Heads Up Today
Update 2:
Here's the link to the coverage of the Alki Elementary rebuild meeting by the West Seattle Blog.
Two hours after the appeal deadline, Seattle Public Schools discussed the project at an in-person community meeting, which turned contentious as frustrated neighbors at times shouted their concerns about some of those zoning exceptions, particularly those related to transportation, including the removal of all on-site parking.
So last night, after listening for an hour to district director of capital projects Richard Best, architect Becky Hutchinson of Mahlum, and transportation consultant Marni Heffron, they did what they could to be heard, at times shouting their disagreement with the project team’s contentions.
The new school’s added height, the subject of one of the zoning departures, gives it a third story, and that’s where the library will be.
The library is on the third floor! That sure makes it handy. That's gonna be some amount of time for teachers, moving kids to and from the library.
Events, however, as noted in the departure-discussion process, should be
split so the school would never have more than 400 people on site;
Heffron contended “that also is done at many other schools” but didn’t
name any. She insisted, “We believe that this like many other schools
can operate just fine with no on-site parking.”
They also have a chart with elementaries that have no parking and it includes Green Lake Elementary. I know from going there, they do have a back parking lot. Whether parents can use it or not, I don't know but they have on-site parking.
A related question followed, asking more specifically about safety designs for intruders or even “active shooters.” Best said all schools are designed with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principles and that those are factored into the design.
I think Best could have noted the "since when" in that question. How many schools have that feature? I know that the district had to be practically shamed into putting in the cameras after Roosevelt High was rebuilt and that took years.
What’s the “current diversity” at Alki? The principal said it’s 65 percent white, 15 percent multiracial, and didn’t have the breakdown for the other 20 percent.
What?! The principal, Mason Skeffington, doesn't know the breakdown of his school's population? Wow. That sure speaks volume about how he thinks about the minority population at his school.
What about access for emergency vehicles on 59th SW, which is already tight? Heffron said the current system works and they don’t expect “major changes.” She also said they “don’t anticipate more buses” despite the potential for to increase from ~300 to 500+ students because “there’s capacity on current buses” and they don’t plan to expand the attendance area.
Please remember these statements later on because I'll bet they prove to be wrong.
That one ADA space?
Having just one ADA space across the street also won’t work, neighbors said.
This is an interesting comment at the WS Blog:
Yes, we have proposed to SPS to build on the Schmidt Park school site. Must bigger lot, no views to obstruct, & neighborhood wouldn’t be impacted during construction. Plenty of parking so neighborhood wouldn’t be impacted. They refused to even consider.
Hmmm
end of update
Update:
I listened into the Alki Elementary meeting last night. I was quite surprised that the district had allotted two hours but I think they believed if they didn't give a fair amount of time for questions, they would have been slammed. Director Leslie Harris was present.
I was on Zoom where there were maybe 6 other people besides staff. They had no video of the room, just video of the PowerPoint. They allowed no online questions or chat. I couldn't say how many people there were in person; I'll await the coverage from the West Seattle Blog. Questions were supposed to be written down and then collected by staff. It didn't work that way.
Staff did quite a good job in explaining how they came to this decision to enlarge Alki Elementary with one staffer saying there is always "discomfort of change." (Look for that line to be used with school communities when their buildings end up on the chopping block for closures.) It is very much about "student academic outcomes" and a "warm, welcoming environment."
I did not know that SPS and the City had shared space in the same plot of land at Alki. There's a portable on City land and part of the Alki Community Center on district land. What struck me as interesting is that years back - in about 2010 - the district and the City had the same issue with Rainier Beach CC and South Shore K-8. They both got renovated very much because of shared spaces but Capital Projects' Richard Best said that the City was not redoing the community center. Hmm.
The biggest sticking points to the community are:
- They feel like the BEX that is providing funding for this project was a bait-and-switch. No one anticipated that SPS was going to radically enlarge Alki Elementary. But again, I remind readers -levies are just pots of money that SPS can do what they want with for capital projects. Several comments were that this was "a secret project."
