21 Replies to "Denny-Sealth: Final vote now 4 days away"

• Dan Dempsey February 23, 2008 (11:11 pm)

  A clear goal of the SPS is not to include input from community members in any decision.
  .
  This should have been obvious to everyone watching business as usual during the last two years. But Denny / Sealth provides written verification.
  .
  Mr. Gilmore’s PowerPoint presentation in Toronto from the October 5,6,7 Conference of 2007 makes this abundantly clear. The title:
  .
  Planning Non-Traditional Schools: An Evolutional Process
  by Presenters:
  —-Don Gillmore, AIA –Seattle Public Schools
  —-Andrea McLean –Heery International
  —-Sue Robertson –Planning Alliance, Inc.
  .
  Early on in this Public input fiasco the SPS apologized for not executing a better process for input. What struck me as odd at the time was they did not apologize for failing to listen and include community input in the decision making process.
  .
  This all might strike you as “nit picking” until you look through Mr. Gilmore’s presentation, which tells us way more than the SPS ever does. In particular in the conclusion on slide #24, we find the smoking gun that is seemingly fired so often by the SPS but never found — until now.
  .
  ….Brings out hidden agendas
  ….Keeps people present and thinking from different perspectives
  ….Gets to the heart of the matter
  ….Prevents derailing
  ….People feel heard
  ….Helps to prioritize
  ———————————-
  .
  Clearly a Goal is to
  .. have People feel heard.
  .
  You will not find anything like:
  carefully evaluate community input to see if the wisdom and knowledge contained in the community can produce more effective results in the building of facilities.
  .
  The reason you will not find it is because community input has not been used in years examples follow:
  .
  School closure decisions – other than to close ones where the least objections are raised. Fist fights at school board meeting seem to be required as input.
  .
  Math curriculum adoptions – do not even video or televise the action meeting so that the public at large will have no reference to how the SPS ignores rational input.
  .
  The Autocratic Mandate that West Seattle High move to a six – period day.
  .
  The constant proclamation that the SPS use data driven decision making while failing to provide any relevant data for their decisions but ignoring the relevant data submitted by the community, because it contradicts their slam dunk decision made long ago.
  .
  YAWR resistance actions to bring about action to make military recruiter access to high schools uniform through out Seattle Schools – note chanting and total disruption of school board meetings appear to be the form of community input preferred by SPS Directors as all else other than fist fights are ignored.
  ..
  It should be noted that both the fist fights and YAWR actions were not part of any input process to develop sound programs or decision making but were reaction to the failure of SPS in those regards.
  .
  It is abundantly clear that the SPS wants to make the People feel heard while ignoring the people.
  .
  Great plan Mr. Gilmore — except poor execution.
  You definitely have the ignoring of the people extremely well done — but the people are not feeling heard.
  .
  I will now post my satirical application to be:
  “Minister of Disinformation” — next
  .

• Dan Dempsey February 23, 2008 (11:35 pm)

  .
  ..Live from Seattle it is Saturday Night.. time for a little satire…
  .
  Mr Gilmore and the district are clearly in need of another top level administrative position. If the SPS chooses to continue on this established path outlined by Mr Gilmore then a “Minister of Disinformation” will clearly be required.
  .
  Dear Dr Goodloe-Johnson,
  .
  Please accept:

  My official application in the: you can be our new “Minister of Disinformation” sweepstakes, which follows.
  .
  Although this concerns the new student assignment plan, I can easily adopt this same type of deception to most any situation. I promise I can be as duplicitous and unethical as this job requires.
  .
  Here is some behind covering for the Student assignment plan:
  —
  In the interests of what is best for all children the SPS realizes that we need to wait to assess the impact the assignment plan could have in its current form. For the good of all, we realize that it will be best for everyone concerned that we thoughtfully develop the best plan possible. Unfortunately there is just not enough time to create the plan and placements that our children deserve for next fall. We beg forgiveness for yet another failure to perform.
  .
  Be ready for our complete student assignment plan, which we will produce with deep understanding and compassion for implementation in the 2012-2013 school year – Honest the SPS promise it will be killer dude and worth the wait.
  —
  .
  Clearly I am not a trained professional.
  I will eventually be able to do this job as I am currently enrolled in:
  .
  JSCEE BS 101 – Introduction to spinning and lying.
  .
  JSCEE Psych 112 – Training your conscience to be down with the acceptance of willfully deceptive practices.
  .
  JSCEE Eng 240 – Really Persuasive writing- How to make the patently absurd seem reasonable.
  .
  JSCEE Stats 540 How to throw out meaningless irrelevant numbers and convince people. Then use these as a “data display” to drive an absurd action that is totally unrelated to any thoughtful analysis of the truly relevant data.
  .
  I am only taking four classes at this time because I am performing a worthwhile task for the betterment of society by teaching students in a public classroom setting.
  .
  If you employ me at the JSCEE in this position as “Minister of Disinformation”,
  I promise to never do anything worthwhile for society ever again.
  .
  Sincerely, .. Dan

