Seattle Schools Community Forum

So we have all seen that the district staff (and the Board) have been talking about various capital projects that will be needed to help manage the capacity issues. Things like adding a science lab(s) to Cooper should Pathfinder (a K-8) move into the building, finally(!) putting money into SBOC when they move into Meany (if that happens as well), Old Hay, Blaine, etc. But where will we find that money? I mean, there may be some money still in the BTA levy (or projects could be added to the upcoming BTA levy in Feb. 2010). But that means other projects don't get done. And, of course, money is already committed in BEX III to its projects. Or is it? I guess it is if a project is working at a breakneck speed. From the November 2008 New School newsletter: "Thanks to an intense construction schedule of 10 hour days and 6 day weeks, the project is currently on schedule and New School staff and students are set to move in to start the 2009-10 school year." Now that took me...

In a previous thread, a reader (Jamie), provided a link to Cooper Elementary's " Cooper School Works". It's a great page (and I have to wonder why they were complaining about not being able to get information together - this is very professional looking). On this page they list all the reasons that picking Cooper is wrong. Some of it doesn't make sense like "Is it because of undercapacity (empty classrooms)?" They say no because if Pathfinder moves in, there won't be room at other schools for Cooper students (I'm thinking the district is hoping all those students will go to underenrolled West Seattle Elementary but that isn't likely). They also say that their enrollment is rising and yet, "Many of our students come from the High Point housing development. This development is not yet complete, so the number of families from there opting to bring their children will increase. Also, if another school closes Cooper could take on many of...

In the Superintendent's presentation at this Wednesday's Board meeting, she mentioned several additional schools that may be impacted by the closure and consolidation plans: Cooper, Rainier Beach, New School, and probably others that I'm forgetting at the moment. ************ If any parents/staff/students/community members from those schools (and of course all the others already mentioned) would like to join this blog as temporary contributors during the closure process, please e-mail me . So far we have Summit K-12, AS#1, Arbor Heights and Lowell represented by temporary contributors who have taken me up on this offer. Ideally, I'd like to get voices from all the impacted schools. Spread the word and encourage those you know to contact me. ************ Cooper parents are already organizing and, according to the West Seattle Blog, have a meeting scheduled for tonight: School-closure fight: Meeting tonight at Cooper Elementary . Rainier Beach is getting a lot of media...

Excerpted from the June 26 site closure hearing at the South Shore building . "I'm Brian Street. I'm a teacher at the New School. And I have two children at the school. I also live in the community. I'm also a graduate of South Shore Middle School. I want to talk about the work we have been doing here planning a preK through 8 school and how our vision fits this location and the students who live around it. First I want to talk about this community. The other day I heard a parent describe Rainier beach as the Plymouth Rock of Seattle. A couple of years ago, the New York times described the south end of Seattle being uniquely suited to make diversity work. Out school population reflects the diversity of this neighborhood. 27 percent of our student are English language learners. I understand that both last year and this year, 100 percent of our incoming preK students came from within one mile of our school. This neighborhood is our base. Now I would like to talk about ou...