I would be impressed and thankful if some nice trees were being spared to shade and enhance the new school.
I looked at the plans when the project was advertised for bid... the landscaping drawing called for lots of trees to be planted. Of course it will be years before they mature enough to provide any meaningful shade.
The trees are one of my favorite features at Bay Elementary where my son is in the 2nd grade. It's a shame that there weren't any mature trees that were "deemed" to be worthy of sparing at the new middle school site.