• Dan Dempsey February 24, 2008 (1:42 am)

  Here is a repost that brings needed clarification to the application process – I apologize for not not making this clearer in my original comment.

  .
  ….It is Saturday Night ….
  …and time for a bit of Saturday Night Satire…
  .
  As the fooling of the public is currently not going as well as in the past, it is clear that the SPS needs a “Minister of Disinformation”.
  .
  I believe it was Will Rodgers, Mark Twain, or Abraham Lincoln who said: You may be able to fool most all the people for decades but you can not fool all the people all the time indefinitely.
  — My how unfortunate for the SPS at a time like this.
  .
  I propose a contest to select the first “Minister of Disinformation” from the applicants.

  The rules are simple….
  1)… select a current topic in need of disinformation.
  2)… write a short bulletin addressing the topic with the appropriate amount of disinformation needed to deceive the public.
  3)… Include any other qualifications that might help the SPS big-wigs to evaluate your suitability for this new position with greater precision.
  4)… Send your application off to Dr Goodloe-Johnson

  Remember this is only satire – resist the strong impulse to go after this position. Yes, if this fooling of the public is to continue as successfully as it has in the past some change is needed, else the district will need to start using the truth for public communication.
  .
  As I am more of an advocate of direct instruction than the unguided wandering investigations that are often passed of as instructional techniques by the central office, I will graciously provide an example.
  .
  Since the most challenging topic to spin will be the Denny/Sealth fiasco – it will be worth the most points if done well. Thus I will use the new student assignment plan for my example.
  .
  Remember all applications become the immediate property of the SPS. Please hurry on those Denny/Sealth examples they will be in high demand after Feb 27 – no telling what we will need to come up with for this one.
  ———————–
  .
  Dear Dr Goodloe-Johnson,
  .
  Please accept:
  .
  My official application to be the first official “Minister of Disinformation”.
  Here is some needed spin on the New Student Assignment plan.
  .
  In the interests of what is best for all children we realize that we need to wait to assess the impact the assignment plan could have in its current form. For the good of all we realize that it will be best for everyone concerned that we thoughtfully develop the best plan possible. Unfortunately there is just not enough time to create the plan and placements that our children deserve for next fall. We beg forgiveness for yet another failure to perform.
  .
  Be ready for our complete student assignment plan, which we will produce with deep understanding and compassion for implementation in the 2012-2013 school year – Honest we promise it will be killer dude and worth the wait.
  .
  Clearly I am not a trained professional. I will eventually be able to do this job as I am currently enrolled in:

  JSCEE BS 101 – Introduction to spinning and lying.

  JSCEE Psych 112 – Training your conscience to be down with the acceptance of willfully deceptive practices.

  JSCEE Eng 240 – Really Persuasive writing- How to make the patently absurd seem reasonable.

  JSCEE Stats 540 –How to throw out meaningless irrelevant numbers and convince people. Then use these as a “data display” to drive an absurd action that is totally unrelated to any thoughtful analysis of the truly relevant data.
  .
  I am only taking four classes at this time because I am performing a worthwhile task for the betterment of society by teaching students in a public classroom setting.

  If you employ me at the JSCEE in this position as “Minister of Disinformation”,
  I promise to never do anything worthwhile for society ever again.

  Sincerely,

  ——————-

  Deadline for Applications is April 15, 2008 for obvious reasons.

  ——————-

• Sealth February 24, 2008 (1:56 am)

  While Sealth teachers are clearly frustrated with district engagement as previously expressed in these pages, please note that Dan Dempsey is not a Sealth teacher and his opinions and creative way of expressing them are uniquely his own.

