

01/19/06 - posted by Tim Dineen

My baby sister Phoebe went to NEAT School - and my parents were among the founding families...

While bussing was the impetus for the founding of the school, it wasn't *all* rascism. Heck, my mom had marched in a Civil Rights protest down Market Street just a few years before! I won't deny it played a part by many of the people there, though. There were any number of reasons people had to start the shcool.

For my parents it was much more of a practicality issue. My mother didn't drive, my father was a fireman (Rescue 2 on California and Laguna) and if there was a problem, there was no way for my mom to get across the city to get her. Nor would she be able to attend PTA meetings, or really be involved in the school if it was so far away. They were proponents of neighborhood schools.

They also didn't believe that sending kids all over the city was going to help *anyone* academically. The money spent on busses could be better used improving schools.

The original building was (I think) Sunset Poultry. I remember doing some cleaning and hauling down there, but my memory is pretty hazy - I had just received my lottery number - 27 - and was trying to figure out how to get to Canada!
