ECHO HOUSE Demolished, St. PAUL School Closing: "Won" Demolition of Historic Echo House

"Well, Richard, it profiteth a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world. But for Wales?
-- Saint Thomas More, in Robert Bolt's play and film, "A Man For All Seasons." (Said to opportunistic onetime More household flatterer, Sir. Richard Rich, who perjured himself at More's treason trial to please Henry VIII, winning appointment as Attorney General for Wales. Later promoted, Richard, "died in his bed."

"The world is too much with us, late and soon.
Getting and spending we lay waste our powers.
Little in Nature we see that is ours.
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon."
-- William Wordsworth


Threatening to move his historic church, Rev. RON RAWLS and St. Paul A.M.E Church "won" a demolition permit, tearing down 2/3 of historic Echo House in 2015 for supposed benefit of "St. Paul School of Excellence" which is closing at the end of the 2016 school year.
(See below).

Remember how Rev. RAWLS used politics and unjust accusations of racism and the clamor of the crowd to "win" demolition of an historic African-American community building in Lincolnville?

Remember how cruelly the supporters of St. Paul School of Excellence behaved toward opponents, claiming that they "had to" to demolish 90 year old Echo House?  (There was heckling without a gavel by the HARB chair, and one of my friends at A.M.E. brandished her cane at me.  I forgave them.)

Rev. RON RAWLS' parishioners testified, claiming Jesus inspired him to tear down an historic building for a parking lot for what he called his "business" (a church).

Rev. RAWLS claimed to be building a new building and thus lacking room for parking, egged on by local ministers, supported by builder-politician JOHN VALDES and threatening angry vituperative parishioners of St. Paul A.M.E., Rev. RON RAWLS of Gainesville "won" a partial demolition of 2/3 of the historic African-American community building called Echo House, based on material misstatements of fact and false assertions it was "for the children"

As Tacitus said of the sack of Carthage, "They created a desert and they called it peace."

Rev. RAWLS got control of Echo House from the City, which did nothing to oversee it, despite its right of reverter if it ceased to be used for charitable purposes. RAWLS' spreadsheet showed no investment in fundraising to preserve and protect the building. Instead, he did internal demolition, put a plastic Global Wrap® cover on the roof (pro bono) and let the building sit, unoccupied. Then he demanded to tear it down, apparently getting pro malo advice from the likes of the late developer lawyer GEORGE MORRIS McCLURE, whose pastor supported the teardown.

Never again will we allow dodgy clergy, demagogues or developers to destroy our history thattaway.

Before 2014-2015, no one had ever labelled people racists if we don't consent to tear down a historic building.

I appealed from the maladroit HARB decision on St. Paul's demolition permit, was found to have standing, and my appeal was denied by City Commission. That was in 2014-2015.

Well, in 2016, today, February 7, 2016, a date that will live in infamy, St. Paul A.M.E. announced it is closing at the end of the school year. Finis.

to City Hall, stop letting our historic buildings be destroyed by people with a "whim of iron," whether it be by well-meaning misguided ministers or by dodgy developers like DAVID BARTON CORNEAL (Carpenter's House) to build a swimming pool for CORDOVA INN (DOW PUD).

So what happens to Echo House now? The CIty should take it back under its right of reverter. To Rev. RAWLS:

1. "May we have it back please??"

2. Don't ever divide our community again with dollar signs in your eyes: your damnable demolition permit was wrong, wrong, wrong. Nobody's God is mocked by those who wrap themselves in religiosity to destroy St. Augustine's history. Like ISIS in Palmyra, you destroyed history without understanding. Rev. Rawls owes us all an apology.

Excerpt from The Record article on closing of St. Paul School of Excellence:


2 St. Johns County charter schools poised for renewal; St. Paul School of Excellence opts to close
Closing time

Posted: February 6, 2016 - 9:14pm | Updated: February 7, 2016 - 7:16am

By JAKE MARTIN
jake.martin@staugustine.com
In a year in which three charter school contracts with the St. Johns County School District come up for renewal, each is poised to meet a unique fate.

Up for renewal this year were contracts for The Academy of Business and Leadership, St. Augustine Public Montessori School and St. Paul School of Excellence. Each brought its challenges and accomplishments to the School District’s table, but with mixed results.

…

Closing time

The St. Paul School of Excellence, in the meantime, withdrew its Letter of Intent to Renew on Jan. 29. The school’s contract was approved for four years in 2012 and this is the final year of that contract. St. Paul will complete the current school year but will not open its doors for the 2016-17 school year.

The Rev. Ron Rawls, the school’s president, said because of low enrollment and all the challenges that stem from that, he and other school leaders determined students would be better served in traditional public schools.

“We got to a point where we had to acknowledge this is not what we envisioned or what we wanted,” he said. “Our resources are so limited, and we can’t keep our children in a situation that is not what we envisioned.”

Rawls said low enrollment led to low budgets, which put a damper on the school’s goals for closing the achievement gap because of the lack of resources to make it happen.

He said one of the biggest challenges was having to switch principals each year because the school couldn’t pay what the position demands.

Veteran teachers were also hard to come by.

“We had a lot of new teachers who were very good at their job, but we were missing that mentorship aspect,” Rawls said. “They needed the right type of leader.”

In terms of the students, the school attracted the communities it was intended to serve.

“We didn’t go looking for the cream of the crop,” Rawls said. “Our design was to take the struggling students — and we’ve learned that’s not a great business move.”

Despite the perceived animosity between charter schools and traditional schools, Rawls said he had no hard feelings of any kind toward the School District.

“Without their support, we could not have made it even this far,” Rawls said. “Even though we struggled, they were encouraged that we stuck to our goal. We said we were going to go after struggling students, and we’ve done that, so, even though the final scores might not be what we want, there are gains that are showing.”

Whatever is salvageable of the school’s property, including computers, furniture and supplies, will go back to the School District.

Egnor said that process has already begun and that Rawls has been responsive and cooperative throughout the transition, which will be completed over the summer.

“Things that can come back to the school system will come back,” Egnor said. “There have been purchases with Title I dollars, there have been purchases with general operating dollars, and we have inventories of all those items. There’s already been discussion.”

He said there is also a team ensuring St. Paul students have a smooth transition back into their zoned schools.

Rawls said 75 percent of St. Paul’s students came to the school struggling academically and that the majority of students came from African-American families in West Augustine.

“We owe them the resources needed to close the achievement gap,” Rawls said. “I am asking that the community assist us with the resources to make these final four months everything we envisioned when we opened our doors almost four years ago.”

He said he’s been able to enlist the help of some veteran teachers in the classrooms for minimal fees considering their certifications and experience.

“We have a very good community here, and they’ve responded pretty well with the addition of those teachers,” he said. “It’s part of our DNA.”

Egnor said he agreed with Rawls’ assessment of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.

“He’s been a fantastic partner, and we very much wanted it to be a great success, and he put in his best effort,” Egnor said. “I believe his decision now, to close the school, is because he cares about the kids.”

For information on how to help St. Paul School of Excellence, go to spschoolofexcellence.com.
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