School may be out for the summer, but the leaders of St. Luke's School still have some tests to face. Head of School Mark Davis went before the Planning and Zoning Commission this week to ask for an extension allowing them to use portable classrooms for four more years. What they encountered was intense questioning from the board and neighbors asking why the classrooms were still necessary.
St. Luke's originally received permission to use portable classrooms for a four-year term. Enrollment increases forced the school to ask for the temporary solution while officials raised money and created plans to build an addition to accommodate more students. But with the endowment hit hard by the economy, Davis said the school has had trouble raising the money.
The board members, however, were curious about the fact that the school will appear before them next month to get approval for an addition to the school. Davis explained that this round of renovations focused on a new cafeteria, with only a small classroom added that could not fit the rush of students.
Commission member John Goodwin said the board just wants assurance that the portable classrooms will not be a permanent solution. "Four years seems like a long time," he said. Davis said that the school has no intention of keeping the classrooms on a permanent basis, but stressed that it still needs to find funding. "We would hope we could raise the money within four years," he said. "But I'm only cautiously optimistic. It's a very different fundraising climate than it was four years ago."
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