As noted in this morning’s preview, Seattle Public Schools‘ proposal for relieving overcrowding next year – just *next* year; proposals for other years are yet to come – officially goes before the School Board tonight. We’re just back of a media briefing at district HQ, offered as a chance for media reps to ask questions about the plan (see it here), crafted as the district deals with 1,500 more students this year than last, and another 1,000+ jump next year. (Added – video of the briefing, unedited, including the media Q/A:)
For West Seattle, the key component of the plan is spending $3 million to fix up and reopen the former Boren Junior High School (5915 Delridge Way SW) as temporary home of a new “option” elementary school – meaning you have to apply to attend, there is no automatic assignment zone – focused on STEM (science, technology, engineering, math). We asked what happened to the possible Montessori component mentioned at the second community meeting on the topic in West Seattle (late November; here’s our story). While that remains a possibility for West Seattle at some point after next school year, district officials said, they decided they couldn’t ramp up for it in 2012-2013 – particularly because some Montessori teachers elsewhere in the district who at one point were going to have to be moved, no longer need to be.
Boren has been empty for two school years, since serving as the interim home of Chief Sealth International High School during its two-year renovation project (completed in 2010). We asked how many students the district hopes it will serve in its first year; they didn’t have that number handy but promise to get it to us shortly.
Beyond reopening Boren, they expect to need some portables next year – perhaps at least 25 around the district, though no decisions on which schools and how many portables will be made until after the “open enrollment” period February 27-March 9 gives them some idea of next year’s trends. District officials, led by assistant superintendent for operations Pegi McEvoy and interim assistant superintendent for business and finance Robert Boesché, say they plan to lease portables rather than buy them, in hopes they won’t be permanent.
Much of the overcrowding-relief talk has focused, in the short term, on elementary schools, but in West Seattle, there’s also a challenge at Chief Sealth, which started the year above its 1,200-student (approximately) capacity. McEvoy said it might be in line for the addition of a portable next year, but decisions won’t be made before February.
Then there’s the issue of a permanent home for the program that is expected to launch at Boren this fall, and whether West Seattle would need another new elementary school beyond that. The current documentation mentions that the sites of the former Fairmount Park, Genesee Hill, and Hughes elementaries in West Seattle are all still in play for “intermediate” and “long-term” capacity-management decisions, despite the fact that Hughes was leased and renovated by Westside School (WSB sponsor). Asked about Hughes reappearing on the list for future consideration, McEvoy noted that its lease goes through 2015 and they intend to honor that, but beyond that, it depends on the district’s needs.
So what’s next? For starters, the short-term capacity-management proposal will be introduced at tonight’s board meeting (6 pm, district HQ in SODO) – where we’ll see what board members have to say about it, and whether any changes are proposed – with a final vote expected at the next meeting in two weeks. We’ll have a followup after tonight’s meeting.
| 13 COMMENTS