Where Should New Schools Be Built?
A group of parents are forming a grass-roots campaign to have the Fort Lawton re-development project in Magnolia become a new STEAM (science and environment, technology, engineering, arts, math) middle school or a magnet STEAM high school instead of building homes for the homeless. This new plan would serve the entire city with an attendance area drawing from students in the Magnolia/Queen Anne cluster.
The property already has all the modern updated classroom-ready facilities, gym, cafeteria, conference rooms, vault, huge parking areas and multiple outbuildings for specialty education. Education staff conference lounge, counseling areas, library and other functions of a fully operational school are all in place. Five separate parking lots provide ample room for staff and student parking.
The buildings can be transferred to the school district at no cost. The city’s scoping period for this re-development project ends at 5:00 PM on June 26th so the timing is imminent.There seems to be some confusion over whether the site could be used for housing the homeless but I think the overall point is why use BEX V dollars for a new downtown high school if there are more important uses for those funds.
Please submit public comment asking for a school to be added as an alternative development plan for Fort Lawton and that it be added to the Environmental Impact Statement.
Please sign and share the change.org petition, write to your city council member, Seattle Public School officials and Board Members and indicate that a school option should be added to the Environmental Impact Statement-- see emails below!
Action Items:
• Please sign this petition
https://www.change.org/p/seattle-city-council-include-envir…
• Please email the office of housing, city council members, and school board members
To learn more about the scope of the redevelopment plan and ideas, please follow these links:
http://web6.seattle.gov/DPD/LUIB/Notice.aspx…
http://www.seattle.gov/housing/ft-lawton
I'm not seeing a real vision from Capital Facilities about school locations and it's worrisome.
Comments
unclear
- alias
On the other hand, a new high school with the infrastructure in place? It would be a long bus ride for many, but I think that the city and SPS should consider it.
And Eric B, QA/Magnolia also have Catherine Blaine K-8, so there are already two public middle schools serving the population.
Krab
As I understand it, Catherine Blaine K-8 is actually an attendance area school for K-5, and option school for 6-8th. It is the only one in the district with that pattern -- all other K-8s are option schools. Someone correct me, if I am wrong, but that was how it was explained to me last fall.
Queen Anne Mom, also a gardener
Krab
I am a bit baffled by all this talk about downtown when:
1) don't you need a K-8 before a high school?
2) there's Center School which isn't full (but then again, not a comprehensive high school)
3) where's the money coming from? Surely not BEX V because the need is so great for existing schools like Rainier Beach? The district can't be thinking they can throw a few million at RBHS and call it a day as they have in the past while building a shiny new $100M building downtown? Would they? Could they?
Money would come from BEX V, but I have trouble seeing RBHS not being first in line among high schools.
Krab, thanks for the reminder about Blaine.
I personally would not want my kids going to school at the Seattle Center. Seems like a disaster on a number of levels... hello, Mercer Mess!
Fort Lawton has buildings (gym, cafeteria, classrooms)in place. Granted, updates would be needed. But why would they level all that and restart somewhere else? The parking lots are there too. Plus, shouldn't Seattle have a school that focuses on environmental learning?
Mag kids used to go to Queen Anne for HS. I don't see the issue with QA kids going to Magnolia. It would remove some of the traffic from 15th and the Ballard Bridge bottleneck. Also, it would allow more Ballard kids to actually go to highschool at BHS.
Mom of 4
You are correct that Catherine Blaine is an assignment school for grades K-5, and an option school for grades 6-8.
However, it is not the only K-8 school in SPS with this type of assignment. Broadview-Thomson K-8 is also an assignment for grades K-5 and option for grades 6-8, as was Madrona, until recently when they were "truncated" at grade 5 beginning next year.
-North-end Mom
I'm curious how they got this blog to post their whole manifesto.
money talks?
To ignore that discussion is opposite to what this blog stands for and we would be remiss in not alerting readers.
If you have an different idea, send it to me and I'll put it up. FYI, you'd have to sign your name to do that.
