(Editor’s note: School Board member Steve Sundquist has another community meeting this morning, 10 am at Delridge Library)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“We all know the line has to be drawn somewhere, but — right across the street?”
So asked one of the 25+ people who crowded into Roxhill Elementary School‘s library Tuesday night to try to find out from Seattle School Board member Steve Sundquist why the Roxhill attendance area in the new Student Assignment Plan has one headscratcher:
When the West Seattle lines were redrawn, for the maps that were finalized with few amendments last month, the western boundary of Roxhill’s attendance area moved several blocks east, and now goes down the middle of 30th SW .. yards from where the school sits on the east side of that street (note the school icon next to the boundary line in the map section shown above).
That means there are several houses whose residents literally can look directly out their front windows and see Roxhill – but would be expected by the district to send kids to Arbor Heights Elementary, a mile away, as their “neighborhood school.”
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As one attendee put it, “We live across the street. There are five kids on this street. So starting next year, we’ll have to drive them to Arbor Heights. Or they could ride a school bus, Sundquist suggested; the attendee retorted “we’ve already heard there might not be a bus.”
The 30th SW line isn’t the only proximity-vs.-attendance-area quirk created by the map revision; some homes in Gatewood/Upper Fauntleroy that are a few blocks west of Chief Sealth High School were moved into the West Seattle High School attendance area.
Roxhill principal Carmela Dellino stressed as she opened the meeting that she supports the district’s move to neighborhood schools, but had heard many people express concerns about the final boundaries, so that’s why they asked for a meeting.
Among those with concerns, May Ovalles from the Roxhill PTSA, saying that even when the revised boundaries came out, there was no written indication that the school’s boundaries had changed to the north as well as to the west, in the written report – you had to look closely at the map.
The meeting then was handed over to Sundquist (to Ovalles’ right in the photo above), who began, “One thing we have to recognize – of all the parts in the city, we were perhaps most disadvantaged by the mistake that was made with the first set of maps. I think you’re aware that the first set didn’t line up middle and high-school boundaries. West Seattle is the only place in the city where that’s a requirement” – because of the district’s decision to have Chief Sealth HS and Denny International Middle School share a campus.
He first had discussed that mistake when meeting with three north West Seattle schools’ PTAs (WSB coverage here), but the district’s fix for the problem wasn’t made public till the revised maps were made public.
In addition to the conundrum of the boundary line being just yards from the school, parents and staffers expressed puzzlement at the fact the attendance area for Roxhill had been reduced, while the area for Arbor Heights had increased – while that school, Sundquist said, was going to get two portables to increase its capacity. The south area needed more elementary capacity, he explained, saying he was told Arbor Heights was the only place that portables could be added without taking up space needed for other campus features such as playgrounds.
“But it makes more sense that people (near) Roxhill could come here, instead of going to Arbor Heights to be in portables,” one attendee protested.
Replied Sundquist, “I’m just trying to help you understand the logic the district used.”
He also was asked to explain why the map change took Gatewood Elementary out of the Denny/Sealth attendance area and put Sanislo Elementary into it; he repeated what he had said at an earlier community meeting (WSB coverage here), that the first version of the maps drew an outcry (“tremendous amount of communication”) from the Sanislo community because “they identified more south than north.”
And he acknowledged that while he had backed some map amendments before the final vote, trying to resolve boundary issues affecting a few north West Seattle elementaries, he had consciously chosen not to propose an amendment regarding the Roxhill boundary, saying district staff warned him that if the change was made, the school would be projected at significant overenrollment – 62 more students by 2015 than its “functional capacity” suggests it has room to hold.
The students in the area west of 30th also will be affected dramatically, attendees suggested, because of what they’ll face if they have to walk to school, crossing two busy arterials (Roxbury and 35th) to get to Arbor Heights. A letter was read from a longtime crossing guard who has worked at Barton/30th, quoting her as saying the Police Department’s crossing-guard program has no reserves to call on to help those students get safely to Arbor Heights: “The school district and board need to consider the extreme danger the kids on the west side of 30th will have.”
While Sundquist made no commitments about proposing anything to alleviate the Roxhill parents/staffers’ concerns, he was told near meeting’s end, “You need to go back to the drawing board — you’re saying ‘neighborhood schools’ but you’re putting us on the altar of expediency. I believe there is a logical solution to this, but drawing the line on 30th is not the solution when you’re putting portables at arbor heights.” That was greeted with applause.
PTSA’s Ovalles also raised a thorny side issue, asking Sundquist about a quote in which he said he didn’t often hear from Roxhill parents. He said that was not meant to be a slam, but rather a statement of fact. One attendee asked if he has translators at his community “coffee hour” meetings, which could bring more Roxhill participation, as the school has many parents for whom English is a second language. He said no, the meetings are something he arranges on his own time, and he doesn’t have access to translators; it was suggested he check into possible translator services that could be facilitated by the PTA Council.
WHAT’S NEXT: Proposed map changes are not expected to be likely, but “rule changes” to the Student Assignment Plan could be proposed – such as the expected one to address “sibling grandfathering,” the issue of whether future-student siblings will be grandfathered into out-of-zone schools current students now attend; Sundquist said families have been sent surveys so the district can determine possible impacts of options in that area. These issues and no doubt others will all come up when the board reconvenes after the holidays. Meantime, as noted atop this story, Sundquist’s next community “coffee hour” meeting is 10-11:30 am today, Delridge Library.
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