Comments by Tigertail

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Written on Same school, new spot – Marco Island Academy to open in former Baptist church school location:

Finally the MIA is going to a location that is appropriate. Since they are abandoning the site on San Marco Road, will they being cleaning up all the trees they killed, and restore the site to the way it was before the site prep?

Written on Tract K out of play for Marco charter high:

in response to MarcoDefender:

Oc - Yes, ingenuity and dedication, it's the American way. You've got to admit, the system isn't working, which is why a new, local solution was necessary.

Now, the tax dollars we pay each year will finally stay on the Island, I'm all for that, to get spent locally. Why are you OK with sending Marco tax dollars to Naples? That makes no sense.

I was told the enrollment window goes through August, so not sure what you mean about a deadline.

Why are the few of you so focused on seeing this HS fail? Please, tell me why you would want that? I would really like to hear the valid reasoning of your thoughts on this. Thank you.

This HS is going to fail because, their are not enough HS MARCO school children to support the need for another HS in Collier County. Another reason is the fact that there is not a large enough parcel of land to build a new HS on Marco. Even tract k (which you are not going to get) is too small to have a fully functioning HS. The MIA will not offer the multiple athletic programs needed, nor the cultural diversity that kids need to experience at this age. Lastly, the tax payers on Marco do not want to have their taxes raised to pay for this new HS. The private donations will run dry, then who is going to pay for the up keep, teacher salaries, utilities, books, computers, buses, etc....

Written on Collier School District could lease Tract K land in Marco to nonprofit eagle group:

in response to alanint:

Island children are already getting a decent education. There are two decent schools here on the island and a decent high school in Naples, for those who don't want to ship their kids off to prep school. Lely is an outstanding school with outstanding programs. It's low test scores reflect the large percentage of students who are not native English speakers. My son attends Lely and most of the students and faculty there are rather tired of MIA and its supporters demonizing the school and its curriculum. The simple fact is that every student will get back commensurate with what they put into school. This includes MIA, if it ever opens. As was pointed out to you previously, MIA is the group who should be ashamed of themselves for trying to bulldoze this project through using arrogance, deception, half-truths and outright lies.
It isn't about the children. It's about Jane Watt's ego and a handful of parent's elitism. If they were so concerned about education, they would have settled at the "Y", started operations, proved themselves, then looked for ways to expand. Demanding Tract K is nothing more than their elitist need to have a prestige address on the island.
Explain this; If hard sciences are at the core of the MIA curriculum, how is it that they just hired a principal whose present position is "special projects coordinator" at a language academy!!!
Don't bother trying to shame us...we know we are right.

Ditto, well said. Shame on you DeltaRome! Let, "We The People", decide what happens to tract k, put it on the ballot, and OUT of Mr. Recker's biased hands!!

Written on PHOTOS: Two eaglets, born to nesting bald eagles, live at Tract K:

in response to 26yearsonmarco:

If Mom and Pop Eagle were really concerned for their Kids future, they would waste no time and enroll them in the Charter School.

Or they could send their kids to Lely HS, Golden Gate HS, Gulf Coast HS, St. John Neuman, Community School, etc.... Some parents are acting as if there is no high school for their teenagers to attend. Tract K, is the home to "mom and pop" plus all their offspring over the years. And it is a very important piece of property to preserve to a lot of people!
Just as you are passionate about having a charter HS for your kids, you should give the same respect to those of us who have a passion to save tract k from unnecessary development!

Written on PHOTOS: Two eaglets, born to nesting bald eagles, live at Tract K:

in response to MarcoIslandWoman:

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

"Let us share the property with a new high school". How could you possibly think that a school with hundreds of teenagers, staff, school buses, cars, traffic, and bright lighting is not going scare away this pair of Eagles and their offspring? Tract K is an inappropriate site for a high school, period!

Written on Marco Island charter school leases land; still eyes Tract K:

Klaber-GadFly, you are nothing more than a "Gad-fly" who needs to get a life outside of blogging and agitating everyone! Get off the computer, and go out see what the real world is all about.

Written on LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Low enrollment should not prevent a high school:

"Our high school students spend an hour every day commuting just to get to their classes at Lely. If they live on the south end of the Island that time is even greater."
Why is this school really needed? Is it for transportation convenience, or for education? Seems to me all I keep hearing from MIA supporters, at meetings and in all these blogs, is that the kids have to drive 7 miles off the island to go to school.
How many people grew up going 10 miles or more to their high school? I did and survived, just like I do now going to work everyday! Do we really need to spend millions of dollars, disturb the residents in the tigertail area, and vacate the blad eagles and their offspring who live on tract k, so we can have 200 kids drive 3 to 5 miles to school and the other 300 kids be bused in from Naples instead?

Written on Collier School Board delays decision on Marco Academy charter school:

This school board meeting was a Farce! It was an absolute waste of tax payers money, and everyone else’s time who attended this meeting. Plus why sit thru a 4 hour meeting when the board had no intention to vote on the matter in the first place? The board chair women begged Mrs. Watt numerous times for an extension, which Mrs. Watt refused several times. Then the board came to vote, each council member exposed their vote, and then the chair women said, this is the last time I am going to ask you for an extension. Surprising, Mrs. Watt now changed her mind and granted them the extension after she knew the votes were 4 NO's and 1 YES (by Steve Donovan who is retiring this year).
That, is a Farce, regardless if the you are for, or against the Charter school, the process was a complete failure. The Collier County School Board members are elected officials and they have a duty to follow proper procedures and guidelines, to make the vote binding, once they decided to go to a vote! Especially after Mrs. Watt confirmed that they proceed with the vote after turning down the extension requests 3 or 4 times prior!

