Bogin forwarded message From: helpthetowng@hushmailcom Date: September 24, 2015 at 11:27:06 AM CDT To: helpthetown@hushmail.com ‘Subject: Fwd: Re "Desegregating the Park Cities” -- Dallas Observer SCARY-PLEASE READ: ———~ Forwarded message hitow/waw. dallasobserver,com/news/helpful-hint-for julian-castro-on-how-to-deseareaate-the-park-cities- 7430264 ‘Schutze picked the wrong quadrant but he's on to the scheme, Here's what he said to a Parkie in the comment section to his article: im Schutze | don't know Noble. | think you have the same problem DISD does ~ a powerful school construction lobby that just popped a big surprise bond program out of its back pocket, and they're gong to love my idea because for them it's all about the deal. Jul2995072015, HP ISO Bond and Section 8 Housing HPISD Bond Package/Section 8 Housing PLEASE PLEASE READ BELOW: From Julie Cooper If you are considering voting YES for the bond package, please review the information below and see how you feel after you read it. The committee has not offered near enough in terms of solutions for growth- just one option of spending $360+ million dollars to tear down existing schools and add a new one or more. Most people think the bond is just about building new schools when in fact there is MUCH more to it, including section 8 housing. Please read below and demand the the committee give the district MORE options to accommodate growth. Intpus2.carpalgn-arrive2 com’ 5282167741eSeada2cteM0Gid=620633He8OKe= 20855206 wna07015 HP ISO Bond and Section 8 Housing Since mid-August, when the district held two community forums to promote its bond issue, many Park Cities residents have been asking legitimate questions about taking on such a large amount of debt. But the HPISD Board of Trustees and the Facilities Committee have failed to provide informed, current answers. Our biggest question was whether expanding our existing schools and building a Sth elementary school would invite section 8 housing within the district. So a few of us did some research. Below, we outline what we've found. Is Section 8 housing within the district more likely if the bond passes? YES. Where could this alleged Section 8 housing even fit? It seems like we are out of room. What gives Dallas the right to build Section 8 housing inside Highland Park's school district? ‘As can be seen by the map of the entire HP school district shown above, all of UP and HP and parts of the City of Dallas are within HPISD's boundaries. HPISD is obligated to serve all students within its boundaries, not just students who live in UP or HP. The yellow areas show those parts of the City of Dallas within the district, the blue section is UP, and the green section shows HP. (This map can be found on page 45 of the promotional materials provided by HPISD in its bond marketing package.) In sector 5 (the NE quadrant), there is a substantial amount of residential Dallas property served by HPISD that is also conveniently located near the proposed 5th elementary school. North Park Gardens condominiums span the southern stretch of Northwest Highway from Boedeker to Durham. Most of these condominiums (and the southern streets they back up to) are inside the boundaries of HPISD, even though they are in Dallas, not the Park Cities. We'll call this area "NPG." Section 8 housing in ipus2.campaion-archived com/?u 526016774 1eedBdadeb2O08id=6206%4e8aBo=<2e856C206 2msts HP 180 Bond and Sacon 8 Husing NPG would provide young students safe passage to the 5th elementary school and a safe, short walk back home, across Durham. ‘The older students would attend the newly expanded intermediate, middle and high schools. Questions and Answers. 1. Does the bond give Dallas an added incentive to build Section 8 in NPG? Yes. Bond supporters often point out that Dallas has always had the ability to convert NPG land in into section 8 housing. This is true, but until this bond issue, Dallas never had any reason to do so. Why? Because the children living in this housing would have had no schools to go to. HPISD has almost always been at or beyond its capacity. The district's bond promotion materials make this abundantly clear, with graphic illustrations showing our schools are at or approaching maximum capacity. The bond promotional materials also show how much bigger our schools would be if HPISD got this bond money. If the bond does not pass, HPISD simply will not have the room to take in Section 8 students from NPG. (For many, our low-growth, landlocked status is a feature. But for others, particularly those who loathe the Park Cities, it is a bug.) Not only did Dallas have no reason to convert NPG into section 8 housing, it probably never had the financial means to do so. Such a costly acquisition would require federal dollars from Washington, D.C. When a city chooses to take property by eminent domain and convert it into section 8 housing, HUD and other federal agencies give that city federal money to help purchase the land and build the low-income housing. It is self-evident that HUD would not help fund a plan to take property by eminent domain and put in section 8 housing in an area where there are no schools for the low-income children to attend. Though some may find the federal government woefully inept, even HUD would view such a proposition as