• GenHillOne February 24, 2008 (10:03 am)

  Good point to make, Sealth. I personally have learned to skip Dan’s diatribes (diarrhea of the fingers) on various sites as they usually contribute nothing to the actual topic. I actually think his nonsense is counterproductive to the communication efforts of Sealth staff.

• westello February 24, 2008 (1:10 pm)

  I have no doubt that the Board will okay Option 2 despite the failures of the Facilities staff from the get go. If this had come up in a year, I think the new members might feel stronger in saying “wait a minute” but they are all desperate to look like a “united” Board. The Board is not going to listen (from all appearances) to staff, students, parents or other concerned citizens. It’s sad but I hope that when the Board comes looking for support from the public for its proposals that everyone looks the other way. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

  Mr. Gilmore, the head of BEX, is a master of misinformation so I wouldn’t take that $10M as a given even if it is voted in. Roosevelt and Garfield both had cost overruns and with a project this complicated, I wouldn’t be surprised to see that here. (They have already started dipping into the $20M BEX reserve fund so it could be gone by the time any cost overruns roll around.)

• Dan Dempsey February 24, 2008 (6:32 pm)

  Comment by westello — February 24, 08 1:10 pm #
  .
  I have no doubt that the Board will okay Option 2 despite the failures of the Facilities staff from the get go.
  .
  It is a sad comment on the system that a board member’s lack of time in office will prevent them from stopping on going fraudulent practices. I have failed to notice that increased time serving on the school board contributes to the growing of a back-bone. It seems that time in office usually contributes to back-bone erosion rather than growth. This of course assumes some presence of a back-bone existed at the time of election.
  .

• Steve Taylor February 24, 2008 (9:18 pm)

  Dan Dempsey, GenHillOne may not appreciate your post/s. However the little I have read of your posts I can appreciate your humorous manner of expression regarding the Seattle Public Schools, aka “The District”, and how the District goes about conducting it’s business. Yes the “system” seems to be flawed, and the minority seem to be making the decisions that affect the majority. So much for Democracy. As much as I hope the School Board votes for BEX III, option 3. I will predict (however inaccurately or accurately) the School Board will approve BEX III, option 2 by a vote of 4 to 3 and be able to state “we believe BEX III, option 2 is the best choice for all… I will be at the 2-27-08 School Board Public Meeting to see who votes for which option. The next round will likely have to be a legal challenge should the School Board approve any option except BEX III, option 3. I have already stated my pledge regarding such on a previous post. Thank you.

  Steve Taylor

• Doug February 24, 2008 (9:22 pm)

  Contrary to the opinion of 5 or 10 of you out there, many of us are in favor of option 2 and the great things it can do for the kids and community.
  I want to thank Steve Sundquist, John Boyd, Jeff Clark and Marcus Pimpleton for their professionalism and for their continued support of this program, the community and the schools involved.
  .
  Just this week Marcus Pimpleton showed us what a great resource we have in the older, more experienced students in our community when they helped teach kids at the Denny winter music camp. At the camp were 4th graders through college. Great job to all involved and thanks. The kids learned so much in just 4 days.

• Charlie Mas February 24, 2008 (10:08 pm)

  Doug, I respect the perspective of those who prefer Option 2. I hope that you will tell more about that perspective and speak more persuasively in support of it.

  What are the benefits of Option 2? What are the great things that Option 2 can do for the kids and the community that Option 3 cannot do?

  Please be specific. It is hard for folks to take your word for it if you don’t support your statements with concrete facts.

• Charlie Mas February 25, 2008 (4:59 am)

  Oh, and Doug, it’s not 5 or 10 blog commenters who oppose Option 2 and support Option 3.

  The Sealth students overwhelmingly oppose Option 2 and support of Option 3.

  The Sealth teachers overwhelmingly oppose Option 2 and support of Option 3.

  The teachers union, the SEA passed a resolution opposing Option 2 and supporting Option 3.

  The Sealth staff overwhelmingly opposes Option 2 and supports of Option 3.

  The staff’s union, Local 609 passed a resolution opposing Option 2 and supporting Option 3.

  The Sealth neighborhood overwhelmingly opposes Option 2 and supports Option 3.

  The Westwood Neighborhood Council overwhelmingly opposes Option 2 and supports Option 3.

  The 34th District Democrats passed a resolution opposing Option 2 and supporting Option 3.

