The Cascade is the Student Newspaper At Ingraham High School.
After the Public Meeting, and wanting to set the record straight with the Students the following letter was received. I have decided to post it here in reply to some of the new happenings at the High School.


To the Cascade staff,

i am saddened that the staff of the Cascade has failed in realizing the Ingraham trees are NOT an issue regarding the need to replace the portables and math modular.

In fact the portables and math modular buildings have continually been placed as a "later" project in the planning of the School Board/District for years.

The portables and math modular needed replacing when the fields were built and the lights were installed, why didn't the student body find the conditions in the portables and math modular so deplorable then as to stand up and say NO we need NEW Educational facilities before we need athletic facilities?

I am saddened at the lack of respect given to neighbors who PAY the salaries of the instructors, and for the athletic field and the lights, and the science building and the library, and even Mr. Foe's salary. The Tax payers of the City pay for the grounds that the School is on.

I am also saddened at the lack of respect, and the lack of understanding as to the health of the neighbors and future students. For the neighbors, future students and the instructors health will be at stake when the trees are removed.

The answer is to move the addition elsewhere on campus AND keep the trees. It is NOT addition OR trees.

The issue with the neighbors has never been addition or trees. It has always been MOVE the ADDITION and LEAVE the TREES.
Oh, and were any of the students listening when the Department of Planning and Development person stated how many trees would be removed? 73, Were they listening when the Department of Planning and Development person said ONLY 187 trees would be planted? Perhaps your math instructor could explain how the ratio of 73 to 187 is equivalent to 1 to 3?

It is the wasting of a Natural Resource like trees that is wrong. The North Lawn has NO trees. The places where the Portables and Math modular are don't have trees, why not build there?Why weren't the library and science construction built in a manner where a second story could be added? And why is there a future plan to build on the north lawn? Why not build on the north lawn NOW and make that addition strong enough for a 2nd story later? Why are only 20 people in ONE design team considered to have the Right answer? After all the Terrorist who attacked on 9/11 had 20 people were they correct? Or Japan at Pearl harbor? It isn't the number of people that make a project correct. Or even the professionals on the project's team. Mistakes were made when the Narrow's Bridge was built the first time. As were the mistakes when the I-90 bridge was under construction. Engineers and Architects were on those projects and were absolutely sure the plan's that had been produced were correct. How long will it take for I-90 and The Narrow's Bridge to reach Capacity Or I-5 under the convention center? How long did it take for 520? All projects done by professionals who were sure they would last for decades, with no capacity problems.

The sad part about this new addition at Ingraham, this new addition that will waste a resource that can not be replaced in the lifetime of the students or the neighbors is IT WILL NOT GIVE THE SCHOOL ANY ADDITIONAL CAPACITY. It only replaces the number of classrooms it removes. What is the current problems with the School District? Where are the Capacity issues?
Does the High School need more Capacity for the future or less? Does the School need the addition or is there away to rearrange classroom space inside the building and not have the portables now? Has anyone investigated this? Not by asking biased people, but by researching documents? Demographic studies? If the Portables and Math Modular are so horrendous, then why hasn't some one reported them to the Health Department? Force the School District to bring in new ones?

What about maintenance cost? Is a full daylight basement more costly than a traditional class room? How has the School District payed for maintenance, what is their "track" record in taking care of their property? The math modular and the portables, the current landscaping and the trees? Something so simple as Who rakes the leaves from the gutters? The students or the neighbors? Who picks up the trash along the road now, students or neighbors--that will be who more than likely will rake the leaves and pay for the disposal of the leaves, just like they do the garbage.

There are so many more questions.
This is not something about trees vs an addition. It involves counting true costs: Health for students and neighbors now and in the future, drainage-are the students aware of the abandoned landfill and methane gas?, education, dollar value, future costs both environmental and maintenance. It involves where our City wants to be in the future..40% green not 18% not 14% or 8%. And by the way it way the attitude toward trees in the 60's that removed an entire forest to build Ingraham. It was that attitude that has taken our City from over 40% green down near 8%. Why would any one want to continue that type of attitude for future building? This is what the District and Architects are doing when they say, the school was designed back in the 60's to have a west addition. The 60's Environmental awareness and 2008 is quite different. Is the District saying it is OK to live in the past?
How far can the research into this topic go? I have been researching since March 2008, and every day I find more questions, more secrets and more things to be concerned about, not just for the neighbors, but also for the students and the staff of Ingraham High School. Sometimes closing our eyes and believing an authority figure is the easiest way to go, but it can also be the most dangerous and costly.