They Don't Care
Here is a progress report on the status of the construction of the large Middle School at Creekside, as of Thursday, January 26, 2023.
Demolition and site preparation activities continue apace at the Creekside site. One of the classroom wings of the old Creekside Elementary School is gone now, as are several trees from around the site, including two clusters of oak trees that the California Wildlife Foundation/California Oaks had specifically requested to be saved. By now it is clear that the school district:
- Either does not wish to be bothered with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act or is rushing to beat the regulatory deadlines associated with the Act, because the project contractor has removed at least 11 of 37 trees from the site, including two clusters of oak trees in oak woodland settings (see video, below),
- Is either oblivious to the fact that it's designated soccer field is nowhere near level and slopes significantly towards and into the flood plain portion of the site or has not yet figured out that the field will need to be graded with cuts and fills that will interfere with the flood properties of the site and impose new flood risks on adjacent homes and/or cause new sedimentation risks to Chicken Ranch Slough, and
- Plans to let a portion of the site be inundated with flood waters, a cynical way of disguising from the public that the site is far too small (according to state standards) for a middle school of the magnitude intended there. Flooding associated with last October's storms shrank the buildable part of the 9.2 acre site by some 3 acres. The state of California requires 12.9 to 19.9 acres for middle schools of the intended size. Putting a big one - like the one being built - on less than half of the required land is ridiculous - this is suburban Sacramento, not Manhatten Island.
So there you have it. More evidence that they don't care. But that's not news, is it? We all know they do not care. They have been consistent and straightforward about that. As the project barrels along, there will undoubtedly be more and clearer evidence that the school board will do whatever it wants to do, despite the consequences to the community. Remember, they don't care. The question is, do you care?