preposterous. There's no point to building Section 8 housing in an area where there are no schools. ipsa campaign- arrived com/=S28215774eeca2ch7ORid=SA0SIUeABO=eETSECIS an902015 ‘Subscribe HP ISD Bond and Section 8 Housing 2. How can Dallas build Section 8 housing inside HPISD, when HPISD has never taken any HUD money, and neither have UP or HP? Because parts of Dallas are within HPISD. Dallas has an absolute right to build section 8 housing within its own city limits -- and after the Supreme Court's decision on June 25, 2015, HUD can force Dallas to build section 8 housing in areas served by high-quality schools. The fact that the Dallas land is inside the boundaries of HPISD doesn't tie Dallas's hands. Many people erroneously believe that section 8 housing cannot be built within HPISD because the Park Cities have never taken any HUD money. But that is completely irrelevant. It has no bearing whatsoever on the question whether Dallas can build Section 8 housing within its own city limits -- even if that land is within the HP District. Remember, it will be the City of Dallas that acquires the NPG property and builds this section 8 housing, not UP or HP. The City of Dallas makes that decision, not the Park Cities. And in that decision, PC residents would have absolutely no say. Perhaps more alarming, the City of Dallas may have no say. In cities that take HUD money, what HUD wants, HUD gets. This is why the Park Cities have never taken HUD money. It's very simple: wisely, we do not want to give control over our cities to the federal government in Washington, D.C. Share > Past Issues Translate previously unimaginable. 3- Would the bond issue make Dallas more inclined to build Section 8 housing in HPISD? Yes. Intpsus2.campaign-arcive2.com/?.=526015774eedida2cbOOBid= 206 HaakemePeSC2N6 an9902015 HP 18D Bond and Section Housing ‘And recent developments have put Dallas right in HUD's cross-hairs. If HPISD residents pass this bond issue, HPISD would break ground on the fifth elementary and begin significantly expanding its capacity for more students in the middle, intermediate, and high schools. The district's expansion would give Dallas a compelling reason -- and finally, the financial wherewithal from HUD -- that it never had before: plenty of room for the new students housed in the NPG area, and the money from HUD to buy NPG land and build low-income housing -- housing that would be served by HPISD because it's within HPISD's boundaries. For the first time ever, HPISD would have the room for all these new students. Once HPISD's bond issue passes, Dallas could take NPG by eminent domain, re-zone it to allow for high-density multi-family housing, and break ground on two or perhaps three Section 8 high-rises. It could use the more eastern blocks of NPG (which are not in HPISD) for parking, a pool, and other section 8 community amenities. Dallas cannot control the Park Cities and the Park Cities cannot control Dallas. Because this land is in Dallas, Park Cities residents would have no voice in the re- zoning or in the new buildings. Section 8 high-rises could go up, right next to the new school. ‘The real question Park Cities residents ought to be asking is: what would stop Dallas from converting NPG into Section 8 housing when it will have a beautiful new elementary school right next door, and plenty of room in the middle and high schools, all bought and paid for by the HPISD taxpayers? New pressure from HUD ... It's critical to know that Dallas is now under intense scrutiny by HUD. itp:tus2 campaign-arcive2 com’ 528215774 1eSceda2ch7ORid=62063SAeLaRE=e7EBEECANG sisno201s HP 18D Bond ard Section 8 Housing Anew mandate, just issued by HUD in July of 2015, forces cities that take HUD money to build Section 8 housing in "high opportunity” neighborhoods that offer top-notch high-quality schools. The Obama Administration is determined to move low- income families into affluent cities and suburbs at virtually any cost. It's called "economic integration” or "economic de-segregation.” Dallas is now under HUD's gun for at least two reasons: a) Inclusive Communities litigation: Dallas was the subject of a major case in the United States Supreme Court, just decided on June 25th, 2015. The Inclusive Communities Project sued the State of Texas, claiming Dallas should have directed builders who received federal tax subsidies to build in "high opportunity” neighborhoods rather than clean up and put in new housing in blighted areas in South Dallas. The Inclusive Communities plaintiff won the case. ‘The law at issue is called the "Fair Housing Act" or "FHA." The Supreme Court ruled that the FHA offers no protection to a city that does not discriminate in its public housing programs. A plaintiff need only show that the city's housing policy has "adverse effects” or "disparately impacts” a minority group. After the Inclusive Communities decision was decided on June 25th, HUD acted at warp speed. Using the Court's interpretation of the FHA, HUD enacted its new “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” ("AFFH") regulation on July 8, 2015. Under AFFH, a city (a city accepting HUD money, like Dallas, that is) must affirmatively take action to build public housing in "high opportunity” neighborhoods. The policies behind AFFH are designed