APPROVING A CHEAP-ASS PLAN...C'MON...IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING, BY GOD, DO IT RIGHT!!!

The Polk County School Board decided Tuesday to spend $7 million dollars on a new elementary school to be located near Poinciana, in the Four Corners region north of Haines City. It will be like any other elementary school, with a playground and covered sidewalks, but with one major difference: The classrooms building will not be brick and mortar; they will be all portable (modular) classrooms.

A comforting thought for parents for when severe thunderstorms and tornado watches/warnings through the area during the rainy season.

School Board member Margaret Lofton was quoted in today's Lakeland Ledger story during the meeting as saying "A kid can learn just as good in a portable as a $225,000 classroom...I think (the modular school) is the answer. I think it's the answer to solve our problem."

I'm sure the residents living in the neighbourhood of what will be a somewhat unsightly facility will appreciate how it will fit in with their community. And it seems that the board took a "not in MY neighbourhood" attitude in denying a similar middle school facility in Lakeland.

Sorry, friends. I just believe that if you're going to build a school, you can't do it on the cheap. You have to build a solid facility that will be compatible with the surrounding area, and especially that would be safe and secure for the children who will be learning within their walls. A modular school just seems as though our school board is shortchanging the residents and children.