I can’t for the life of me understand why we need a new auditorium at the high school.
When I attended GHS, we had the same number of students (approx. 2,700) and the auditorium was big enough then. It stayed the way it is for the last 35 years. Now, according to Jeffrey Spector, Art & Music Director for the school district, “plain and simple, the auditorium is too small.” An often-quoted statistic is that it only holds 31% of the school population. $23 million later it will hold 48%. Why is 48% the right number? I could understand if it were going up to 100%. Will we later need to increase it to hold 100% of the students?
I see this project as a “nice to have,” not a “must have,” and as such it can wait, for a long time. With tight budgets projected for the foreseeable future, the auditorium that generations of GHS students survived with should be just fine. I’d rather see the money spent on necessities that we don’t have and can’t seem to afford, like sidewalks to make it safe to go to school.
No puedo, siquiera por mi vida, entender por qué necesitamos un nuevo auditorio en la escuela secundaria.
Cuando estudié en la Escuela Secundaria, teníamos el mismo número de estudiantes (aproximadamente 2,700) y el auditorio era lo suficientemente grande. Ha permanecido así durante los últimos 35 años. Ahora, según Jeffrey Spector, Director de Arte y Música del distrito escolar, “Sencillamente, el auditorio es demasiado pequeño”. Una estadística citada regularmente es que sólo soporta el 31% de la población escolar. 23 millones de dólares después soportará 48%. ¿Por qué es 48% el número correcto? Pudiera entender si fuera a alcanzar el 100%. ¿Tendremos después que aumentarlo a que aguante el 100% de los estudiantes?
Veo este proyecto como uno “interesante tener” no como un “debemos tener”, y para tal puede esperar un largo tiempo. Con presupuestos apretados proyectados para el futuro cercano, el auditorio con que generaciones de la Escuela Secundaria han sobrevivido está bien. Preferiría ver el dinero ser gastado en necesidades que tenemos y no podemos costear, como aceras para hacer seguro ir a la escuela.
For one reason, the acoustics are so bad that at least two music teachers there are reported to have suffered significant hearing loss. Though the size of the student body is comparable, the number of students participating in the music program, including band, orchestra and chorus, is far higher than it was. The practice rooms are cramped, and the acoustics dangerously bad, and the auditorium is too small for the groups and the audiences.
Take a look at auditoriums at wilton, North Haven, and elsewhere, and you will see that GHS’s facility stinks. Why is it that the wealthiest community of its size in the entire country can’t afford to build a decent auditorium that can handle the community’s gatherings and won’t damage the hearing of students and teachers?
Comment by Sean — October 15th, 2009 @ 1:51 pm
“[T]he acoustics are so bad that at least two music teachers there are reported to have suffered significant hearing loss.”
These must be two of the more than 750 workers compensation claims that have been filed by Board of Ed. employees over the past five years! Where is the outrage when perhaps the cushiest jobs in Town are generating multimillion dollar payouts — on top of their already generous salaries? Who would have thought that teachers have more workers comp claims –by far — than workers in Public Works, Police Fire, etc.
Can our local media shed some light on this scandal/fraud please?
Comment by Gravy Train — October 18th, 2009 @ 8:08 am
I guess you just did get that into the local media. A very interesting story, I’d like to follow up on it.
Comment by John Bowman — October 18th, 2009 @ 3:40 pm
The suggestion that GHS students might suffer hearing loss because of bad acoustics in the auditorium is laughable and suggests just how zealous some proponents of this project have become. I am in support of a new performing arts center. But it only detracts from the credibility of the proposal when people start to make up silly reasons. The earbuds these kids have permanently attached to their ears will do more damage than any high school auditorium. I have sat in that space way too many times than I would like to recall. The acoustics are not great. It isn’t Carnegie Hall. But you can make the acoustics better by spending a couple of million – not $25 million. GHS deserves a better performance space for many worthy reasons. We don’t need to gild the argument with over-the-top exaggerations.
Comment by Lincoln Millstein — October 18th, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
To be honest, I felt the same about the pricetag on this upgrade. I’ll bet if someone said “we’ll spend $5 million” you’d get a number of designs that could help the acoustics and add seating. Does everything we do in this town have to start at $25 million?
Comment by John Bowman — October 18th, 2009 @ 5:00 pm