At its next meeting of the Shreveport City Council, it is expected that a proposed lease of Sunset Acres School will be approved. The lease is for part of the school and the lease payment is $3,000 per month.
The Shreveport Police Department SPD) is in the process of finding temporary substation locations to move all police personnel out of the headquarters building at 1234 Texas Avenue.
Sunset Acres school was closed this school year, and the entire campus has been vacant since the end of school in May of this year. Currently, the School Board has no plans for the campus, much like several other closed schools.
The temporary location of a police station in that school should provide a deterrent to crime in this neighborhood that has suffered from an increase in crimes. Earlier this year, three minors chased a homeless person and one of them killed the person.
The lease is for 15 months with an option to extend if needed.
$36,000 is a mere pittance when compared to the school board's annual budget. Certainly, the school board wants a good working relationship with the Shreveport Police Department. So why charge SPD?
Understandably, the police department should pay for appropriate insurance and maintenance of the facility occupied by SPD along with the payment of utilities. Other than that, why not offer this space for free?
It’s a well-known fact that buildings suffer a decline when empty. Occupation by SPD will relieve the school board of maintenance of the space leased.
And what about some goodwill by the school board? It’s surprising this public body is playing Scrooge and the Grinch on this lease.