Planning & Zoning Commission - Regular Meeting

I'd like to open this public hearing. Madam secretary, would you read the notes, please? Thank you very much. What we'd like to do is open the floor to those wishing to speak in favor of this request. If you would, just come up to the podium, give us your name and address, and let us hear what you have to say.

Good evening. My name is Melissa Martin, and I'm the person who's actually requesting the specific use permit. I thought I set off the fire alarm. I And

your time's up.

Oh. No problem.

No, I'm kidding. Go ahead.

So I encourage seeking this specific use permit so that we can start a classical Christian school here for the community to give parents that option if they would like to have their children in a classical Christian environment for K-twelve education.

K-twelve?

Well, we're actually starting with pre K up to sixth grade. And depending on the need, then there might be a point where we expand each year. However, we never want to become huge. We just seek to become excellent. So it won't be something that we'll ever try to have a huge campus.

I see. Any questions? I have a question and it has no bearing on the vote. What does classical mean? When you say a classical education?

So when we talk about classical education now, we're actually talking about what a hundred years ago people just called education. Things have changed. For instance, one of the things that we do in classical education is Latin is a core subject. It's taught well, it's not an elective, but it's taught in a way to especially help children with learning grammar because it's a very systematic organized language. And so when you teach children Latin, then they get the benefit of learning grammar for not just Latin, but also any other language.

Plus, 60% of our vocabulary comes from Latin, and so it helps to expand their vocabulary. Another part of classical education is we focus on the classics with literature. We don't read any of the contemporary literature. It's all classical literature. You might see seventh grade reading the Iliad, for instance, where a lot of times other students won't read that until they're at the college level. So, it's a very rigorous education. We also focus on the trivium as far as the developmental stages for children. So, that's kind of classical in a nutshell. I could go on and on though if you wanted to.

You gave me a good start.

Ms.

Martin, I've got a question also. It doesn't affect the vote. Would like to just your background. Do you already have a school that you're moving over or is this starting from scratch or what?

Ms. This one will be starting from scratch. Yes. But I've actually been involved in starting other charter schools. Well, specifically one that's opened on the North Side. So, I do have some experience with starting schools.

Okay. Thank you. Sure.

Do you already have folks that are interested?

We do. Yes. We've actually had a lot of interest from the community. But we will be small, so we won't be able to provide service for everyone that's interested.

I see. Okay. Anything else? Thank you. Appreciate Thank you. I'd like to make a second call for anyone wishing to speak for this request.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Robert Anderson and I am the pastor of Living Water Church located at 4003 And 25 West Pasadena Boulevard. And so, this school will be on our church campus. And we're very excited about it. My wife is here with me and we've been pastors there for eleven years now. And with us, we also have our elders that are part of our governance at our church. And we've all met. And we have a real heart for what Melissa and her team is wanting to do. And one reason is because I have been a private Christian school principal for twenty six years. And I'm principal right now at another private Christian school during the week time.

It's Family Christian Academy. It's on the other side of the Big Bridge, on the other side of the water there. And so, when we met and she shared with me her vision, of course, a pastor, also with a background in Christian education, our hearts just burned for this. And we prayed together and met about it on a number of occasions. And we're just real excited to see what this will do for our community here in Deer Park, connecting our church, connecting education to many different families with many different backgrounds.

And we are excited, not just as pastors, but also to have the opportunity to take the experience that the Lord has given us and pour it out into this new school, and to help in any way that we can. And so, we're hoping to see that come to fruition.

Any questions? Thank you. Appreciate that. Anyone else like to speak for the request? Hearing none, I'd like to open the floor to those wishing to speak against the request. Second call for those wishing to speak against the request. We don't let retired teachers and principals.

Well, what do you need me to do first? Do you need me to tell you okay. No, I need to know where I am and where I live and all that stuff?

Yes, sir.

What I really want to do, first of all, say I'm not for or against. But I would like to make some comments and maybe ask some questions if that's possible.

You can address us with questions Okay. Which we probably won't have the answers for. We'll certainly try our best.

All right. Some of them

actually It's not an open forum where we're, you know, asking questions this way. That'd be something that you would do before or after the meeting.

Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Well, my name is Victor White. I live at 3009 Louisiana, which is a property that backs up to the Living Water property. They are wonderful neighbors. And one of the reasons I'm here is I wanted to make sure that they were still going to be our neighbors. I didn't know if when I got the notice actually, I know Ms. Martin. I don't know if she remembers me or not.

But we were colleagues for a while in the school district. And I was glad to hear that school is going to be is affiliated with with the church because we certainly want to keep them as neighbors. I would hate for them to abandon ship and Buckeys go in or something like that. Hope you guys would prevent that. I was happy to hear that the plan is for the numbers to be small.

I'm assuming that a change here for a school would not have any effect at all on restrictions of any of the surrounding properties. Because like I say, mine, my brother and brother-in-law, all of our properties, along with some other folks Ms. Buffalo, don't mind you don't mind me mentioning you. We all share a fence line with the property there and wanted to make sure that there were not going to be any restrictions that would apply to anything that we might do there.

Victor, I don't think so.

And I know things could change in the future, but I'm assuming that from the little map that's on the back and from the schematic I saw that the school is planning on being limited to that one facility that was kind of boxed out. Because I know there's some additional buildings associated with the church. But it's going to be just the plan is to start and be limited there. I don't know if I can ask her that or not. I'm sorry.

Yeah, I know about that stuff and I was suspecting she was going to do that when Because came I know her background.

So Okay.

All right. Okay. Very good. And I just had one other question. And it's in regards to one that you guys have asked. Are there already students that they have kind of targeted as far as interest? And are they from the Deer Park community? Or would they be from students that would come from a variety of different places?

Yeah, that's probably one that you need to visit with them afterwards.

Okay. All right. Very good. Well, like I say, I'm neither far or against. I'm kind of a big fan of the local school district. But I know that there are successful efforts to meet other needs as well. So, I wish them all the best. Thank you very much for the time.

Seeing you. Okay. Can't remember where we were at. I think I had a second call for those who wish to speak against. Third and final call for anyone wishing to speak against the request. Hearing none, we'll close this meeting.