5:48 PM: We’re back at school district headquarters for what will be the School Board’s last work session before finalizing the BEX IV levy (BEX is short for “building excellence” – it raises money mostly for construction/renovation/repair work) to put before voters next February. Since the board will be hearing, and talking, about the entire citywide list, we won’t be updating this minute-by-minute except for the discussions of the West Seattle projects – and anything else that seems major. As this begins, board president Michael DeBell is reminding everyone that because of a session scheduled afterward, they must cut this off at 7:15 pm. He then embarks on a round of thanks to everyone from the district staff to members of the FAC-MAC advisory committee.
“We will not please everyone – there will be neighborhoods, or school communities that will not be fully satisfied with this work,” DeBell warns. He then notes that he believes the communities that were skeptical about the BEX III projects (the Denny/Sealth co-location was part of that levy) seem to be happy now, and fears did not come to bear. “We can’t please everyone – we don’t have enough money to please everyone, and even if we did have enough money, we probably wouldn’t please everyone.”
5:53 PM: The staff will now run through the slide deck. You can see it here. (First, Superintendent José Banda echoed the thanks that DeBell had offered.) The staff members are the same ones who have become familiar through the latter part of the process. Assistant Superintendent Pegi McEvoy is leading the presentation – and says there is late-breaking information. The microphone goes to Dr. Tracy Libros, who’s in charge of enrollment, and runs through that charge – including projections for the years ahead.
6:08 PM: Capital projects manager Lucy Morello is going through the timeline. In 2014 Fairmount Park Elementary would reopen (still no elaboration on whether it would be a neighborhood school or a home for K-5 STEM), 2015 Schmitz Park Elementary @ Genesee Hill (a “flex school” – intended for 500 but with “core facilities” that could handle 650) would open (new construction) … and in 2019, Arbor Heights Elementary (also in the “could handle 650” mode).
6:46 PM: The discussion has centered almost extensively on north end issues – in particular, the late-in-the-procsss plan to relocate Jane Addams K-8. Staff is still going through the slide deck, and there’s less than half an hour left. They have just moved out of the building portion and gone on to a couple other aspects of the levy – technology, for example (with $12 million in “IT Infrastructure” including getting wireless Internet into all schools). A few other assorted projects will include a new roof for Gatewood Elementary.
6:50 PM UPDATE: Superintendent Banda is reading from a new report by the FAC-MAC committee, which in part urges that work on Arbor Heights be done “as soon as possible” – though he said that shortly after saying FAC-MAC “agreed with the recommendations for … Arbor Heights.” McEvoy is also summarizing the slide with “community feedback summary” thus far, which, as we noted in our story yesterday, included “build AH sooner” and “find a permanent home” for K-5 STEM at Boren, which has not been mentioned so far in this meeting (aside from appearing onscreen on that slide). District manager Bob Boesche is now explaining how the levy funding is spread across six years – and saying there are certain types of funding “dependent on market conditions” that COULD move some of the projects forward. “We are looking at different vehicles through which we could move projects up, but at this time we can’t predict what the market conditions could be or the financing costs … until we actually pass the measure.”
6:57 PM: Now, finally, board member discussion. Discussion begins with Sherry Carr thanking staff and saying they should still work on options for the Jane Addams/Pinehurst situation that has drawn so much scrutiny since this draft came out Tuesday. She then says she toured Arbor Heights with Lucy Morello earlier this week. “I understand why it’s landed where it is – but if there’s any room using (alternative financing) we really have to look at moving it forward. I didn’t see anything unsafe but … I asked the district archivist to pull information about that building and how it got to be the way it is.” She elaborates, that means how it is built in stages, with portables, and a hallway “strap(ping) it all together.”
7:04 PM: Marty McLaren says she is very disturbed at the thought of moving Jane Addams. “The other really big issue because I’m from West Seattle is Arbor Heights … I see the FAC-MAC committee has spoken very clearly … it’s so clear that the right thing to do is to deal with Arbor Heights and Schmitz Park simultaneously. As the directors know, there has been an impressive show of unanimity of the West Seattle community on this issue. … Everyone agrees these two schools need to be rebuilt immediately … there must be a way to make this happen. I also want to point out, the underlying issue is the equity thing …” She says it’s clear that people with money move into Schmitz Park boundaries, and “we are answering by adding capacity, which is a capital issue … but what we’re doing is pulling money away from schools like Arbor Heights.” There’s nothing wrong with those moves, she says, but “we are allowing people with resources to drive the shape of the district and the flow of operational resources.” She concludes by saying “I hope we can land this [final BEX IV draft] in a different place.”
7:07 PM: DeBell now gives the remaining board members 2 minutes each, as they roar toward the 7:15 deadline for ending this meeting. Betty Patu says she agrees they need to move up Arbor Heights … its conditions are “unacceptable … we can’t build new schools if kids are in the older schools that are falling apart.” Sharon Peaslee focused her remarks on the north end issues, as did Harium Martin-Morris. Kay Smith-Blum also said, “We need to rebuild Arbor Heights right away.” She says if the overall plan is looked at through a different lens, “we might be able to build Arbor Heights first.”
7:17 PM: Finally, DeBell: “I agree that I’d love to see Arbor Heights move up but this is a very complicated model that can’t be quickly repositioned … there are capacity issues all over the city and I hope the directors will think wholistically … big challenge, complicated puzzle.” And at 7:20, the meeting is adjourned.
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