I know that staff has been developing a plan for a Memorial Stadium High School for a few years and simply put, I think the Memorial Statium plan is deeply flawed.
The plan would involve tearing down Memorial Stadium and constructing a high school with a stadium on the roof. This plan is incredibly expensive and would take Memorial Stadium out of use for a few years in the process.
While staff think the permitting process for Memorial Stadium would be easier than Fort Lawton, I don't agree. I would anticipate a tremendous amount of push back to changes at Memorial Stadium. Frankly, I think building a high school on the Interlay property makes the most sense but ... that is not in the mix at the moment.
Maybe you're not familiar with the NIMBY movement here in Magnolia.
Lot's of lawyers, for one.
Lot's of stay-at-home parents who have the time to organize.
Money.
Also, did you know this battle was fought and won 9 years ago, but the war continues and the city is trying again?
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/10/15/magnolians-sue-to-block-homeless-housing
What the folks really want is for the property to be sold to private developers and turned into single family homes on reasonably big lots, like most of Magnolia is currently.
The school is just a stall. I'm sure if SPS wanted it for inter-agency schools for kids who need extra services, we'd hear a very different song.
These folks want to run out the clock and have the feds sell off the land to the highest bidder and have it zoned single-family.
That's my 2 cents.
MadMag
Memorial Stadium is a seismic death-trap and should be rebuilt ASAP. I think Seattle Center is a bad place for any school. I'd look at SODO for a new high school to serve downtown students. Maybe tear down the JSCEE and buy up a few surround properties. The city core is moving south from downtown, Lake Union is out of room and it's the only direction left.
mudflat
There are already empty high school seats south of downtown (Rainier Beach) so building in SODO doesn't make sense.
I wonder if moving the Cleveland program to the Rainier Beach building and splitting the Southeast region high school attendance areas between Cleveland and Franklin would lead to better utilization of the seats we already have.
Once all of our schools are in good shape, we could think about rebuilding Memorial Stadium. I bet we could find private money for that project too. People do love their stadiums.
Again, for yet another time, Memorial Stadium cannot be gone until there is a replacement stadium (whether there or elsewhere). It is a necessity for the district so it's not going anywhere. It would be great to have a mayor who wanted to get on-board with the district on the issue, whether it's to have a comprehensive plan for all of Seattle Center or a land swap with the district.
Lynn, some irony there. All those years ago with QA and Magnolia parents taking their case all the way to the Supreme Court and they win! Except all it did was drop one thing in the enrollment plan and didn't give them the comprehensive high school they wanted from the beginning (thank Don Nielson for that one).
Cleveland got a very expensive renovation (what, like 15 years ago) and I doubt the district would close it and move STEM to Rainier Beach. Certainly something would need to change but I think a new building at Rainier Beach would increase enrollment.
Downtown Seattle Association included kids from QA, Magnolia to come up with their 1,900 number. It's goofy. But I get it. DAS is trying to fill in all the expensive units being built downtown. Hopefully some of it by techies and their families, aka Expedia and Amazonians. I know some of these Expedia families and they are very reluctant to move from the eastside from their SF homes and good schools. From my meetings, the Amazonians who live in Magnolia and QA don't want a high rise school over one with play field and more open space. Not everybody is enamored by sharing walls with neighbors and lack of downtown playgrounds, crowded and dense living. It's one thing if it's NY and unavoidable, but another if costs are similar, many prefer more space to run around in. It's one reason why SF homes on the eastside are more expensive. (We looked.)
I remember when many of us on this blog fantasized about the district offering to buy part of what is now the Expedia buiding off of 15th Ave. Personally, when I think of all the catch up the district still needs to do with capital projects, finding savings is paramount since our legislators aren't exactly speedy or generous here.
reader
There are already empty high school seats south of downtown (Rainier Beach) so building in SODO doesn't make sense."
Agree with Lynn. I know things may change, but I looked at the high school capacity boundary map proposal options. While other schools get some relief with Lincoln opening, Ballard is left just as overcrowded (1900+) in almost every scenario. This is nuts! With the density happening in Ballard and more families we know moving in they need a better plan.
-H