KEY MIDDLE SCHOOL COULD REMAIN OPEN!

WHAT DO YOU THINK SHOULD HAPPEN TO KEY MIDDLE?

Key Middle School should stay open and renovations already planned under the new school construction bond program should be sped up to have the building in top condition for the next school year, Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said Tuesday.

The superintendent will recommend to the school board at a special meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday that Key Middle School stay open, and that up to $3 million in renovations approved by voters last November in the bond issue election be expedited.

HISD closed Key Middle School last fall after some teachers reported feeling ill in the building. The Centers for Disease Control was called in to inspect the school after independent air quality experts and the city of Houston had found no significant air quality issues. The CDC reported that “damp building syndrome” might be the problem at Key. The CDC, in a letter to HISD on October 17, 2007, reported it found “isolated” microbial growth.

After HISD moved the Key Middle School students and staff two miles away to Fleming Middle School, the district completed $3 million worth of renovations.

Dr. Saavedra said Wednesday he will recommend the school board on Wednesday give him authorization to move forward with some of the further renovations at Key that were planned as part of the new $805 million HISD school construction and renovation bond program. Under the proposal, Key would receive up to $3 million for new windows throughout the school and a new 315-ton chiller unit for the air conditioning system. The proposal also would fund electric reheat coils for the air handlers serving the auditorium to further improve the performance of the air conditioning system.