FUND ARNOLD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NOW

FUND ARNOLD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL NOW

The Issue

Arnold Elementary School is over 45 years old and has never been renovated. AES has the 3rd lowest condition score in the county and that was years ago. There have been issues with mold, floods and poor air quality.
YOU should care because your children go to school there, your homes property value is connected to quality of area schools and because it is time to fund Arnold and not put it off any longer.

Some more facts:
- Arnold is a priority 2 school & we have been told by the County Council and Board of Education that the schools are being done in order.  For some reason we are farther out on the budget than some Priority 2 schools with higher scores than ours.
- Overlook Elementary is a priority 3 school that has already been completed.  Benfield Elementary (66.15) is a priority 2 school with a higher score than Arnold (65.98) - but it is already in progress.  Arnold should be on the budget right below Rolling Knolls (65.02) which is already in progress also. 
- Arnold's district has 2 large developments that have been approved which will add additional students to the school.
- We have parent testimonies that tell of their children having respiratory problems while their children were in Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grade.  Many of the problems seemed to disappear once their children moved upstairs for 3rd, 4th & 5th grade.  The parents believe that those problems were caused by the dampness and suspected mold.

- The downstairs of the building has many de-humidifiers to try to control the dampness and water.  The de-humidifiers run all year.

- There are many documented floods to some of the downstairs classrooms.  Those floods have caused water issues in addition to instructional disruption for the students in those classrooms. 

The elected officials know our story as it has been being told for years now. Please remind them that our children are important and it is time to get real and figure out how to help!

This petition had 348 supporters

The Issue

Arnold Elementary School is over 45 years old and has never been renovated. AES has the 3rd lowest condition score in the county and that was years ago. There have been issues with mold, floods and poor air quality.
YOU should care because your children go to school there, your homes property value is connected to quality of area schools and because it is time to fund Arnold and not put it off any longer.

Some more facts:
- Arnold is a priority 2 school & we have been told by the County Council and Board of Education that the schools are being done in order.  For some reason we are farther out on the budget than some Priority 2 schools with higher scores than ours.
- Overlook Elementary is a priority 3 school that has already been completed.  Benfield Elementary (66.15) is a priority 2 school with a higher score than Arnold (65.98) - but it is already in progress.  Arnold should be on the budget right below Rolling Knolls (65.02) which is already in progress also. 
- Arnold's district has 2 large developments that have been approved which will add additional students to the school.
- We have parent testimonies that tell of their children having respiratory problems while their children were in Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grade.  Many of the problems seemed to disappear once their children moved upstairs for 3rd, 4th & 5th grade.  The parents believe that those problems were caused by the dampness and suspected mold.

- The downstairs of the building has many de-humidifiers to try to control the dampness and water.  The de-humidifiers run all year.

- There are many documented floods to some of the downstairs classrooms.  Those floods have caused water issues in addition to instructional disruption for the students in those classrooms. 

The elected officials know our story as it has been being told for years now. Please remind them that our children are important and it is time to get real and figure out how to help!

The Decision Makers

Dick Ladd
Dick Ladd
Responded
We note what you are doing and thank you for doing it. I am currently evaluating the best approach for obtaining funding for moving forward on the replacement of Arnold Elementary . As you probably know, funding for the feasibility study is in the Board of Education’s Capital Improvement Plan for Fiscal Year 2014. I strongly believe that schools currently scheduled for funding after Arnold will not move ahead of Arnold. Similarly, I do not think it is likely that Arnold will be moved up in the funding sequence unless there is substantive change in the condition of the school. I have visited the school on a number of occasions and have seen the conditions first hand. Councilman Walker is very interested in visiting Arnold and will be scheduling a visit very shortly to see and discuss the problems there. I, as well as several members of the Board of Education, may join him at the school hopefully next week. The display of support for action for Arnold Elementary has been duly noted by my colleagues, and I greatly appreciate your efforts. Best regards, Dick Ladd
Patricia Nalley
Patricia Nalley
Jillian Buck
Jillian Buck
Ron George
Ron George
Andrew Pruski
Andrew Pruski

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Petition created on February 13, 2012