Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Is MODOT ready to evict Joplin R-8 from Admin Building?

The Joplin R-8 School District's three-year agreement to lease the former MODOT building at 32nd and Duquesne as an administration building ended a few months ago and reportedly, the state agency is not pleased with the district's offers for the building.

Recently, the C. J. Huff Administration made a low-ball offer that was summarily rejected by the Highway Commission.

Now the question for Joplin R-8 taxpayers is how much rent will they have to pay to continue to occupy the building or in the off-chance that the district is evicted, how much will it cost to live up to the original agreement to return the building to its original state, considering that more than a quarter of a million dollars was reportedly spent to modify the building to district specifications?

The original three-year deal for the building between the school district and MODOT was brokered by Gov. Jay Nixon in the aftermath of the May 22, 2011 tornado.


    

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why is the Admin. Bldg. on 15th not good enough for Huff and his cronies
Get rid of all the waste positions and accesses and move back.

Anonymous said...

I implore Debbie Fort to get them back to 15th Street or to the 8th and Wall facility

Anonymous said...

Because he's created too many positions that weren't there before, and aren't needed now, so they won't all fit! Get rid of the "executives" in charge of this and that, go back to the Admin staff that worked in the past and things will run smoothly again! There aren't any more children in this district than there used to be when we had two high schools. The population numbers are way down since the tornado. The school age population has also dropped! There is no need for more Admin staff than students!

Anonymous said...

Huff probably figured the Highway Commission would accept his low-ball offer because of his fame.

Even if they got rid of the top 20 or so unnecessary positions they couldn't stuff their new furniture into the Admin bldg on 15th street.

Anonymous said...

Memorial would make a spacious Admim. This beautiful-classic building is ideally located. One hundred million dollars in upgrades could also clean out the environmental hazards that would be simply unacceptable once people of value are there.

Anonymous said...

He straight up thinks he too good to be in a small building, running a small district.

Anonymous said...

Regardless of whether he feels "too good" for the small building on 15th, he should be told he has to move there. It's ridiculous and it's true that the district has not increased in numbers over what it has been. All these assistants to the assistants, assistants, directors, assistants to directors - blah blah blah sure hasn't helped the students receive the education they deserve. If the
15th street building is impossible, I vote for Memorial. These fools need to make adjustments and downsize. It's past time to move district resources to support classroom teachers and their students.

Anonymous said...

If we can find a really bad place, will he just leave town? How about the Dunweg/Desquene building? There are two of them available.

Anonymous said...

When I toured the building with a friend, over a year ago, I was stunned to see how extravagant and ostentatious Huff's and Besendorfer's offices were. A member of my family used to work at MODOT. The offices for top management were functional and attractive but reflected the fact that those who worked there were public servants not corporate moguls. The public has a need to know.

Anonymous said...

I think he should be at Washington with the mushrooms.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have any photos of their offices? I would be curious to see. They can be uploaded relatively anonymously to a site like imgur.