New draft of school-levy proposal suggests two 650-seat elementaries for West Seattle

At 4 pm today, the Seattle School Board meets for another work session on the BEX-IV levy at district HQ in SODO – which will raise money to build and renovate schools throughout the city. A new draft proposal is on the district website for discussion at the meeting – see it here. Nothing dramatically new for West Seattle, but it does add new details to some of what’s been under discussion:

NEW SCHOOLS:

-The new Schmitz Park Elementary proposed for the old Genesee Hill site would be a 650-seat K-5, this draft says
-The new Arbor Heights Elementary would also be a 650-seat K-5, this draft says

REOPENED SCHOOLS:

-The old Hughes building, currently leased by Westside School (WSB sponsor), would be “upgraded” to reopen as a 304-seat K-5
-The old Fairmount Park building, closed five years ago, would be “upgraded” to reopen as a 304-seat K-5

INTERIM SCHOOL:

-The Boren building is listed as having a capacity as 760 and being “interim location for STEM K-5, Fairmount Park, Hughes, and Arbor Heights” – ostensibly while renovations/rebuilds are under way for each of those schools

Though Roxhill Elementary made its case at a meeting last week for needing renovations, if not a rebuild, or maybe even a move – WSB coverage here – it is not mentioned in the draft. There is a mention toward the end of the document that this proposal could result in a “potential elementary seat surplus in West Seattle.”

The document says that there will be one more round of community meetings in September before the board finalizes the levy plan later in the fall, to go to voters next February. One more note: If you want to talk with West Seattle’s school-board director Marty McLaren about this or any other issue – like the transportation (and therefore bell-time) changes – she has a community conversation meeting scheduled TODAY at Southwest Library (35th/Henderson), 12:30-2:30 pm.

44 Replies to "New draft of school-levy proposal suggests two 650-seat elementaries for West Seattle"

  • DW May 9, 2012 (10:10 am)

    So Westside School would essentially get the shaft…

  • Brandon May 9, 2012 (10:15 am)

    I really hate the fact that the Westside School would be out of a building.

    @DW you are completely correct.

    Hopefully, there is enough community support to stop Seattle Public Schools from taking the building.

  • A May 9, 2012 (10:24 am)

    I have a child in kindergarten in SPS and will never ever vote again for them to get money to do anything. They have their head up their a**.

  • Dave May 9, 2012 (10:29 am)

    Elementary seat surplus? Is this judgement done by the same people that projected our current demographics – and left all schools severely overcrowded and moving into trailers – or has new expertise been brought in to more accurately predict future enrollments?

    • WSB May 9, 2012 (10:33 am)

      Well, if that’s not a rhetorical question, I think there have been some staffing changes. They have said they are monitoring stats they didn’t monitor before (sorry I don’t have specifics on that, just an anecdotal memory from covering all of this off and on for the past few years). I hope to cover this afternoon’s work session to hear more details about this and what else is in the draft, since this seems to be a key point in the process – TR

  • JD May 9, 2012 (10:39 am)

    Ah yes…another levy to vote no on

  • Tony May 9, 2012 (10:51 am)

    Boo Seattle schools. Westside is part of the school system too. What if all the students opt to go to public school?? Back to square one…

  • Barb Vadakin May 9, 2012 (11:18 am)

    What will happen to the existing Schmitz Park?

  • West Seattleite May 9, 2012 (11:49 am)

    Westside can always build or buy their own building, eh?

  • skeeter May 9, 2012 (11:54 am)

    I can understand the frustration of Westside parents and students, but I’m not sure I follow how they are “getting the shaft.” The school belongs to the taxpayers. The taxpayers get first dibs.

  • Brandon May 9, 2012 (12:05 pm)

    the school was also leased to Westside school….question is, is seattle public schools breaking the lease. Also, I grew up across the street from EC hughes and only one time in over 10 years did that school house students. Now all of a sudden when a group decides to go in and clean up that dung pile to make it a functioning school they are going to kick them out. it’s probably not “wrong” but it reeks

  • Trying! May 9, 2012 (12:09 pm)

    What will happen to the existing Schmitz Park?
    How about how are they going to fit 650 students into the Genesee Hill space? The playground will have to be down the wooded path into the lower field?

  • AH Resident May 9, 2012 (12:09 pm)

    does a brand new facility make our house value go up? I hope so!
    ________

    I personally think the district allows parents too much input. (being a SPS parent myself) I can say I am frustrated with the situation but from meetings I’ve attended a lot of parents are clueless as to where funds come from, what funds can be used for what and other ‘politics’ of running and maintaining a school district. The constant attitude from some that “we should get OUR way!” is getting old. With so many ‘cooks in the kitchen’ no one is going to get what they want because of the constant complaining and demanding.

  • Econ Girl May 9, 2012 (12:16 pm)

    Westside “gets the shaft” because according to their lease they are supposed to have this building for another ten years. Based on that agreement, they invested a large amount of money, time, and energy to upgrading and renovating the facility to make it function well for them. Now, they will have to engage in a long, challenging process of having to find a new facility that will suit them as well as forfeiting the funds they have invested. As a future Westside parent (starting this fall), this is greatly upsetting to me.

