
(photo by Arbor Heights parent Craig Harrold)
We reported toplines from Wednesday night’s Seattle School Board meeting as they happened – now, we have video of all six Arbor Heights parents who spoke (after a concerted campaign to get onto the list when bookings opened Monday) about district staff’s recommendation to close their school “program” so the school “building” can become home to Pathfinder K-8, whose deteriorating Genesee Hill building would then be shut down. First, Arbor Heights PTSA co-president Suzette Riley laid out the four alternatives they are proposing:
“This proposal would close a popular, successful neighborhood school, and would also cost the district money,” Riley said (among other points). We also have video of each of the five other Arbor Heights speakers from the meeting, each uploaded in its entirety – click ahead to see any or all of them, and also to see what happens next:
Arbor Heights parents said they don’t disagree that Pathfinder needs a new home, and that West Seattle needs alternative education. In her remarks, April Bolding laid out reasons Cooper Elementary (in Pigeon Point) might work as a home for Pathfinder:
Rosslyn Shea also offered information to counter district management’s contention that closing the Cooper problem could create domino-effect capacity trouble in the “West Seattle North” cluster:
Tammy Wooley told the board that closing Arbor Heights would run contrary to district core principles:
“We cannot fathom why the district would consider closing a school like this one,” said Melissa Aaron, who noted that she is not only an Arbor Heights mom, she is a high-school teacher on Mercer Island:
Arbor Heights PTSA co-president Eric Iwamoto didn’t focus on Arbor Heights, but rather on research questioning why the district wasn’t looking at closing a south-end high school:
Not much later, Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson‘s report revealed the possibility of merging Rainier Beach and Cleveland is indeed now under study. (She will participate in an online chat next week at the Seattle Times site, by the way; find out more here.)
Her presentation (here’s the PowerPoint in its entirety) also confirmed she’s asked the staff to study the proposal to move Pathfinder into Cooper Elementary as requested by board members last week (and as has been proposed, and dismissed, in years past). Next steps – more meetings, and while the process is still heading toward a final board vote January 29th, the newly added board workshop next Tuesday is supposed to start looking at “final recommendations.”
Here’s what’s in the near future: 6:30 tonight at district HQ, a “community workshop … to consult with the public, present information and listen to concerns and ideas.” 9:30 Saturday morning, same thing, but it’s at the Filipino Community Center; 3-5 pm Saturday afternoon, West Seattle school-board rep Steve Sundquist will be at the Delridge Library for another informal gathering like this one last week; next Tuesday, a 6 pm district meeting at Arbor Heights Elementary, which hits during a 4 pm board workshop just added last night, to work through new information and potentially shape “final recommendations.” Most of those events – and other ones ahead – are on this district webpage, along with the e-mail address for feedback: capacity@seattleschools.org
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