to stop segregating the poor in crime-ridden areas stocked with low-quality, metal-detector schools. Accordingly, cities taking HUD money MUST do everything possible (or whatever HUD tells them to do) to integrate the poor into affluent neighborhoods with ip:tus2.campaigr-archive2 com? 526215774 1eScdida2ckOMD0Sic=620634eBaken 208556206 ergots HP 180 Bond and Section Housing high-quality schools. And to that end, HUD will be examining a city's progress and giving that city a report card. If HUD finds a city lacking, it may cut off the city’s HUD funds entirely. If HUD withheld funds from Dallas, it would be a devastating blow. The City of Dallas Housing Authority receives millions upon millions of HUD federal dollars every year. Since the Inclusive Communities case was decided, HUD has a mighty cudgel. b) HUD Litigation against Dallas: For the past four or more years, HUD investigated the public housing policies of Dallas and sued Dallas for FHA violations. HUD's findings against Dallas were explosive. HUD found that Dallas had systematically built low- income, Section 8 housing in almost exclusively low- income, minority areas, resulting in continuous segregation of minorities. Put another way, HUD found Dallas guilty of tucking away its low-income residents in the southern sector of the city -- an area dominated by crime and served by abysmal DISD schools. In roughly April of 2014, Dallas and HUD were close to settling this case. Dallas was about to agree to HUD's draconian measures, including the city's agreement to spend millions of ollars to remedy its past housing transgressions. Yet mysteriously and inexplicably, after Julian Castro took the helm at HUD (in July of 2014), on Wednesday, November 5, 2014, HUD tossed this massive lawsuit against Dallas into the trash can. It's a wild and wooly story. Jim Schutze of the Dallas Observer remains positively apoplectic. How and why HUD agreed to let Dallas off the hook -- in a rock-solid case over four years in the making ~ nobody seems to know. But we do know that at virtually the same time HUD magically disappeared its case against Dallas, HPISD trustees were green-lighting a massive expansion of our schools with a $350+ million dollar bond issue. itp.s2.campaign-archve2.com/v=S528215778 teScdBacb2Ot0Side 20633H08aBe=426655206 mee001 HP 18D Bond and Section #Howsing ‘That HUD relieved Dallas of all of its settlement obligations at the same time HPISD was signaling a green-light for the bond issue is significant. Of course, we'll allow that the timing could be coincidental ... but it is difficult to fathom that HUD dropped its case against Dallas without getting something in return. It seems more likely that Mayor Rawlings and HUD's Julian Castro (who hails from San Antonio) agreed that Dallas would make significant concessions and agreements with HUD in exchange for HUD's dismissal of its lawsuit. Perhaps HUD and Dallas decided to make the de- segregation of the Park Cities the federal government's crown jewel in its "income inequality" social engineering experiment. But that's just our opinion ... 4. Does the bond have any relevance to the federal funding HPISD takes for our schools? Yes. Because HPISD accepts federal money for its schools (see p. 89, where it's buried in the budget), the district is subject to all Title [X requirements enforced by the Department of Education ("DOE"). Why is this important? Because recently, the DOE has been intensely focusing its efforts on protecting the LGBT/transgender student population in schools which take federal money. The fact is, when a school (public or private) takes federal money for any reason, it hands its keys and almost all control over to the federal government, putting the DOE behind the wheel. A school district in California learned this lesson recently, when the DOE disagreed with the district's handling of a transgender student; the school district ultimately signed an Agreed Consent Decree. ‘The DOE is imposing expensive and onerous requirements on this school district, in every way the DOE sees fit, to accommodate LGBQT students. You'll need to read it to believe it. See a copy of DOE's ip dus2.campaion- archived com/?=526015774 1eScdBdadch2oRv08id= 820633 4eBaBo= 26055206 ana0015 HPISD Bondand Section 8 Housing requirements for this CA school district here. Fortunately, HPISD's bond issue is so staggering in its enormity (current replacement value [p. 19] for all our schools, sports facilities, admin buildings, and contents - - from computers all the way down to dixie cups = $226M), HPISD would have plenty of extra money to pay for whatever new facilities the DOE might dictate. New and separate so forth for transgender students can be ordered by the DOE. Or instead, the DOE can require the school to let trans students use the locker rooms and showers of the gender he/she chooses, and compete on whatever sports team feels right to that student, so the trans student doesn't feel "segregated" or isolated from the gender he or she identifies with. The DOE may also require the district to change its disciplinary policy if it disparately affects minorities. Whether a school's policies on handling sexual harassment or sexual assault suffice is wholly left up to the DOE. And, on-site daycare at schools for the children of Section 8 students is an emerging issue. Of course, HPISD could simply stop taking federal money for its schools; that would be the easiest solution. But until that time, the huge new bond issue -- paid for by HPISD taxpayers -- would provide more than ample funds for HPISD to comply with any and all requirements the DOE could dream up. