What a Difference a Week Makes

[XLFD]

On March 6, 2020, groundbreaking ceremonies for Ludington's new mega-elementary school was underway up near the corner of Bryant and Jebavy Roads.  The new school would consolidate four different elementary schools in four different wards in the city limits of Ludington and was the major component of a school bond that would cost the area taxpayers $101 million dollars.  The kids below were excited to be in the act:

And the adults below were also excited to use their fancier shovels in the earth-turning ceremony:

Less than one week after this ritual, Michigan's governor closed all schools in the state for weeks in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).  It was reasoned that schools and day care centers could be breeding grounds for respiratory illnesses and other viral infections.  Closing schools had less to do with preventing the spread of coronavirus among children (who aren't hit hard by the virus), but more to do with preventing the spread to parents, grandparents, teachers and adult staff, who may be at risk for more serious infections.

If one of Ludington's current elementary schools get afflicted with a virus on its premises, even a seasonal flu, the other three buildings may take preventative measures and be spared.  With the consolidation, and with common playgrounds, common cafeterias, common gyms, common hallways traversed by all children in the proposed elementary, the school serves as a true breeding ground for viral infections for all kids in attendance. 

All those kids who used to walk or ride bikes to school, which in COVID-19 terms is especially a 'safe route to school', will instead be forced into riding a big yellow germ-filled Petri dish to their new elementary.  If they do try to walk or ride the miles to school, they will have to deal with all those parents choosing to individually drive their kids to the out-of-the-way facility without any pedestrian or bike facilities being planned.

Ludington's new school will run counter to society's current 'social distancing' directives in that you will have about 1000 kids in one building rather than 200-400 kids in four buildings.  With the increasing popularity of on-line schooling likely to get an even bigger boost by the COVID-19 scare, we may see schools in the near future not very dependent on traditional classrooms in traditional buildings at all.  

Yet, we and our children will still be shoveling money into those holes dug by our school board and their overpriced contractors for the next three decades, before the building becomes obsolete (if traditional schooling hasn't become obsolete by then).  And who knows, the new normal by then may prohibit those kids and contractors of the future from being less than six feet from each other, and the new school will have to be massive.

[Willy]

You are so right on this issue X. Not only regarding the combining of all the schools into a large mega school but also of the fact regarding busing. I don't think taxpayers thought about all the buses they will have to buy. Hiring drivers and maintenance. The foolish voters were once again talked into paying for unneeded services.