In case you were curious what the 9th-floor 1-bedroom condo in the Cosmopolitan owned by southwest Houston charter school Accelerated Interdisciplinary Intermediate Academy looks like, here are some photos taken when the property was listed for sale in February of 2011, for $468,500. The school purchased the condo that June. 250 elementary and middle school students attend Accelerated Interdisciplinary Intermediate Academy on its mostly bare 7-acre campus at 12825 Summit Ridge Dr., near the intersection of Alt. 90 and the Fort Bend Pkwy. Toll Rd. The taxpayer-funded school’s 2 buildings have no windows.
So what’s the condo for? An unidentified school representative emails the Chronicle‘s Jacob Carpenter to explain it’s used for “”back office support and SECURE storage of historical records.” Repeated break-in attempts, according to the representative, prevented the records from being kept at the school. “The writer also reasoned that the charter preferred buying property instead of paying rent, and that its options were ‘very limited,'” writes Carpenter. “The author didn’t explain why the school opted for the condo when cheaper storage and office space were available.”
The almost-floor-to-ceiling windows and balcony in the school’s Cosmopolitan condo face south, down Post Oak Blvd.:
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Here are some more views of the 1-bedroom, 1,118-sq.-ft. Uptown property — from before it was pressed into school service:
Not shown in these pics: the condo’s accompanying storage unit, which documents filed with the Harris County clerk clearly show was a school priority from day one: When school superintendent Kevin Hicks signed the paperwork for the 2011 purchase, he added to the property’s legal description a scribbled-in and initialed reference to the building’s Storage Unit #22.
- Small Houston charter school pays top dollar to leader, owns luxury condo [Houston Chronicle]
- 1600 Post Oak Blvd. Unit 906 [Realtor.com]
- Previously on Swamplot:Â Head of the Titans: Cosmopolitan Pissoirs on Post Oak;Â The Cosmopolitan: Is It Flipping Time Yet?
Photo of Cosmopolitan exterior: elnina, via Swamplot Flickr pool
This kind of micro-scale corruption is a downside of charter schools. Proper oversight of dozens of small charter school boards and administrations can be difficult to achieve.
And my company has purchased a Galveston beach house to store the spare wheel for my car. Doesn’t seem that silly now.
Anonymous, the public school districts have had their share of graft and corruption. I know it’s in fashion amongst liberals to bash charter schools, but please don’t even hint that public schools are any better.
@VictorS.
I am neither a liberal nor an opponent of charter schools. I’m simply making an observation.
Kthxbye!
Maintenance fees in that building are about what it would cost to rent office space lol.
victor, does that mean its “in fashion” for conservatives to ignore obvious corruption like this just because charter schools are such a big part of their ayn randian school choice fantasy?
Oscar, of course not. But, I imagine yours was more of a rhetorical question than a real question. You really just wanted to bash Ayn Rand. My guess is you haven’t read a single one of her books, but bash away.
@VictorS
All public schools that I’m aware of have windows. I think that makes them better than this charter school. Although I guess the “storage facilities” probably aren’t as nice….
Cellardweller, I imagine the facilities of just about any school, charter or otherwise, are superior to this charter school. My point was not to defend this particular charter school, but to point out that charter schools in general have become a target for a lot of people who have liberal tendencies. I can’t imagine a credible defense of this particular school, but to suggest that one charter school makes the entire charter system corrupt or to not consider that the public school system has its own corruption and waste issues is disingenuous.
Ayn Rand was one of the worst prose writers to ever see major distribution. You decide for yourself what you think of her ideas.
Looks like evidence of another NoPINO-Non Profit In Name Only
For more on charter schools check out https://cloakinginequity.com/category/charter-schools/