By Does anyone know if Seoul American Middle School is really this bad?:
One teacher checks the glue traps in her classroom for live rats each morning before students arrive. Another works in a building that sometimes stinks of raw sewage.And during the winter, some of the classrooms on this patchwork campus are so cold that students have to wear hats and gloves indoors.
Teachers and students have long made do with cramped classrooms and deteriorating facilities at Seoul American Middle School, thinking the school would close in 2012 along with the rest of U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan. But now the closure of the base has been delayed, and the school continues to grow with an influx of military families moving to South Korea.
That has left an increasingly vocal group of parents and teachers angry about conditions in the aging school, which they and administrators described to Stars and Stripes. It has left cash-strapped education and military officials to figure out whether to renovate or rebuild parts of the school, all the while not knowing how long the base will stay open and how long the new structures will be required. [Stars & Stripes]
There first mistake was to believe the Yongsan Garrison was actually going to close in 2012, which very few people believed was going to happen.
11:11 pm on May 3rd, 2010 1
Just a wild guess…
…but I bet the golf course is in relatively good condition.
To all you chindicckersons who repeatedly excuse fraud, waste and abuse away by claiming the money is "already budgeted" or "had to be spent before the end of the year" (to keep the artificially high budget going, of course), here is your result.
Maybe some real leader will donate extra money, equipment or manpower, to maintain or improve some classrooms… instead of self-aggrandizing photo shoots or unneeded crap to inflate the budget.
I wonder if 2ID's ID card holders cost more than the heating bill for the classrooms.
If shame or honor won't motivate today's USFK "leaders", how about the gold star one might get for "increasing safety and morale by improving the educational environment for the next generation of military leaders"… or some other such semi-nonsense.
…or, maybe, it isn't really nonsense. Maybe it is absolutely true.
8:21 am on May 4th, 2010 2
Well, the impending move (whenever that may be) has not stopped massive infrastructure projects (sidewalks, building renovations, etc) all over Yongsan. I have no idea what is going on at the middle school, but I find it hard to believe it is about a lack of money for construction…
9:09 am on May 4th, 2010 3
I believe projects under a certain cost can be funded with O&M money, but over that cost it requires specific congressionally approved funding.
There was a scandal many years ago at some military base where a flag officer had extensive renovations done to his villa, eh … I mean base housing, through many small O&M projects.
10:23 am on May 4th, 2010 4
Ummm. The Yongsan golf course has been closed for at least a decade.
I didn´t see any milcon going on in Yongsan when I was there 05-07. My kid went to the elementary there. A little beat up but wasn´t too bad.
My guess is that EUSA really hasn´t programmed anything for that post for the last few years.
12:47 pm on May 4th, 2010 5
Mike,
"Ummm. The Yongsan golf course has been closed for at least a decade. "
Don't get technical with me… just because it has been closed for… uh… 18 years. I guess I shouldn't guess, eh?
I had better find a more recent example, I suppose.
1:16 pm on May 4th, 2010 6
My guess is that money for school construction/renovation comes out of a different budget than the budget used to renovate military buildings. Purely a guess though.
That not withstanding, what I really find hard to understand is major renovation projects at the old, red-brick Japanese Imperial Army buildings. I know of at least two (next to the PMO at Gate 1 and Bldg 2552 near MARFOR-K). The Koreans tore down building that once housed the National Museum – specifically because of its Japanese origin. Does anyone think any of those red-brick Japanese Imperial Army buildings are going to be allowed to continue standing after USFK pulls up stakes?
11:22 pm on May 4th, 2010 7
The golf course is funded through MWR non-appropriated funds. The renovation and repair work around the garrison is appropriated operation and maintenance funds (OMA), also known as SRM (Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization) funds. Yongsan has no Military Construction (MILCON) funds because it is non-enduring. The limit for new construction on Yongsan is $750,000. Repair or renovation can be much higher. The small projects ongoing throughout the garrison are in support of improved infrastructure and quality of life. Some are for improvements, some annual maintenance and others repairs. There are several ongoing barracks improvement projects specially funded through IMCOM. The old Japanese barracks building is one of these projects. They are also on the garrison's cultural resources list. The only one that may remain is the EUSA HQ building. It is rumored to be turned into a future museum inside the new Yongsan Park. But who knows? Unfortunately the post's infrastructure is aging and failing fast, but funding is decreasing with no solid closing date in the future.
12:10 am on May 5th, 2010 8
"and many students have to cross busy 8th Army Drive to get to some classrooms."
Please, THAT is a busy road? Have these people ever been off of the base?
2:08 am on May 5th, 2010 9
Interesting mention of the golf course. Back in the 1980's the 8th Army golf course clubhouse burnt to the ground in a suspicious fire. Suspicious because an audit was due, as I recall. Not to worry, as the clubhouse was rebuilt in record time, sparing no expense; something like 45 days.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of troops were still living in uninsulated quonset huts all over Korea.
3:49 am on May 5th, 2010 10
Funding for school projects comes out of the depatment of defence school system, not EUSA or IMCOM-korea. Certainly local commanders can fund certain projects but only a limited amount. I know that the Garrison DPW and DoDDS are looking at some renovation and minor construction projects for this summer which will make things better but funds have not been committed yet. Everyone wants to spend other peoples money so it becomes a matter of prioirty, do we spend funds on schools, or infrastructure, or renovating barracks, or housing?
The old Japanese building near Gate #1 is being renovated and will be converted to barracks, something much needed; not sure about the other mentioned. In fact, there are several barracks renewal projects underway at Yongsan this year. And to answer your question, yes, the Koreans will demo every building on this post once we hand it over to them. This ground is too fertile for the growing of high rise apartments to leave un-tended.
Don't expect much funding for renewal or renovation projects from congress with the planned move to Humphreys underway.
4:36 am on May 5th, 2010 11
Did they stop work on the hospital during this time?