Written on Bald eagles on Marco key to species’ recovery:

in response to deltarome:

I love the spin on this subject.
While the school board owns track K and has no money to build a school, that doesn't mean that the land can't be bought by someone else who then puts up a school.
This isn't about eagles or schools, this is really about neighbors who bought houses built next to land that was set aside for a future school and then not wanting the school to be built there. Not In My Back Yard-NIMBY.
Selfish and not realistic in my opinion.

Deltarome, do we need to build something on every piece of vacant property here on Marco? A highschool at tract K may have been a nice concept back in the 70's when Deltona planned the island's vision. However, in 2010 it is not an appropriate site now, for numerous reasons. Plus, where are all these kids going to come from to fill the school? We DO NOT have 500-600 Marco Island students. Without bringing kids in from off the island, the maximum attendance of Marco kids will be 250. That is assuming that all of them will want to go to this school, and not Lely or Gulf Coast instead. Where do you live? Let's put the school in your backyard. Still think we need to build another school?

Written on Letter to the Editor: Support a Marco high school:

Mr. Kirstein,
The people are opposed to the high school being built on Tract K; they are NOT against having schools. We just do not want the new school to be located in an all residential neighborhood, or on a parcel of land that has a federally protected Bald Eagle family on it. The people with the Marco Academy are creating the problem. They got approval to build the charter high school with conjunction with the YMCA, but that was not good enough. Now they are going for the Gold, and want to build on tract K without any regards to the 1,500 property owners in an all residential neighborhood, the infra-structure needed to accommodate this grand project, nor the likelihood that the tax payers will pick up the future multi million dollar tab to build and run the school. Some people are acting like we do not have a high school for their kids to go to, they seem to have forgotten that there is already a brand new private one at the intersection of Winterberry & Barcelona Court. We also have several established high schools; Lely HS (only 9 miles away), Golden Gate HS, Gulf Coast HS, Community School, and St. John Neumann to choose from. Do we really NEED another school?

Written on Letter to the Editor: Tract K is beautiful:

in response to 4marcoisland:

On behalf of the Marco Island Academy, I would like to assure you that there is no plan for a collaboration between the Solar Panel Farm and the school. The Marco Island Academy is not in cahoots with anyone. We are simply trying to offer a local choice for quality education for the high school aged students. I have spoken with Russ personally to discuss this. I do not know how or why the rumor started, but I can assure you that it isn't true. Jane Watt, Chair of the Marco Island Academy

4marcoisland: I just have one simple question for you and the Marco Academy. Why don't you build the high school at the YMCA or Mackel Park, and just leave Tract K alone? This way everyone is happy.

Written on Letter to the Editor: What’s happening with Tract K?:

Let’s keep this simple. Put it to a vote on the ballot in November. I have a feeling that the majority of voters on Marco Island will want to have the City purchase tract K and preserve it as a park for everyone to use. Just because it is assumed that this parcel is supposed be a be a school, it does not mean it cannot be something else. Times have changed since the 80's! There is a lot more traffic, construction, and population density 40 years later. We have very limited "green space" space on this island. Plus, we already have a highschool for the minimal amount of highschool aged children on this island, it's called Lely. A lot of kids have graduated from this high school and become college graduates and then onto becoming CEO's of corporations, professional athletes, doctors, engineers, etc. Just like in life, you get out of it what you put into it. Why don't the parents who want the charter highschool, put all this great effort into making Lely a better school? Find out exactly what is wrong with it, and why they do not want to send their kids to that highschool? Take those problems to the Collier County School Board, and the Lely staff. Hold them accountable to the fixing those problems and issues! Regarding the Bald Eagles, blogger "IslandEye1". The Eagle is a protected species and has lived and produced 6 offspring over the past 3 years on this parcel. They should be left alone and not forced to "pack up and move at anytime". Funny how this island uses the Bald Eagle as a positive symbol on street signs, tops of flag poles with the American Flag, flying within the symbol for the City of Marco Island, and this newspaper is even called the Marco Eagle? But who really cares about the Eagles???

Written on Iguanas gone wild: Exotic pets becoming Marco pests:

The Iguana problem is a serious issue! The root of the problem begins with irresponsible owners who think these are great pets for their kids, and when they grow up to several feet in length, dump them in the backyard. The State of Florida is beginning to require that exotic pet dealers input microchips into these creatures, so they can be traced back to the owners if illegally dumped into the wild. That is a nice idea, but they should ideally ban the sale of these types of exotics as "pets" period. These non-native creatures are a major nuisance, and multiply at alarming rates. They eat the native species and have harmful bacteria in their droppings. These dropping can make people, pets, and others very sick. The City needs to do an eradication program now, when there are only a few thousand of them on the island. If not kept in check, they will explode to hundreds of thousands and will cost millions of dollars to deal with them later, just ask the residents Boca Grande and other barrier island of Southwest Florida.

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