New high school

[Kenton Bird <kbird@uidaho.edu>]

Visionaries:
Moscow is not alone in facing decisions about whether to abandon
historic school buildings in favor of new ones.  Subscribers to this
list might be interested in a recent report by the National Trust for
Historic Preservation called "Historic Neighborhood Schools in the Age
of Sprawl: Why Johnny Can't Walk to School."
You can find a summary of the report at this site:
http://www.nthp.org/main/abouttrust/schoolshome.htm

Here is an excerpt:
            "... handsome buildings that once inspired civic pride are
being
                 discarded for nondescript, "big box" schools. Acres of
asphalt are
                 replacing close-knit, walkable neighborhoods as the
typical school setting.
                 Increasingly, a stressful drive through traffic
separates parents and children
                 from even more distant schools. Sprawl has made our
environment so
                 inhospitable to pedestrians that only one in eight
children walks or bikes to
                 school today."

From that page, you can download an executive summary  (12 pages) or the
full report (52 pages) in PDF format.  This report might be a good
starting point for discussion at the School District Facilities
Committee's next public forum.

--Kenton