Yes, the security thing was something they threw out there at the last minute effort to make it look like the garden is a bad thing. Here is a link to the story, but I had trouble getting the video to load and run.
http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa090819_mo_controversy.f97c6143.html

Rodents? Oh please! I can understand the security concerns of parents with little students, but gardens do not attract rats!

Pam

Denise, you did so good.
I understand the security concerns but why wasn't that complaint aired in the beginning. All of this could have been resolved from the git go by agreeing to let y'all relocate.
They vowed to relocate after Thanksgiving?
Y'all be careful of the rodents till then. Uh-oh, I smell trouble, lol Those dreaded bees and things are still going to be around
Do you think a lot of this has been parents complaining, not that they don't have a right to if their kiddos are allergic to bees

I'm getting the environmental club and garden club together in mid-October on a Saturday to relocate the plants to a city park where we have permission from the city to plant them. Steve said when he spoke with the principal, she stated that there are several kids who are allergic to bee stings. I know for a fact that those bees are not going to sting unless someone swats at them or tries to catch them. They are there only for the nectar. I don't know specifically if parents have complained or not. And the security thing - like I said - a last minute thing to make the garden look bad, although the only comment about the plants prior to that was that they were too tall, but the principal and other administrator didn't say anything about it being a "security issue." I can't imagine someone hiding behind the plants to snatch a kid coming out of school or going into school, can you?

bees: there are kids who are allergic to tree nuts, including peanuts, but that doesn't keep them from serving peanut butter in the cafeteria - & as you mentioned, bees are not people-predatory

security: if i heard a news story about a kidnapper who jumped out from behind the turk's cap, i think i'd be roflol - multiple schools have somewhat narrow lines-of-sight to the parking lot &/or street - this is smoke

if the garden has been there for x years & they don't already have multiple accounts of child abduction and bee stings, they're aren't going to have any at all

* bottom line: they don't want it & they're gonna get their way - i like your idea for moving to a city park - the community-at-large will still benefit from your hard work, but the school shouldn't if they're going to be so pig-headed about it

~ freshair

Oh good grief! Rats, bees, and too tall plants. Give me a break! That school and principal deserve an ugly piece of sterile ground in front. I'd like to see what the school principal's house looks like. I bet there is shrubbery around it - a haven for rats right next to her door.

Denise, you were great. I totally agree with freshair, even though it will be a lot of work, moving your garden to the city park is the best idea. More people can enjoy and appreciate it there. I just hate to see such a lovely garden cut down.

btw, I pick peas with those yellow & black bees hovering around, even move aside the flower they are in, and have never once had one even move toward me. Now the yellow jackets that build a nest under the eaves of my house are another story completely.

I just hate stupid people. Too bad that story wasn't covered by Channel 5, David Finfrock has a great native garden at his house.

The students are the losers here. Because a few students are allergic to bee stings, because the administration perceives a possible security risk, and because there might be a rodent passing through, all the students miss out on a wonderful educational opportunity that they could carry with them throughout their lives. How sad and how very unfair to the majority of the students.
What if one of the children falls down and skins his/her knee on the stamped cement? Would the administration yank it out and put in carpet?

I do like the principal, but just not this particular decision - so please be kind. She grew up here and I know her family did not garden, so she probably doesn't have a garden at her home. I think the love of gardening is passed down through the generations or gained from a spouse who loves gardening. I'm sure that had a lot to do with her decision since she only sees the garden as a bunch of plants and nothing more.

Yes, I agree that the students are the ones who lose in the end, but since it is moving to a nearby park, they can still visit their garden.

Yeah.....keep distancing those kids and future kids from their food sources so big corporations can use fear to control their food supply. We sure wouldn't want informed voters or consumers. Besides there's definitely no jobs in the new biotechnology and innovative farming practices that are developing.

You are nicer than I am denise. I just can't believe someone who is educated thinks that getting rid of some plants will get rid of every bee or rodent in the area.

So is it all over? They're definitely going to move it? Or is there still a chance a large enough number of gardeners who see the tv spot and contact the school can change their minds?I can understand that not everyone thinks a garden is a great thing, and maybe some of the plants can be pruned a bit shorter. But can't it stay if those changes are made?

Denise, you have handled this situation very well. I know the garden will be just as beautiful at the park. Will you still have the club?

Marlingardener: Yep, when I was a kid I fell on concrete and chipped my front teeth.

What everyone needs to remember as they break their arms trying to pat themselves on the back for a job well done, the school neither has a garden at the front entrance nor anywhere else on site. With a bit of good political damage control and less 'loose cannon on the deck' I really think there would still be a garden on site, just not at the front entrance. Other than swallowing some pride, if this garden was that important, was the cost of allowing the ISD administration appear to be the good guys so unacceptablly high. I really think if the press release read, 'At the XYZ ISD a decision was made to eliminate a naturalized garden to reduce student injury and improve school security, but when local gardeners were asked for thier input, a solution was identified and it will be relocated to this area of the school.' Yes, someone outside of the ISD is doing all the work and giving all the glory to them but if the garden was all that important, was it that important to be that right.

Sorry Denise, IMO your actions, while unquestionablly in the best interest of the students, teachers, community, and a hands on learning approach to education, led to the guaranteed extinction of the school garden.

So Fairview, are you personally involved in this situation?