  • Kate May 9, 2012 (12:35 pm)

    What Econ girl said. Exactly. There is no such thing as acting in good faith in the Seattle school district. In the end it’s Seattle parents and kids that get the shaft – whether their kids attend public school or not. The district is poorly managed and kicking Westside out of the Hughes building will not change that. But it will hurt the school, the kids and the families who are all part of the West Seattle community and pay taxes just like everyone else.

  • Oliver May 9, 2012 (12:46 pm)

    As has been noted in many of the public discussions, Westside negotiated a short term lease which gives the district the right to break it before the end of the ten year period. Westside knowingly took the risk that they could be out before ten years even after spending money on refurbishments, kind of hard to yell t’aint fair now. The District has a right to excercise its contractual rights for the urgent need for more classroom space.

  • Amanda May 9, 2012 (12:47 pm)

    I think Westside should come up with a plan to purchase the building from SPS. That way, they can stay there, and not have to worry about a lease. That would be the only fair thing in this case. I really don’t think Westside should have to give up that building they spent so much time investing in, but it is a public school building. The fact that Roxhill was not even mentioned, whist the very well funded Schmitz Park will get a new building is sad. I hope that the SPS has some awesome plan to help Roxhill, and push up the date on building of the Arbor Heights School.

  • alkiobserver May 9, 2012 (1:24 pm)

    Well said Oliver. Though it would be a total bummer for the Westside community, that does appear to be the agreement the school signed with the district. Buying the building from the district is probably unlikely as SPS does not seem keen on letting go of assets it may need in the future (just look at the Fairmount Park building). The frustrating reality is, the school communities that are part of SPS “get the shaft” all the time (just ask Cooper). So, the idea that a private school renting from the district would be spared instead of a school like Roxhill that is part of the district and desperately needs a building seems remote and would undoubtedly cause a huge uproar the school board would not want to face.

  • skeeter May 9, 2012 (1:27 pm)

    Thanks for the clarification Oliver.

  • quiz May 9, 2012 (1:31 pm)

    I don’t feel bad for Westside. Leases are broken all the time. That’s just reality. They had to expect that this was a possibility. The property belongs to the taxpayers. Westside is just paying to use it.

  • Paul May 9, 2012 (2:25 pm)

    What really sucks is that five years or so after SPS kicks Westside out of EC Hughes, they’ll probably close it again!

  • raincity May 9, 2012 (2:53 pm)

    I think moving Schmitz Park to the Genessee Hill site is a huge mistake. It’s called Schmitz Park for a reason and the genessee hill site is much more compromised that the nice flat Schmirz park site. I thought the schmitz faily deeded it to the school district as long as it stayed a neighborhood school.

  • HPMom May 9, 2012 (3:13 pm)

    Does anyone know what is happening to Schmitz Park? Is there any reason besides capacity issues that they are moving the students to a new site?

  • Molly May 9, 2012 (3:16 pm)

    I don’t appreciate the “Hit the road Westside” comment from Believer in SPS. This is about kids losing the school that they put a lot of heart into making it what it is. Don’t be rude.

  • Tony May 9, 2012 (3:17 pm)

    Schmitz Park will move to Gennessee’s new school and they will probably build a new school @ the Schmitz site, as needed. Same goes for Arbor Heights, if they move into Hughes.

  • Tony May 9, 2012 (3:23 pm)

    Westside School did sign a lease, and will live up to the agreement. I think it’s safe to say Seattle Schools wasn’t exactly honest when they said the building was surplus and available to lease. Not to mention letting them move portables on site, knowing they wanted the building back. Westside has a 15 month notice, once the board votes to take the building back. So realistically Westside has 2 more school years @ the Hughes Building. ALL of these moves, new schools, etc hinge on the $750 million levy that is coming up for a vote soon….people aren’t exactly falling over themselves to give the District money to waste.

  • Tony May 9, 2012 (3:28 pm)

    And finally, Westside parents all pay taxes too. So they own a small part of that building, as do we all. If those student don’t go there, we would have 200-300 more kids in the public school system, yet more overcrowding. So ya, cheer for them to get kicked out, but be careful what you wish for….. Your kid can scoot his desk over, make room for some new classmates.

  • skeeter May 9, 2012 (4:37 pm)

    The “Hit the road WestSide” comment was unkind. I suspect most folks in West Seattle realize that parents, staff, and students put a huge amount of work and money into making the school a success.

    The timing was just bad luck that the school system needs the building back.

    • WSB May 9, 2012 (4:50 pm)

      Deleting the “hit the road” comment, as we try to keep rudeness down here but didn’t catch that earlier. Various opinions are welcome but not nastiness. If for example the post’er had a concern about them leasing the school building in the first place – we wrote about that in advance here a few years back and there was plenty of time for input into that process before the School Board approved the lease in the first place – TR
      .
      P.S. I am at the board work session right now to listen for elaboration on all this, tweeting some highlights at http://twitter.com/westseattleblog and will publish a WSB story with toplines right after the meeting. As of this writing they haven’t gotten to the WS part of the plan yet (4:52 pm).