  I don’t know what stakeholder groups you are listening to, but the students, the teachers, the teachers’ union, the staff, the staff’s union, the neighborhood, the neighborhood council, and the local Democratic party all oppose Option 2 and support Option 3. So let’s not pretend that it is some vocal minority – it is, in fact, a vocal majority.

• Delfino February 25, 2008 (6:51 am)

  I would go one step further than Charlie and state that it is the vocal minority that supports Option2. At every meeting that has happened around this issue since summer of 06, the majority of “public” present has stated opposition. Ignoring it, does not change the fact that it is true.

  But worse than that, the people who will be most negatively affected by this inequitable plan are the ones who don’t show up to meetings, post on blogs or email Board members. The folks that support this plan represent the children who will have success in any educational setting. They do not represent the 30-40% that drop out. They do not represent the most at risk for dangerous behaviors. These students are depending on on the rest of us to advocate for them. It takes an educated and caring person to realize that not all families are the same. This is institutional racism at it’s absolute worst.

  The District has gone out of their way to control the meetings and not allow votes, thus documenting the opposition is not always easy. The meeting the District held on the 4th, conflicting with the already planned community meeting is a good example. Although, students took a non-formal vote at the meeting (opposed to Option2), there was no official measure of support or lack of at the meeting. It was clear to every one there that the majority was opposed and the “answers” provided had to be “skewed” to try and show staff support for Option2. At the WNC meeting 75% of the straw poll were opposed to Option2 and supportive of Option3, even with the worst case scenario the District presented.

  Even if it were true that only 5-10 blog commenters were speaking against it, that is still twice the number of those supporting it. Not one person has spoke at the Board meetings in favor of Option2. Even Board members who support Option2 don’t claim that the majority support OPtion2, they have been the first to say that we have done a poor job of public engagement and only say that it is the best use public money. Obviously, we don’t know what is good for us.

• Indaknow February 25, 2008 (7:37 am)

  I would like to hear from the Denny teachers. Other than Marcus, stunning silence on this. We know from the “secret poll” (of less than half of the staff) that not all of them support this. Where is their voice? The principals of both Denny and Sealth each wrote eloquent (but not necessarily factual) arguments for option 2 in the West Seattle Herald, but why haven’t the teachers opinions been made more public? Specifically, why have NONE of the Sealth polls been listed on the Districts website? It also seems to me that the majority (if not all) of Denny parents in favor of Option 2 writing on this blog seem to have connections to the music program and Marcus.

• Suzanne February 25, 2008 (1:21 pm)

  In one of Marcus Pimpleton’s comments on this blog, he said that many of his colleagues chose not to speak out on this issue because they did not want to get into a back and forth argument. After reading many of the comments on this blog, you can hardly blame them.
  –
  Yes, the opposition has been very vocal and those in support of Option 2 have been less vocal, at least at community meetings and Board meetings. I’ve been tempted to go to the Board meetings, but I can’t bear the thought of listening to all the negative comments from the naysayers. So instead, I choose to write to Board members as I know many others are doing as well.
  –
  I get so tired of the comments from people who keep saying that ALL the parents, staff, students and community members oppose Option 2 when this is simply not true.

• Indaknow February 25, 2008 (1:59 pm)

  Suzanne
  The good news for the supporters of plan 2 is that none of you will be having to hear about the opposition much longer. But for those of us that oppose this plan, the pain will continue.
  –

  We were not including in the planning of this and when given the opportunity ask questions there were not answers. This is not communication or dialogue. Imagine how frustrated you would be in that situation.
  –

  I don’t think anyone, pro or con, enjoys attending meetings, hearing the opposing view again and again or conflict in general (at least I know that I don’t). But I have thrust myself into this because this is my neighborhood school, even if my children were not attending it. Long after my kids have moved out this school is going to effect my life due to its location.
  –

  Why did only 41 Denny teachers answer the poll on this issue? Are they afraid of speaking out against it? Do they not care? I think that this is important.
  –

  To me this option was, from the beginning and always will be about money. Some schools in the district get all sorts of money spent on them. Some high schools in the district have huge PTAs and large parental involvement. Some high schools in the district have huge alumni associations that spring into action at the first sign of controversy. Chief Sealth has neither of these things. The district wanted to save money and it would be easier to pull it off with this population than the Ballards, Garfields and West Seattles in our district. They knew it could be a tough sell, so they were intentionally deceptive in advertising it hoping it would just slide through. Certain members of the community (Denny parents, BEX planning group, the principals of both schools) knew about the plan, and supported it. The larger percentage of the community (voters, neighbors, students/families of schools other than Denny, Sealth staff) did not know what was happening. When this uninformed group started asking questions, they were essentially ignored. The last few months have been the culmination of that frustration. I’d wager that it has not been fun for any of us, but I do not regret the effort.