I have to agree with fairview. If you try and make other people look bad, they will screw you. That's what HOA did to me... I was in the same situation over the park and no matter how much info I gave them and they didn't care so I sent out letter to everybody about the situation. HOA threatened to have me arrested if I do a thing at the park. All I did was try and beautify the park since it was sad looking at first but they didn't want me to do that anymore and they wanted to do their ways. Do nothing for the most part and hire somebody to mess things up. I didn't like the fact that TruGreen is always coming every month spraying stuff. They hired lawn service to mow only twice a month so you can imagine with excessive watering and fertilizing, it's a jungle after 2 weeks. Not much you can do with those people. They just don't care.

Well, you have to try, even if the end results aren't what you were after.
Denise, my gardening hat is off to you
jolana

ooooch, fairview

i'm not personally involved, so my info might not be entirely accurate - but this is what i came away with:
a) denise appeared on the tv spot to be calm, articulate, and concerned about the garden - why wouldn't she be concerned about the garden when she's the one who coordinates its care
b) the news was not controlled by denise - in fact, the tv spot was skewed in the direction of the school rather than the garden - did you read/see another article that i didn't? - the tv spot's headline was "security concerns" & that is * good for the school, and * out of denise's hands
c) at no time has denise appeared to be a "loose cannon" & i think its incredibly unfair to characterize her in that way - plenty of respondents on her original post were quite emotional about the way they interpreted the facts, and that's understandable - but denise didn't take those responses verbatim to the school - in fact, out of respect for the isd, she withheld the identity of the school from us the entire time - i didn't learn that it was allen until i saw it on the news
d) the tv spot said that the school planned to relocate the garden to another location "on school grounds" - i believe it was the decision of denise and others to move to a city park - so she didn't directly cause the "extinction" of the garden
e) your comment basically says that anyone disagreeing with a big group should just lay down and take it - well, i certainly some big group (gov't, corp, etc) doesn't decide to ruin your life - we have the right to disagree outloud and in public

i really don't think she did anything wrong - and i can't see what she could have done differently - assuming that all of her communications with the school and the isd have been respectful, she has demonstrated to her students how one citizen can move within legal/public means to object to a gov't body's decision to try to affect change - that's a good thing

~ freshair

Denise is a "loose cannon" whose actions directly "led to the guaranteed extinction of the school garden"? Oh, good lord. Now who's overreacting?

How sad. The children are losing a valuable educational experience; the school is losing an attractive garden at its entrance; parents and the community are losing an opportunity to participate in a school activity (and I'd think twice before I volunteered to do anything more for the ISD); and to top it all, Texas gardeners are calling each other names and pointing fingers over it!
Denise founded a garden club that serves its community and she has given her time and considerable talents to the school and other groups. If we all did as much for our communities, Texas would truly be a garden spot.

I can tell you that the locations that were suggested to me by the school administration as a place to relocate the garden were:

a: in the shade of trees in a 3 foot deep tree well where the plants would not receive more than a couple hours of sun each day - not enough to properly grow and survive. Besides, the kids always gather there after school and run around in that tree well - not a good place for a garden any way you look at it.

b: in the wildflower meadow across the street where there is only rain to get it established - if we are lucky enough to get some. True, they are native plants, but when you dig root systems as large as some of these and stick them in dry soil, they're going to die. It would be much better to scatter seed - which we did last fall with wonderful results in a multitude of wildflowers - just not the same ones that are in the native plant garden that grow and bloom throughout the growing season.

So, in the best interest of preserving the plants, I chose to ask the city if we could plant them in a nearby city park that is still within the same neighborhood where the school is located - only it is about 7-8 blocks away. So, my choice was "c" - a location not decided on by the school administration and one where they wouldn't come in later and remove the plants totally.

The city is much easier to work with in situations like this. I have a lot of really good connetions with our Parks & Rec. Dept., Community Services (including those who coordinate recycling, water conservation, etc.), Keep Allen Beautiful, etc. and have known many of these people, including the director of Parks & Rec. for many years. They know me well enough as a citizen and the Allen Garden Club president to know that our organization will handle this properly and help maintain the garden in the city park. We have two other gardens we installed years ago in the city that we help maintain and always get compliments on them. The move of this garden to the city park will be no different, except this time we are saving a garden by moving it.

As far as the environmental club, yes, it will continue. I'm using the Junior Master Gardener program - specifically the "Literature in the Garden" as the curriculum this school year. Our first book is "Plantzilla" and our first project is to make monster flowers out of umbrellas, craft pom-poms, bulletin board paper and any other craft item that can be used to resemble plant parts. (picture the umbrella upside down, open and the handle as the flower pistol.) I'll take a picture when they get their flowers made and post it so you can get a better idea what it looks like. The kids will also come up with a name for their monster flower and I'll put a tag with their names on it to hang with the flower when I hang them from the ceiling outside our meeting room at the school. It should be a fun display as well as educational for the entire school.

If you are interested in finding out more about the garden club I founded almost 12 years ago, please see the link below. I have been teaching the environmental club at Vaughan for 7 years and tried starting a city-wide JMG group one year, but not enough kids showed up so decided to stick to school level with the program. I have parents from other elementary schools who have contacted me about starting the JMG program at their schools and given them information so they can do it. I believe it is important to encourage kids to learn about their natural environment early on so they can use the life skills they learn in JMG as part of their growing up into adults who care about their environment and who are caring and nurturing adults and in the process have fun doing it.

Now back to the controversy over the garden. I was glad that some of the environmental club students showed up in support of the garden. I hope other students saw me and saw those students on the news or at a link to the story on the internet. I hope they understand that I think the garden is important enough that I will stand up for it and make people more aware of what a treasure we have at our school. Oh, and the stamped concrete is slippery when wet - if I didn't mention that before.

Here is a link that might be useful: Allen Garden Club