School panel right to stick with plan

4/29/08
A school panel made the right decision last week on the fate of a closed school, but the incident made for yet more bad news for the administration of Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch.
The School Building Committee in Bridgeport, acting on previously approved plans, went ahead with its decision to level the old McKinley School and make room for playing fields for the new Tisdale School, which just opened next door.
Finch tried to intercede on the fate of the East End building, saying the city would be better served by selling the property to a developer. In the midst of a bruising budget fight that centers on libraries, school health professionals and other services at least in part aimed at children, it’s an odd course to chart.
By in effect arguing against soccer fields, baseball diamonds and playgrounds, facilities that have long been promised on the site, the mayor put himself in the unfortunate position of taking a stance against some of the poorest children in the city.
The School Building Committee, to its credit, was having none of it. The panel decided three years ago to tear down McKinley School once the new facility was ready, and now it is simply following up on a long-settled plan.
East End neighbors are clear on what they want. The new school lacks facilities for sports and gym class, and the area in general could use the open space. Considering people’s homes were taken to make room for the new school, it would be wrong to renege on the plans.
The city, as usual, is beset with financial problems and needs new revenue wherever it can find it. But there are housing developments on the drawing board all around the city. It’s not as though the area is crying out for new homes at McKinley School.
The administration’s long-term plans to sell city properties and start bringing in some taxes from those sites make sense in many cases. If officials could find a way to consolidate city offices in one location instead of nearly a dozen, and in the meantime turn those disparate sites into revenue producers, so much the better. But there are limits to this strategy, and reneging on a promise to schoolchildren is clearly on the other side of that line.
As Finch and his team work to convince skeptical residents that their budget approach, though painful, is right for the city’s long haul, they need to keep an eye on appearances, as well. This one did not end up looking good for the mayor.