  • skeeter May 9, 2012 (4:40 pm)

    Tony, do you really think the Seattle School District knew they would need/want the building back so soon? That’s a pretty strong claim…

  • Aman May 9, 2012 (5:27 pm)

    This seems too hard on too many people for too many reasons. I AM confident however that in OUR community if all parties remain “child-focused” all will turn out for the best. It does take a village to raise each child. We CAN do this successfully.

  • Tony May 9, 2012 (5:31 pm)

    The lease is not even 2 years old I think. They knew they had capacity issues. The portables were OKd by district shortly before the rumblings of taking the school back started….all documented here on the blog. I think my claim is all documented here @ WSB.

  • Tony May 9, 2012 (5:46 pm)

    28 March, 2010 is when WSB reported that Westside School would be moving into the Hughes Building. My son was 9 months old @ the time so I wasn’t thinking about schools quite yet. But I think most parents here in WS would say that there was an overcrowding issue at that time. Do I think Seattle Schools conspired to have the building refurbished so they could take it back ASAP? NO, that would be giving them too much credit. I think they saw a revenue source in leasing the building, and went for it. In that same time frame they let the Certificate of Occupancy expire @ Gennesee Hills, requiring it to be brought up to current codes and adding LOTS of $$ to the price of possibly reopening it. Bottom line is that they made a sales pitch to potential tenants to lease their buildings, assuming WS would somehow make due with the overcrowding issues…but WS became VERY vocal and now the district is scrambling for solutions.

    • WSB May 9, 2012 (6:25 pm)

      Tony – I was speaking more to the person whose comment we deleted, who seemed to have a problem with Westside having been in the building in the first place.

  • Tony May 9, 2012 (5:49 pm)

    FYI- Seattle School District will be installing approx. 35 PORTABLE classrooms throughout the district this summer, to address overcrowding. Gatewood, Schmitz Park, West Seattle Elementary are all getting more of our beloved portables….

  • Gina May 9, 2012 (6:08 pm)

    I have also heard it said that the Schmitz Park School property could not be sold by the Seattle Public School district if the site was no longer used as a school. Is this one of those urban legend rumors? I first heard it after the triple levy failure in the 1970s.

  • Tony May 9, 2012 (6:32 pm)

    TR- Thanks, I was just trying to address Skeeter’s question. A majority of the background I’ve gotten is from this Blog, a wealth of info.

  • Oliver May 9, 2012 (10:12 pm)

    Tour Roxhill, look those children and their families in the eye and tell them why the lease of a private school, that the district has the right to break, is more important then their imminent need for an adequate facility. The state constitution says it is the paramount duty to provide for public education, if there is a public school in need, which there clearly is, that is our first and paramount obligation.

  • evergreen May 9, 2012 (11:14 pm)

    I feel bad for Westside & the public school communities that are torn apart because of poor decision-making by SPS. My son’s public K-8 school will be moved, and perhaps dismantled, if this levy passes. It’s heartbreaking. And yet at the same time, schools like Roxhill and Arbor Heights desperately need building upgrades. So obviously there will be some school communities that suffer if the levy is not passed…complicated situation.

  • Rod Clark May 10, 2012 (4:00 am)

    Westside is paying $45,000 per year for the E.C. Hughes building. That’s $3,750 per month, or about the wages of one clerical employee. Only in your deams do school buildings of that size cost that.
    .
    One reason that the lease amount is near zero is the uncertainty and moving costs arising from the short notice written into the contract, 15 months by either party at any time. It was a great sweetheart deal for Westside, as long as they were willing to accept the short notice. I doubt that you’ll hear Westside itself piling emotional abuse on the district for gifting them the building for even a few years at that price. It looks like they’ll end up having it for six years.
    .
    The building is not a “dung pile” as one person wrote. It’s an old building in generally sound condition.

  • Tony May 10, 2012 (6:03 am)

    Oliver- I do know what the inside of Roxhill looks like, as well as EVERY other school in the district. I know how the schools are better in more affluent neighborhoods. I know the police are @ several schools all day. I feel for parents in neglected schools. But I also know its easy to pile on Westside School and say kick them to the curb. These are kids that are part of that Village we all talk about…..

  • boy May 10, 2012 (9:38 am)

    It is kind of funny to sea old buildings around and still in good shape. But for some reason the schools always seam to fall apart. I wonder if the schools have ever heard of preventive maintenace. If you take care of something it will last. The bottom line is all you realy need is a good clean space and a good teacher.

  • george May 10, 2012 (9:56 am)

    Tony, why should the WS parents be upset at SPS? They should be upset at their own board for making such a decision knowing the details and possibilities. Not to sterotype, but I have to believe that there are some savvy people at a school with resources like West Sides population. Don’t make a deal with the devil unless you know the details.

  • WTF May 11, 2012 (7:29 am)

    @Aman. Finally someone mentioned the “customer” in all of this! We all know…come on admit it, that SPS is pretty screwed up, but no school district anywhere in this country is going to make everyone happy. But, they are in the business to ensure our kids get the best education possible in a safe and controlled environment. Tough decisions all come with intent…let’s hope these decisions are for the -right- ones in the end.

Sorry, comment time is over.