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Would the bond issue make it more or less likely that Dallas would build Section 8 housing in HPISD's boundaries so that under-privileged minorities can enjoy HPISD's excellent schools? All indications are that a substantial increase in student capacity makes it far more likely. Indeed, Dallas may have no choice in the matter ~- a fact the HPISD Trustees are either blind to, or choose to completely ignore. If HUD orders Dallas to build high- density, multi-family Section 8 housing inside HPISD, Dallas must comply, even if it requires re-zoning. As but ito:fus2.campalgn-archive2.com/2ueS2E240774edecaeh2Oid=EC06iMadakerede065c266 ann02015 HP 1S0 Bond and Sacon Hausing one example, HUD is forcing Westchester County, NY, to build low-income housing in affluent neighborhoods like Chappaqua -- Bill and Hillary Clinton's affluent neighborhood. There is every reason to think it will happen here. But if any trustee of HPISD is willing to go on camera, look HPISD taxpayers straight in the eye and tell us that this bond makes Section 8 housing within the district no more likely that it was before -- despite HUD's strong, new federal push to move low-income families into affluent neighborhoods -- we'll upload it into the annals of YouTube and reconsider our position on the issue. Does a YES! vote on the bond make Section 8 students a virtual certainty? Nothing is certain in life except death and taxes. But every indication is that Dallas, already under immense pressure from HUD in D.C., would gladly take advantage of HPISD's enormously expanded student capacity, and its residents’ financial generosity (via higher property taxes). The Dallas Observer is already pitching the idea. (Note in particular the comments to Mr. Schutze's article). "Pitchforks Win: the White-Privilege BUBBLE is Pricked!" The headlines write themselves. Nevertheless, no one has a crystal ball. As bond supporters like to argue, the City of Dallas has always had the option to Section-8 the NPG area, but it never has before, and so why would it do so now? Besides, bond supporters exclaim, there is absolutely "no evidence” that Dallas intends to build any Section 8 housing inside the district. No, there's no hard "evidence," to be sure. But this is hardly surprising. If HUD or the Dallas Housing Authority thought the bond issue would fail if Park Cities residents realized there could be an influx of Section 8 students into HPISD schools, that's one cat they wouldn't let out of the bag. But what about the growth?! In TWENTY-FIVE YEARS we've gained 3,000 new students. Iitp:fus2-campaigr-xchive2.com/?ue526216774eecidach2ORBid=E06SMedate=e2aEGc2bs sore902018 HP 180 Bond and Section 8 Housing That's 120 students per year. And now PASA --a company school boards hire to persuade taxpayers to take on millions in debt -- says we will get 100 new students every year! 100 new students spread out over six schools and twelve grades sounds ... a little alarming. HPISD has managed to cope with its tortoise-paced, slow growth since its inception. We are land-locked. There's no where to go but no where. But if you believe the growth projections advanced by PASA, vote for the bond. Then we'll have room to go up, up, up! And our property values will probably go down, down, down. Section 8 housing in HPISD would very likely lower our property values because property values are directly linked to the excellence of our school district, reflected in our student test scores, graduation rates, college placement statistics and the like. Lower property values would, in turn, compel HPISD to tax us even harder; otherwise there would be no way to service this tremendous new debt. Another consideration is crime and social strife. A demoralized Dallas Police Department would be left to deal with the increase in crime. Study after study shows that high-density, low-income housing brings crime. And, Dallas has just opened four Middle East refugee processing centers, as of September 13, 2015. These refugees and their children will need places to live. Why rush through this $350+ million dollar bond issue? Our children just lived through (and are now finally enjoying) all the improvements from the $70+ million dollar 2008 bond issue. And now the Board of Trustees wants to completely demolish three of our four historic, warm and welcoming elementary schools, expand our intermediate, middle and high schools - and demolish nearly all of those 2008 bond improvements -- to start itp: s2.campalgn-ahive2.com/=526210778teedida2cbOORsBid= 62065 Madan e226 ae302015 HP ISO Bond and Section 8 Housing all over again? And at a time when HPISD is at its highest risk ever for new section 8 students? Vote NO on the new bond issue. Our children deserve better. Copyright © 2015, Truth In Texas Education undate subscription preferences unsubseribe from t pss2.campaigr-archived com/i=5282157741eedda2ch7OR08idH6206S34086BS= 25855206 rane