A few weeks back, we had a conversation in this blog about the work we have been doing in the district with regard to master planning. There was certainly a lot of information included in that post, and I am very thankful that many of you took the time to read and consider the future plans and ideas that are being discussed in our school district. It does seem that one idea included in that plan raised quite a few eyebrows and generated some commentary in our community. This is okay, because dialogue is exactly what we need when discussing some of the bigger issues that impact the greater community. The idea that has created the most buzz of course is a proposal to close Washington Street between Wood Street and School Street.
Before we unpack the rationale behind this idea, it is important to consider a couple of points. As a start, this isn't a new scheme or plan that was dreamed up by the superintendent or the school board. None of us have been around that long! The truth of the matter is, this isn't the first time this has been discussed. When it came up during our first brainstorming meeting by a community member, I was curious and interested in learning more. I know many of you haven't been around long enough to know the backstory here either, but in the 90s when discussion was occurring about the construction of the high school; closing Washington Street was a consideration. While the closure of the street didn't occur then, that didn't mean the idea was gone forever. Certainly we can all concede there would be challenges with such a bold move; particularly with regard to the traffic patterns in town to which we are all accustomed. But insurmountable? I'm not quite so certain about that.
Thinking about this a bit deeper and from a practicality standpoint, closing Washington Street (between Wood and School) makes sense for the school district. One of the highest priorities of the community stakeholder group was to improve student safety in the district. A lot has changed since the mid-1990s, particularly with regard to the challenges schools face with regard to student safety. Hardly a week goes by these days where an incident of school violence doesn't lead the evening news. Indeed, this is why a centerpiece of Phase III of the elementary renovation project will include a new office with a controlled entrance for our visitors. But we can discuss that more later.
With the amount of student pedestrian traffic traveling between our attendance centers for classes, closing off the street would do a lot to improve the safety of our student body. Coupled with a plan to 'flip' the elementary attendance center and move the youngest of our students to the north end of campus, this would also have a secondary benefit of significantly reducing travel and lost instructional time.
Of course our long term goal would be to build a new junior high building in that space, connecting the elementary and high school. In addition to the instructional space this would provide, it would also give our students an enclosed safe corridor between the two attendance centers. But that is in the future and certainly would require a lot more community engagement and discussion. As a start to this conversation, the enrollment has to do what our models suggest it will do in the next several years. Indeed, when the houses start coming we know for certain children will come with them. We are confident they will. Our community and our school district are very appealing and families want to move here to raise their families.
In the interim, our plan would be to close and excavate the street, creating green space between the attendance centers and leaving the bike trail in its current location. It would seem to make sense to begin these strategic moves now, so when, and if the time comes to have a greater conversation about major construction we have considered with some foresight what makes the most sense.
I won't pretend to have all the answers to the questions about how we can deal with and mitigate the details of a move like this. I won't even assume I know all the underlying issues. But, at the end of the day there will be plenty of opportunities for our community to provide input. Ultimately this decision will rest not with the Hudson school board, but with the city council. At this point, I am grateful they are willing to have a conversation.
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