Crossroads of Common Sense and Awareness

Explain to me why we are once again at the crossroads of common sense and awareness?


Lake Washington School District is asking for MORE MONEY (again) to lessen overcrowding issues due to the arrival of masses of school-age children into our district boundaries. It seems that our district and schools are in the enviable position of being well-regarded and highly sought after. The challenge here is that there are too many students for the classrooms currently available in system.

http://www.lwsd.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/News/Levy-2011/Enrollment-Projections.pdf shows the current and projected enrollment numbers for the years 2010 through 2021.

LWSD has proposed several ideas for changes in the local schools:

http://www.lwsd.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/News/Levy-2011/LWSD-Space-Needs-and-Solutions.pdf

• Converting special classes (art, music, computer labs) that have their own rooms into classrooms. It’s not clear where the special classes will go.

• Limit or eliminate full day kindergarten programs so that students will only go half day (freeing up the other half of the day for more students to attend, I suppose).

• Change the boundaries AGAIN so that schools have fewer neighborhoods to service

• Bussing students from overcrowded schools to less crowded schools

• More portables (elementary and High School)

• Build one or more elementary schools, one middle school, one High school

• build permanent classroom/facilities at existing High Schools

• Double shifts at Redmond and Eastlake

According to the district’s own information http://www.lwsd.org/For-Community/Tax-Dollars/School-Modernization/Pages/default.aspx Audubon Elementary, Franklin Elementary, Juanita Elementary, Kirkland Junior High, Lakeview Elementary, Redmond Junior High, Redmond High School, Rose Hill Elementary, Thoreau Elementary, Mann Elementary and Twain Elementary were all modernized between 1998 and 2006 (either building a new one or updating the old).

The following schools are part of Phase 2 of modernization (dates are completion or move-in dates): Carson Elementary (Fall 2008), Frost Elementary (2009), LW High School/Northstar Jr. High (Fall 2011), Finn Hill Jr. High/Environmental School (Fall 2011), Muir Elementary (Fall/Winter 2011), Rush Elementary (Winter 2012), Sandburg Elementary/Discovery School (Fall 2012), Rose Hill Jr. High/Stella Schola (Fall 2013), Keller Elementary (Fall 2012), International/Community School (Winter 2012) and Bell Elementary (Winter 2012).

Phase 3 & 4

Alcott Elementary, Evergreen Junior High, Juanita High School, Kamiakin Junior High, Kirk Elementary, Mead Elementary, Rockwell Elementary, Smith Elementary, Wilder Elementary, BEST High School, Blackwell Elementary, Dickinson Elementary, Eastlake High School, Inglewood Junior High, McAuliffe Elementary, Redmond Elementary, Resource Center, Support Services.

Phase 2-4 schools are either completed, in process or in the planning phases of construction; two of the Phase 2 schools are less than one year old. Were they already over-enrolled at that time? Did the district not plan for an increase in students for buildings that are theoretically to last 30 to 40 years?

Horace Mann was demolished and rebuilt in three months and allowed for little or no increase in student population in the new building (not to mention the parking lot disaster). How could this be? Did district planners not take into account the US Census of 2000 and the planned addition of hundreds of new homes in the local neighborhood? No, they instead changed the boundaries of neighborhoods that attended Mann Elementary.

In our Education Hill neighborhood alone, Redmond has had four of the 5 school buildings demolished and rebuilt in approximately a 10 year span (Redmond El, Horace Mann, Redmond Jr. High and Redmond High – Rockwell’s building is part of Phase 3 – Redmond El will be modernized again in Phase 4).

My oldest son, now a Senior at RHS, attended the first all-day kindergarten class at Mann Elementary (1998). It seems absurd that 12 years later the same district is actually discussing cancellation of the full-day K program because they don’t have enough classrooms for incoming students. How does this make our children “future ready”?

Changing the school structure from K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 will likely alleviate some of the overcrowding. But this only places a band-aid on the problem. It does not address the lack of planning and preparation by the district for the upcoming years.

Oddly enough, this is the same district that boasts about their increased WASL and SAT scores, but had only 5 of 12 Junior High and 1 of 6 High Schools meet their AYP targets.

According to RCW 82.02.050-110, new developments are charged impact fees to be used for “recover the cost incurred by government in providing the public facilities required to serve the new development. Impact fees are only used to fund facilities, such as roads, schools, and parks, that are directly associated with the new development.” Those funds, if managed correctly should be sufficient to cover costs associated with modernization of the neighborhoods they affect.

Several of the modernizations were covered through bond measures. And now, the district wants the taxpayers to provide more money for their mismanagement and lack of planning under the threat of larger class sizes and lack of specialty classes.

Excuse me, but haven’t we been here before?

Please take the survey at http://research.zarca.com/clients/88546/survey.aspx?sid=2&lang=0&data= prior to October 7th.