- There was one couple who said they lived just a half-block from Alki and received no notification of this meeting. Best listed the different ways they had tried but admitted the postcards to the neighborhood went out late.
- People also pointed out that the crime rate in their area (which is right by the beach) has risen. The principal seemed to pooh-pooh that thought. In fact, staff seemed to make a big deal over the front entry area where you will have to get buzzed into the building. It's not like that's a new thing in SPS.
- As to the larger size, Best said his goal was to have fewer portables at school buildings, both for creating a better school community and for safety. I guess he forgot about those portables at Sand Point Elementary where kids were under attack last year when an intruder came into a portable classroom.
- Parking and traffic. People who live in the area just don't believe this can work out. There will be near zero parking spaces. (I say that because I don't believe for a minute the principal will not get his/her own parking space.) What does seem odd is that there will only be one handicapped spot which seems wrong for such a large building with over 500 kids plus staff.
One traffic mitigation is that they are unlikely to ever have an all-school activity because the neighborhood would simply be overwhelmed with cars.
Many people complained that to fill the building, you'd have kids coming from further out, making biking difficult.
Mr. Best made the claim that most elementary schools have no parking for parents. I'd have to go scope that out because I think there are more elementary schools with some visitor parking than without.
There was loud talk and shouting during the meeting. Mr. Best sounded uncomfortable at those points and tried to deflect to other questions but sadly for him, most people wanted to sound off on the issues around traffic and parking.
end of update
From The Seattle Times:
A King County child has been diagnosed with measles, a highly contagious disease characterized by rash, fever and other potentially serious symptoms.
It’s unclear whether the child was vaccinated, officials said Saturday.
Seattle and King County public health officials are investigating the source of the latest case, and warn that people at Aki Kurose Middle School on Thursday, May 11, between noon and 5:45 p.m., and on Friday, May 12, from 8:45 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., may have been exposed to infection.
It’s unclear whether the child is a student at Aki Kurose.
Aki Kurose MS says this:
An Aki Kurose student tested positive for measles. Measles is highly contagious. Individuals who do not have immunity are vulnerable to getting measles by being in the room where a person with measles has been.
Fortunately, the measles vaccine is very effective. Two doses of measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine provide about 97% protection against measles for a lifetime.
The student was at school Thursday, May 11 and Friday, May 12. Read the Public Health notice of this confirmed measles case.
The district itself has said nothing, not even a tweet.
Another key story today comes from the West Seattle Blog yesterday and their coverage of the renovation of Alki Elementary School. Today two key meetings happen - a zoning meeting and later, a meeting with the Alki community.
Tomorrow at 5 pm is the deadline for filing appeals of the city’s decision to approve nine zoning exceptions (formally known as “departures”) for the project. Our story on the decision explains how.
-Tomorrow night at 7 pm, SPS plans a community meeting with information about the project, which seeks to expand the size and capacity of the school. The meeting will be held in person at the school (3010 59th SW) and online via a link to be posted on this page sometime tomorrow.
Well, that's handy for the district to have the community meeting AFTER the zoning meeting. One comment points this out (bold mine):
The Department of Construction and Inspections Director’s decision to approve the departures from the land use code requirements is appealable. The deadline to appeal is 5:00 pm on May 22. The school district has scheduled their community information meeting two hours after that deadline. Another lesson from the district in how to pretend to listen to the community.
What zoning changes does the district want?
1. To allow greater than allowed building height.2. To allow less than required vehicular parking.
3. To allow bus load and unload off site
4. To allow a curb cut to a service area without parking
5. To allow larger curb city width
6. To allow larger curb cut flare
7. To allow less than required long-term bicycle parking.
8. To allow less than required weather protected bicycle parking.
9. To allow a changing image electronic sign.
The parking-reduction approval is more complicated:
If built to code, the school would have to have 48 off-street spaces, but the plan includes none. The decision notes, “Due to the limited area of this site, providing on-site vehicular parking would result in sacrificing educational program and outdoor learning opportunities,” and sets five conditions for approval.