• westello February 25, 2008 (7:05 pm)

  Well, it just never ends.

  I was checking the Board’s upcoming agenda and found this about the Denny/Sealth vote.

  “Approval of this item will authorize the transfer of $10,000,000 of BEX III funds to the Denny/ Sealth construction project supporting Option 2 recommendations.”

  $10M of BEX III funds? Only $8.5M is supposed to come from BEX III. The Debt Service fund is not part of BEX III and that’s where $1.5M is supposed to come from.

  (Also, there’s an item about the Board signing off on water work done at Salmon Bay. So I’m confused as to what work they told the Board is being put off at Salmon Bay so they can dip into the BEX III Infrastructure fund for Denny/Sealth.)

  So I called up Accounting to make sure that the Debt Service fund wasn’t part of BEX (I knew it wasn’t but hey, it doesn’t hurt to check). Nope, it’s not part of BEX. So I asked why the agenda item didn’t include it.

  The guy I spoke to (nice guy) said that the Debt Service fund just HAPPENED to have an extra $1.5M and that it could go to Denny/Sealth. I had to tell him that it was just a little suspicious that the $1.5M was exactly the sum that Facilities wanted to take from the Debt Service fund. He was nice about it but didn’t have much to say.

  He calls me back and says no, the money is supposed to come from BEX III sources AND the Debt Service Fund but it was a miscommunication and would be corrected on the agenda.

  (Now, this was AFTER he told me that both Don Kennedy (COO/CFO) and Fred Stephens (head of Facilities) vet all the agenda items about capital measures.)

  And now, at the website, that particular item has a placeholder for it and the original language has vanished.

  Something is up. Either that or another “whoops” down at the JSH.

• WSB February 25, 2008 (7:09 pm)

  I’ve been checking that agenda item since Saturday and it’s been a placeholder since then – when did you see actual language in it?

• Doug February 25, 2008 (10:16 pm)

  Delfino, well, I suppose there may have been others like me who went to the meetings and followed the rules of order and didn’t just blurt out questions or talk long after their allotted time. We turned in questions and waited patiently for the answers. Even though we support option 2 many of us still have questions and concerns.
  At the WNC meeting I turned down a radio interview I would have liked to have done because it was important for me to hear what you were saying. Not to harass you but to know what I was missing, that would support such strong opposition to option 2. Unfortunately the more I hear from you the less confidence I have that you ventured into this with an open mind, which I find sad because you have been such a strong voice in this matter. As someone who was not in a position to tour other facilities, meet with experts and influence people in the community I see it as your responsibility, as a member of the fact finding committee, to find the facts present them with an even hand and let the community and the board come to their own conclusions. Once again I don’t have the confidence that you did that. If you did, that is great. If you did not then you did a great disservice to the community.
  .
  I also don’t understand your comment about this being institutional racism. You are right, my kids will probably do just fine no matter what setting they are in. I do see all the kids having similar fears and struggles with transitions from middle school to high school. Yes, I do agree minorities have added fears and struggles, but I feel a co-located campus can bring an added sense of comfort and familiarity that can reduce some of those concerns. Teachers will recognize kids and kids will recognize teachers. Kids will look up to their older siblings and neighbors and possibly look forward to going to high school. There can be a great mentoring program which not only helps the younger students but teaches the older students a sense of leadership, teamwork and a pride in their accomplishments as they see the students they taught succeed. Just like you do when your students succeed. These are very important lessons in a child’s development that we don’t always pay much attention to. I have personally witnessed this many times over with differences in ages, races and people with disabilities.
  .
  What ever option goes through I sincerely hope we can all come together on this and put in the effort it will take to make it work. The success of the project will go a long way to determining the success of the community and the students that attend the schools. I know that what ever the board decides it will take courage and determination to move forward on the part of everyone involved. I hope we can all dig deep and find the courage it will take.

• westello February 25, 2008 (10:40 pm)

  At 9:40 am (that’s when I posted it on the Seattle Schools blog so that’s when I saw it). The guy in Accounting confirmed it was there when I called as well.

