Community Mtg on Capacity/Assignment
Update:
From the District:
For more information on
capacity management, please visit
http://bit.ly/SPSCapacityManagement
I think it will be interesting to learn how the district and Schools First plan to sell to this to the general public. The regular line of "it's for the kids" would come at a difficult time to many so I would hope there would be a fresh approach to BEX IV.
End of update
Still need to confirm this from the district but I got it from a reliable source.
There is to be a community meeting on December 11th from 7-8:30 p.m. at the JSCEE auditorium.
I will confirm and get details but a heads up if you are looking to advocate for your community or want more answers.
From the District:
The District invites the
public to learn about the latest recommendations at a community meeting
from 7-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Attendees will have an opportunity
to ask questions. District
leadership continues to meet with school communities in each region.
In addition, the Seattle
School Board will hold a Work Session Wednesday, Dec. 5 to study both
the Short Term Capacity Management Plan and the New Student Assignment
Plan (NSAP) Transition
Plan for the 2013-14 school year.
Both issues are scheduled to
be introduced at the Jan. 9, 2013 School Board meeting, with board
action on both short-term capacity management and NSAP Transition Plan
scheduled for the Jan.
23, 2013 board meeting.
What:
Seattle Public Schools Short
Term Capacity Management Community Meeting
When:
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012
Time:
7-8:30 p.m.
Who:
Public welcome to attend
Location:
Auditorium, John Stanford Center, 2445 3rd Ave. S., Seattle
I think it will be interesting to learn how the district and Schools First plan to sell to this to the general public. The regular line of "it's for the kids" would come at a difficult time to many so I would hope there would be a fresh approach to BEX IV.
End of update
Still need to confirm this from the district but I got it from a reliable source.
There is to be a community meeting on December 11th from 7-8:30 p.m. at the JSCEE auditorium.
I will confirm and get details but a heads up if you are looking to advocate for your community or want more answers.
Comments
There also seems to also be a number of boundry changes, does that mean that for example if you are in QA Elem boundry now but not for 2013 your kid gets reassigned? I don't understand that aspect.
No mention of APP at any level - so I am assuming one more year at Hamilton for APP students - or will that end up to be late breaking news after open enrollment?
-planning
-North End Mom
NEP
Squeezed In
Pinehurst K-8 parent
I agree, a meeting to discuss the middle school situation in the north end should be scheduled ASAP.
I keep hearing that they will be roll-up a middle school for Wilson-Pacific in the John Marshall building, beginning 2014. Which schools will feed into Wilson-Pacific MS (Green Lake? Olympic View? Bagley?). The only Eckstein Schools in that mix are Olympic View and Green Lake. Is that enough to bring Eckstein down to a reasonable enrollment until Jane Addams Middle School opens in 2017???
My kid is at John Rogers, and none of us know where our kids will be assigned for middle school between now and 2017, or even if they will be assigned to an actual comprehensive middle school. Right now, our "options" seem to be a very over-crowded Eckstein (I heard there is room for 6 more portables there), or some sort of interim concoction at John Marshall (oh, wait, that's where Wilson-Pacific MS is supposed to roll-up...). I have heard some crazy talk about rolling up the comprehensive middle school at Jane Addams with the K-8 in place. If the building was twice the size that it actually is, that might work, but seriously, who would place their kindergarten in that mess?
The K-8 program currently in the Jane Addams building won't be a middle school option for most of us, because even if they take in more middle schoolers for the next couple of years, they are going to have to shut that down by 2015, in order to fit into their new building at Pinehurst (assuming that is still the plan). That doesn't help those of us with kids entering middle school in 2015.
There are actual kids in elementary school RIGHT NOW that need a safe, educationally sound middle school for next year, and the following years. If SPS doesn't get something right soon, the only winner in this will be Shoreline Schools. Out-migration is looking like the only viable option up here.
I hope the administrators at Shoreline Schools read this blog, and are planning for increased enrollment accordingly. Maybe they will even provide a bus?
-JR Mom
It would be nice to know what options are being considered PRIOR to open enrollment. If you make the decision in part on the location of the school and that changes after enrollment, then what?
-NE parent
Nope. That is not the current plan. That would make entirely too much sense in terms of solving capacity issues as well as middle school implementation issues. This district does not use common sense, or they would have re-purposed the JA building as a middle school instead of a K-8 in the first place.
Instead, they are planning (at least last I heard) to demo the Pinehurst building and build an enormous, 3-story "Green" building for the E-STEM program, which aspires to grow to over 700 kids.
I think there will be almost that many kids in the just the 6th grade class at Eckstein in a few years.
Seriously, SPS is off its rocker. Shoreline, I hope you are ready for us!
-JR Mom
The bottom line is that the Jane Addams building is not slated to be available for a comprehensive middle school until 2017, when a new building is ready to open for the K-8. That is a long time to go without a solid solution. I hope they present something feasible soon.
-JR Mom
I have reached out to Pegi McEvoy and so has our Principal and we haven't heard from her in weeks. That doesn't give me a good feeling about the future of Pinehurst K-8. I followed up with our Director Sharon Peaslee who forwarded my email to Pegi to ask about when the meeting will be scheduled. I appreciate that Sharon did that. I imagine that Pegi is quite busy with a whole District asking questions, though since we are one of the schools being displaced I expect frequent conversations so we know our plan prior to Open Enrollment.
See below a link to the document for tonight's All District Community meeting. It looks like there will be a community vote taken at the end. I hope there is time for comments and the meeting is not taken up with going through the slides like what happened at last week's Board Work Session.
http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Departmental%20Content/facilities/stcm12112011.pdf?sessionid=8803bbdea775b06575ec9f060c460076