Alveda King wants the world to remember her uncle, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., not only as an accomplished leader but also as a great family man.NEW HAVEN – Residents in the East Allen County Schools district can vote May 8 whether to go forward with an $88 million building project.
The school board voted unanimously Tuesday for a referendum on the New Haven/Harding project, part of the redesign plan it adopted in October.
That project calls for renovation work at New Haven High School and the former Harding High School, which will become an early-college program called East Allen University. The project also covers work at Park Hill Center and New Haven Elementary.
Superintendent Karyle Green said the district began collecting signatures Jan. 13 to put the measure on the ballot, but she was not sure how many have been collected. The district needs at least 100 valid signatures to get a referendum.
The move drew no comment from the public during Tuesday’s meeting, and board members debated little.
Mike Clendenen, superintendent of New Haven-Adams Township Parks and Recreation, said after the meeting he does not see the project winning votes.
Clendenen also has been an opponent of a related part of the redesign plan approved by the district, which would create K-12 campuses at Woodlan and Heritage junior-senior high schools.
Both of those projects have been targeted by remonstrance petitions that require the district to collect signatures in support of the work and opponents to distribute their own petitions.
Clendenen is concerned the projects don’t adequately address the long-term sustainability and educational needs of what he calls “a district in turmoil.” He views the plan as driven by goals for individual communities rather than the district as a whole.
“It should be that the goal is the best possible education,” Clendenen said.
Packets for supporters and opponents are available at the county’s voter registration office.
Selling buildings
The board voted to advertise to sell two shuttered elementary schools in Monroeville and Harlan. The advertisements will begin next month, with final bids due at the end of March, according to Kirby Stahly, assistant superintendent of administrative services.