You can go to the link to see them all discussed but man, it sure puts a lot on the neighborhood (and I suspect this is the same issue for the Montlake Elementary renovation).
Feedback was solicited for the proposed exceptions last year. Today’s release opens a two-week appeal period, through May 22nd; this notice explains how to file one. The district expects to start construction this summer; Alki Elementary is scheduled to move to the former Schmitz Park Elementary campus for two years while the new school is built.
Same thing at West Seattle High School where portable classrooms planned for the school parking lot will displace THIRTY-some cars to already overcrowded surrouning streets.
Comments
There's a drop-down menu on the top left (it automatically sorts to Adams Elementary because that comes first alphabetically, but you can set it to whatever school you want to look at).
A few factors:
1. even though elementary enrollment is down, down, down district-wide, high school enrollment has been growing steadily.
2. the district rerouted highly capable students who live in southwest Seattle from Garfield to West Seattle High School several years ago. West Seattle HS is about 14% hicap now, whereas it used to be 2%. That may have increased enrollment?
3. There was a Lutheran HS that closed right by the school, so maybe WSHS picked up some students from there?
Number Looker
Emile
SP
Capital budgets are separate and distinct from operating budgets, so the money involved in any school rebuilds or renovations is also contractually committed, and the money can't be redirected to operations.
If the district goes bankrupt and a receiver is appointed by OSPI next year, I think contracts can be canceled, and then capital projects could be halted, although it would be foolish to halt partially completed projects.
The RB renovation is indeed overpriced, in large part due to the unnecessary phased construction schedule. They should have moved the school to a temporary site, such as Franklin, razed the old facility, and replaced it with all new construction, which is faster to build. Had they done that when they started in 2022, RB students would be returning this upcoming fall to a brand-new state-of-the-art facility.
A facility like that could be used as a magnet school like Aviation High School or share space with a community college.
Sadly, we don't have the right board and haven't had the right superintendents with an ability to think toward the future effectively. That costs us something, and not just to the tune of a quarter billion dollars.
Capital Budgets
I agree all your points except for this:
"Capital budgets are separate and distinct from operating budgets, so the money involved in any school rebuilds or renovations is also contractually committed, and the money can't be redirected to operations."
Problem is that SPS has breached such a premise a long time ago. SPS has redirected tens of millions of dollars of Capital budgets toward covering Operational costs. Any excess/underspent amounts resulted from over-estimating when they did Capital levies, too. Whenever the central office admins wanted to identify operational costs as Capital costs, citing legislature's flexibilities or Emergencies somehow, even before the pandemic of COVID, SPS has broken into Capital budgets, and the board allowed it.
The point of having the Board or any premise of Board functions has been diminished.
Enrollmentally Wrong
I agree. The district is using capital money for operations all the time. Nearly the entire Tech department budget comes from capital. They are using capital dollars for basic maintenance.
Sure, it’s a different pile of money, but it’s irresponsible and unnecessary to build new schools when enrollment is shrinking. The tax burden in this city and state are regressive and can SPS show some restraint for once???
Wallet Condom
Not defending incompetent capital management of the district, but nonetheless these construction plans were put in place more than a couple of years ago and the levies were voter-approved. Since they are voter approved, the money is "there" and has to be used, there are deadlines.
Now, to @Melissa 's point that the school board fudges with the capital budget all the time, this is also true, and I agree it is improper if not illegal. My point is only that we can't shore up the hundred-plus million dollar shortfall in the overall budget with those capital funds even if we want to, and I worry that the general public doesn't understand the capital budget can't save us. Even if we were to stop construction and reallocate all of it illegally, the ship will still sink.
If we disapprove of this kind of oversight our board has been providing, and I do, then we need new board members who will provide that proper oversight. This in turn means the local Democrats need to ask about this in their upcoming endorsement interviews as do the local news outlets and websites. If they don't ask these questions, then we know they're either incompetent news outlets, district cheerleaders regardless of bad behavior, or OK with improper fiscal oversight.
And it certainly means we should NOT vote Liza Rankin in again, and maybe not Lisa Rivera Smith either.
Capital Budgets