  But new news:

  That $20M reserve fund for all BEX III projects that I mentioned might be needed for any cost overruns on Denny/Sealth. Well, in the agenda there’s an item:

  “Establish a line item budget of $2.5 million for interim sites. Monies will be drawn from the BEX III Program Reserve.”

  Now this item didn’t surprise me all that much until I read the whole thing. Here’s the gist of it:

  “The BEX III budget did not have a specific line item budget for miscellaneous work at interim school sites to house staff and students during construction and renovation of the BEX III schools. This motion provides a line item budget of $2.5 million for interim sites. Monies will be drawn from the BEX III Program Reserve.
  Interim schools covered under this budget line item include Columbia, Lincoln, Boren and the portable campus at Nathan Hale High School.”

  Now this strikes me as odd that they wouldn’t have put a line item for this given how many projects they want to do at once. I knew they needed to help Hale, seeing as how Hale will stay put and have the work done around them. But I didn’t know that Columbia (New School), Lincoln (Hamilton) and Boren (Sealth) were that bad off, particularly Lincoln. But there’s more:

  “After the Board approved transfers totaling approximately $14.4 million to the project budgets to cover higher than expected escalation at the November 14, 2006 meeting, approximately $5.6 million remained in the Program Reserve. Upon Board approval of the above motion, approximately $3.1 million will be left in the Program Reserve.”

  I knew that the $20M Reserve fund had already been dipped into for the Hamilton/New School projects (although Facilities has talked for years about construction escalation costs so why this would be unexpected isn’t clear) but I missed that they have taken nearly all of it for these two projects. Now they are taking another $2.5M and leaving $3.1M.

  Wow. That’s not much this early on.

  That does explain Facilities rush earlier this year to get the Board to take each project’s 15% contingency and lump them together into one pot (which they approved). Facilities needed to be able to have another reserve fund because this one is almost gone.

  So cross your fingers, Hale, New School, Hamilton and Denny/Sealth (especially Denny as you will likely be the last to be renovated) – you might have to cut back in your project if some other project eats up these reserve dollars.

• Dan Dempsey February 26, 2008 (12:31 am)

  Doug,
  .
  You see great things for a 6 – 12 co-located school of 2000 students serving an urban population.
  .
  I taught in a 7-12 school of 3000+ students on a huge campus in an urban setting. There are very few of these schools around and for an obvious reason – they do not work in urban situations.
  .
  As you know I am big on data. To improve a system requires the intelligent application of relevant data.
  .
  Specifically what makes you think this configuration will work?
  I want more than hopes and philosophical statements.
  .
  6-12 schools in Eastern Washington with 400 kids are hardly the same as 2000+ in Seattle.
  .
  Show me the data of success in a similar situation.
  .
  Bellflower California is the 7-12 school with 3000+ you need not waste your time looking there for a level of academic success you would like at Denny/Sealth. The year I taught there only 2 of their students were shot and killed.
  .
  Mr Gilmore’s Toronto presentation makes this co-location look like it has been in the hopper for a long time. So where are his examples of success.
  .

• Charlie Mas February 26, 2008 (5:50 pm)

  So now we have, from Doug, some of the benefits he expects (or hopes for) from a shared campus.

  “I feel a co-located campus can bring an added sense of comfort and familiarity that can reduce some of those concerns. Teachers will recognize kids and kids will recognize teachers.

  But, if the two schools are kept as strictly separated as the District tells us they will be – separate spaces, separate entrances, separate start and stop times, separate bell times – when where and how will these teachers and students have an opportunity to see, meet, and recognize each other?

  Kids will look up to their older siblings and neighbors and possibly look forward to going to high school.

  They can’t look up to their older siblings and neighbors with the schools a block apart? After all, the populations won’t be mixing any more than they do now. When where and how will this admiration take place? Can’t the students look forward to going to high school with the high school a block away? I don’t get how the relative locations of the schools builds the anticipation for high school any more. Denny and Sealth are already closer together than any middle school-high school pair. Despite the distances to the nearest high school, students at other middle schools are able to look forward to going to high school.

  There can be a great mentoring program

  There can be a great mentoring program with the two schools a block apart as well.

  These reasons don’t make a lot of sense to me. Are there other benefits to a shared campus or are these all of them?

Sorry, comment time is over.