What will you be voting on? School levy meeting in West Seattle

Next February, you’ll be asked to approve two Seattle Public Schools levies: Operations and BTA III. Last night at Madison Middle School, district employees gathered to outline the plan and answer questions. Only a handful of concerned/curious citizens showed up (including West Seattle-residing district watchdog Chris Jackins); the planning meeting here last October didn’t draw a crowd either. We did get some information about what’s in the plan for West Seattle: A water-line replacement for Arbor Heights Elementary, masonry reinforcement for Gatewood Elementary, fire-suppression upgrades for Lafayette Elementary, energy-efficient light switches and turf replacement for Southwest Athletic Complex. (That work isn’t due immediately, but, it was explained, money from this levy will be stretching out to 2020, and the turf will need replacing before then.) Also, if the ground-source heat pump that Madison is using now shows significant promise for helping other schools, there will be money in February’s vote to install it elsewhere. One of the district-affiliated people at the meeting, West Seattle’s school board rep Steve Sundquist, said it’ll be important for the district to promote the “green” elements of the levy plan, since local residents are interested in sustainability. Levy-planning info is here; next step, the proposals will be presented to the School Board in early November, which is also when a public hearing will be set, before a board vote in mid-November and then the election next February.

3 Replies to "What will you be voting on? School levy meeting in West Seattle"

  • chas redmond September 25, 2009 (10:40 am)

    No predictions but given the lies the School Administration produced over the time span leading up to the Denny-Sealth work and the present situation with both the school board and the economy – I personally would be really surprised if the citizens of Seattle actually trust anyone in schools enough to pass a BEX III. I know I’m still burning from what went down with Denny-Sealth and the way the school board is handling the opening-closing of schools – well, bring on Maria Ramirez. There’s very little social conscience in the present board and – at least from my perspective – very little confidence. In case this message was foggy – I will NOT be voting for this upcoming levy.

  • chas redmond September 25, 2009 (10:41 am)

    Or BTA III, whatever they call it.

  • WSB September 25, 2009 (11:21 am)

    There is another BEX in the works but that’s a couple years away – BEX, BTA, Operations levies all separate. Melissa Westbrook from saveourschools.blogspot.com – the best site in the city for Seattle Public Schools discussion – gets into some interesting details in the account of the same meeting that she attended (which apparently also had very little public interest):
    http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2009/09/bta-iii-levy-meeting.html

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