District Administration - April 2010 - (Page 56)

Double Duty: Schools as Community Centers Financial Synergies As for the Rosa Parks School, the district’s partnerships with the Boys and Girls Club and the city’s housing and recreation departments solved a major problem, says Doug Capps, senior project manager and manager of community and government relations for Portland Public Schools. In the early 2000s, the city was preparing to tear down dilapidated public housing and replace it with new and more numerous housing units in a residential project called New Columbia. But the nearby school was too small to serve the residents who would reside in the units. At a time of declining district enrollment and state education budget cuts, the partnerships helped the district afford Rosa Parks School, which opened in the 20062007 academic year, the same period in which much of the housing project’s units were first made available. The Portland Housing Authority offered to provide the district part of the land, at no cost, in the New Columbia project for a new school and donated $1 million toward construction costs. The city of Portland bought the district property that hosted the small, original school building, taking it off the district’s hands. And the Parks and Recreation Department had already been planning to build money-saving partnerships, Capps says. “The district clearly was going to have to spend money to do something to accommodate the [additional] kids somewhere,” Capps says. “And if you could get a new school out of the deal for about 50 cents on the dollar, what’s wrong with that?” Like Rosa Parks, John A. Johnson “What we are trying to do is to address external needs that students and families may have [and] to fulfill those needs so that kids can achieve academically.” —Luis Lopez, coordinator, Schools and Community in Ogden Partnering for Excellence (SCOPE) a new gymnasium at the site, which the agency agreed to let the school use. The Boys and Girls Club, which held a fundraiser with the help of the district and the other partners in the project, also shared the construction costs. The district took on about $9 million in debt for the project, about half the amount it would have had to carry without the Achievement Plus Elementary School, which is part of Saint Paul (Minn.) Public Schools, has a youth services nonprofit attached to the school, in Johnson’s case a YMCA, which provides after-school activities to students and also serves the general public. But Johnson goes beyond that by partnering with other organizations to Education Law Law Business Optometry Psychology Allied Health & Nursing Medicine Dentistry Education Health Law Employment Law A powerful case for a Master’s in Education law. Gain knowledge of the expanding body of laws and regulations pertaining to education, school administration, and special education through NSU, Shepard Broad Law Center’s online certificate and master’s degree program in Education Law. The program teaches nonlawyer educators and administrators to better identify and understand today’s complex legal issues. With the online class format, NSU lets you pursue your degree without interrupting your career. Classes begin in July. Enroll Now. www.nova.edu/law Shepard Broad Law Center 800-986-6529 Nova Southeastern University admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, and national or ethnic origin. n Nova Southeastern University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, Telephone number: 404-679-4501) to award associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, educational specialist, and doctoral degrees. 56 April 2010 NSU-SBL-5174 District Administration LO1 District Administration http://www.nova.edu/law http://www.nova.edu/law

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2010

District Administration - April 2010
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Health
Standards
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Conversations
Sports for Life
Reaching Digital Natives on Their Terms
RTI Goes Mainstream
Double Duty: Schools as Community Centers
Online Edge
Tech Disruptions
Product Focus
New Products
Student Counsel

District Administration - April 2010