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Davenport school leaders plan to rent the first floor of JB Young Intermediate school.
Board members voted to close the school at the end of this academic year.
Administrative offices will move to the building’s top floors.
The district spokesperson says anything from a food bank to college prep would be considered.
Local 4 News spoke with a community leader who doesn’t exactly agree with how JB Young is being re-purposed.
Some community leaders aren’t too happy about the plan.
“If they’re going to put somebody in, or groups in on the first floor it needs to be a program or efforts put forth by the Davenport Community School District,” said Grimes.
NAACP Education Chair and Tabernacle Baptist Church Pastor Melvin Grimes has been vocal about JB Young Intermediate.
He pushed for it to stay open at school board meetings,
Now, he wants administrators to stay away from adding social services to the building, like a food stamp office or counseling.
“We don’t need that. There’s enough of that available in the community. In the Quad City Area, but specifically, in Davenport. There need to be some strong, educational programs that benefit our young people,” said Grimes.
District Spokesperson Dawn Saul says feedback will help them decide who to rent to.
“We had some great meetings with community members and business leaders in that area. They gave us some fabulous suggestions. We also meet with intermediate school students. Just to see what they would value,” said Saul.
Grimes says school leaders aren’t taking neighbors and community leaders concerns seriously enough.
“If they had really been listening to what the community said they would’ve never closed J.B. Young in the first place. To me it’s sending another message that if you live in a certain area of the Quad Cities be it Davenport, Moline, Rock Island, if you don’t fit into a certain criteria that other people have in their minds, then they are considered as no count or they don’t count,” said Grimes.
Saul says the district held four different meetings with people throughout the community, and they’ll move forward with the tenants that best serve the area.
“We would want organizations and entities who are interested in providing services and opportunities that would enrich and help the neighborhood,” said Saul.
School leaders say the application deadline is June 15th, and they’ll do interviews in August.
They plan to move tenants into JB Young early next summer.
