BPNA Opposes New Charter School Location In Deep Ellum
In early February the BPNA board received information that Uplift Education was planning a charter school in the middle of the Deep Ellum entertainment district, immediately adjacent to numerous bars. Due to the very short time-frame of a related council vote on February 8th and a Board of Adjustment hearing on February 14th, the board discussed and then voted to oppose that location for a school.
If there are members who are surprised by or disagree with this position, we apologize we did not have time to poll the overall membership, and we are discussing ways to solicit input from a broader number of members when time is short. We believe our reasons for opposing the school’s location are common sense, and while likely a moot issue by the time this newsletter is published, we wanted to reprint the closing paragraph of our letter to the Board of Adjustment:
We would like to point out that is it very unusual for the BPNA to be opposing a special exception for a school. We pride ourselves on supporting educational efforts. We are proud to have another Uplift Education school, Peak Preparatory, just east of our neighborhood on Bryan Street. And we are similarly proud to have Booker T. Washington just to our west on Flora, Cesar Chavez to our east on Ross, and DISD headquarters within our very neighborhood boundaries.
Other than in this specific location, we would welcome a new school nearBryan Place. But Deep Ellum is an entertainment district and is an inappropriate location for a primary or secondary school. In the same way we value
Bryan Place being a close-knit residential neighborhood, we value neighboring Deep Ellum being a vibrant, diverse, entertainment district. And that district is not a location for school-aged children to attend class. We believe the applicant has made a serious error in judgment.
