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What is the #1 reason for Violence in St. Louis?
Should they close the Historic Sumner High School?
Should they close the Historic Sumner High School?
HOT 104.1 will be hosting a Town Hall Meeting on Monday, January 26, 2009. St. Louis has once again ranked high in the most dangerous city in America and it is time for a serious change. City of St. Louis Mayor, Francis Slay, Police Chief Daniel Isom and SLPS Superintendent Adams will all be on hand to discuss current issues in the St. Louis community...including the possible closing of Sumner High School.
Make sure your voice is heard on Monday at Tandy Recreational Center at 6:00 while HOT 104.1 and Foxy 95.5 stop the music to discuss the issues. Listen to DJ and Jami B. on The Demetrious Johnson Show this Sunday on HOT 104.1 8-10am as they prepare for the Town Hall Meeting.
5 Comments:
WOW CLOSE SUMNER......IF THEY CLOSE THIS SCHOOL AND MAKE THESE KIDS ATTEND ONE OF THE OTHER PUBLIC SCHOOLS THEN THAT SEEMS LIKE MORE VIOLENCE ON THE WAY TO ME U KNW H0W SILLY THESE KIDS CAN BE WITH ALL THE GANG AND SET CLAIMING THEY DO I JUST DNT THINK THAT IS A GOOD IDEA.....
i really hope that they dont do that. i went to sumner and vashon and i know that the two dont get along what will happen to these children
I mean this with the greatest respect to the city, but this is like the 100th time that a "town hall meeting" has been suggested and will occur. Now...was the major at all of them...not sure (so I like that) but when will the city really stand up and say NO to violence? I'm so tired of us forming meetings...and that's it. People will come and give there opinion...etc...and then the next report will come out and the STL AGAIN will be high on the list.
As for Sumner closing....a tragedy. That school is a landmark BUT I've visited there many times in my career and I can understand why they want to close it. If you look at the data of the academic success of the students there...its a little disturbing. My prayer is that the alums get together and fight this...and instead the STL Public Schools revamp their high school system.
This is a sad statistic. But why close down Sumner? Why does the fact that the city is violent have to do with the fate of one high school. And I co-sign commenter #1. Sending these kids to other schools would only antagonize the violence. My understanding of the school age gang violence is this area has to do with neighborhood affiliation. These kids are essentially engaged in turf wars, gang colors are only a by-product (I worked at Normandy high for a while. Most of the kids were affiliated with the same gang, but got into mass block fights - Pine Lawn vs. Wellston, for example).
I'm shocked by the heightened sense of urgency around this topic. The City's population has been on a steady decline for years now. This decline has had a significant impact on the schools. The St. Louis Public School enrollment has dropped by nearly 10K students in just 4years. I'm sure this isn't the only school on the chopping block. What else do we expect the school system to do? If the population has declined so have the tax revenues which help fund this system.
If that's not enough, the school has failed its students for years. This isn't new. With a graduation rate of 40% what are the options?
I know the school is historic. There’s no question about that fact. But where are those highly successful people that received such a quality education from Sumner decades ago? Many have abandoned St. Louis for greener pastures and they aren't looking back.
The solution: Close the school and put our best resources and most highly qualified teachers into the transitioned school. Then find a principal (and leadership team) with the right kind of attitude to lead the newly formed school to the level that we as parents and stakeholders expect. Use Roosevelt as an example of what a strong leader can do if given the opportunity and freedom to make tough changes.
As for the historic building and its many treasures, I suggest we move the Black History Museum to the magnificent architectural gem of Sumner High School and expand the museum. It has the potential to be a place to see for tourists visiting St. Louis.
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