Selling park land for new high school is a win-win situation

I recently appeared before the City Council to encourage them to sell some park land to the Columbia Public School District and use the money to acquire new park lands. I suggested the city council offer to sell 20 acres of Cosmopolitan Park for the new high school, with the remaining Cosmo Park acreage to be used for joint city/district use. The park’s outdoor natural and recreational use and the school’s selected indoor facilities would be used jointly by the district and city residents of all ages. I proposed a joint city/district planning committee to negotiate the joint usage arrangement. My focus was on the current search for the city’s third high school. But, given current population projections, it should be no surprise to the council that the district will be selecting school sites nine more times in the next 10 to 13 years (six more elementary schools, a middle school, a junior high and a fourth high school). So, why not consider future school-park ventures to better utilize the community’s facility needs?