would require laborious brick-by-brick reattachment to the school, school officials say.

This spring, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board raised the construction budget to $4 million and extended construction time to 18 months, with work taking place around the students.

The bids call for twice that amount; two of the bids urged doubling the construction time to three years.

“We need some direction,” Bob Cooper, director of the physical plant, told the School Board on Wednesday. “I’m not just speaking to the board, but I’m speaking to the community.”

One alternative is to conduct a full historic restoration, costing an estimated $37 million, but that would leave the school without some modern educational amenities. Another is to rebuild it somewhere else, costing an estimated $40 million. Still another is to preserve the façade but build a new school behind it.

East Baton Rouge Parish Superintendent Charlotte Placide expressed skepticism of a traditional historic restoration.

“We shouldn’t be trying to do more stuff after we’ve spent $37 million,” she said.
I HAD BEEN WAITING to get more information about this before posting, but news just hasn't been forthcoming. That the ironically named "school board" has let things get to this state of crisis is just one illustration of the challenges of giving youth a future in a state where people generally don't care, and government generally doesn't work.

If you were a bright, college-bound high school student attending classes in a facility allowed to -- quite literally -- fall apart over the past 30 years, what would you think of the city, parish and state where such neglect is looked upon as par for the course? What would you think of a city, parish and state where this is good enough for its children?

Exactly.

I guess that's why a sizable portion of my Baton Rouge High graduating class got the hell out of Louisiana ASAP, and why I'd wager that increasing numbers of each of the succeeding 28 graduating classes have done likewise.

MEANWHILE, A 1953 GRAD had his say about what's become of our old school
in a recent Advocate letter to the editor:

Published: Aug 1, 2007

I graduated from Baton Rouge High in 1953. It breaks my heart and thousands of others to see what “they” are trying to do to our school — a school we all cherished. Then, all students were brothers and sisters, and the school — the building — itself was one of us — if you can imagine beautiful bricks as a brother or sister.

I remember how we sat on the big front steps with our books before the bell rang … how we walked the wide, long halls … how we looked out of the open giant windows of the classrooms, and enjoyed, without knowing it, the solidarity of the fine building.

If I could write a book on how we loved it, and maybe I will, there would be so many fine things to tell. Someone should write: THE HISTORY OF BATON ROUGE HIGH, with lots of pictures showing the “way we were.”

Next spring we may have our 55th reunion. When we had our 40th we went over to the ol’ school to look at it: Go to every floor … see our old lockers … look at the big stage where we had plays. I don’t think we’ll go there next spring.

You had to be there then to know the heartache now.

David Lewis
retired writer
Baton Rouge
MR. LEWIS, I couldn't have said it better myself. I am grateful you did.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I currently go to Baton Rouge Magnet High School, and it is a shame that with all the work we go to to get into and stay at the school, that renovations have been put off and will be put off so long. There is no effort to make the school even a little better. Whether the school as a structure is good or bad, we will stay there, because BRMHS has a spirit like no other school,but I believe that our current students and future students deserve more. We should be able to look back at not only the people, but the place, and smile.