What needs fixing at your school? Which schools are in the worst condition? See the new district report

In February 2016, Seattle Public Schools will ask you to vote for the next BTA (Buildings/Technology/Academics/Athletics) capital levy. To help decide which projects that levy should include, the district has had a consultant evaluate the physical condition of buildings and campuses around the district. The result: A just-released report on what needs fixing and how much it would cost, school by school. That report’s just been made public, and if you want to jump right to one or more schools of interest, you’ll find the three-part report here, with each part linked separately from that page. If you only have time to look at ONE part right now, it’s the third/fourth page of the third document, featuring this graphic:

That’s the ranking of the “educational adequacy” of district schools, NOT in terms of academics, just in terms of building/campus condition – the **lower** the score, the better. Denny International Middle School, only three years old, is ranked most adequate.

(UPDATED 10:48 AM: Thanks for pointing out the omission – we’ve added the second page of the graphic, which shows the Boren Building is in the worst shape of any West Seattle building not scheduled for replacement and currently in use as a public-school building. Schmitz Park, EC Hughes, and Arbor Heights are “less adequate,” but SP’s program will move into the new Genesee Hill school in 2016, Hughes is leased right now and will be mothballed for “emergency” SPS use starting next year, and the old AH is being torn down for a rebuild.)

WHAT’S NEXT? In the announcement of this report’s availability, the district promises to “engage the community over the next 13 months and ask for input and feedback with regard to projects to be included in the BTA IV capital levy.”

MyEye September 23, 2014 (10:38 am)

There’s also a page 4 with other SPS schools in West Seattle that have a worse ranking than Sanislo.

WSB September 23, 2014 (10:41 am)

Thanks, that was just pointed out to me, sorry. Updating. (Edit: Now updated with second page of chart and an explanation of the resulting “lowest” local rankings.) – TR

Morgan September 23, 2014 (11:03 am)

Have a 16 month old with another on the way. Although it’s a few years away I struggle with whether to have the kids go to public (Gatewood elementary is really close) and go private with something like WestSide. This makes me lean more and more toward private.

OnGraham September 23, 2014 (11:34 am)

Interesting that Boren is still listed as interim. Just an oversight?

Mtnpeak September 23, 2014 (11:44 am)

Also Fairmount Park’s score seems to be reflective of the building prior to renovation. The write-up mentions many areas as worn from use. It also dates the survey to last April, when the building was pretty much just a shell.

Heidi A September 23, 2014 (12:34 pm)

OnGraham – Yes, that it is an oversight. The Board has already taken action to declassify Boren as an “interim” sight and make it the permanent home of K-8 STEM. I would also note that Boren was evaluated as a middle school rather than an elementary school while it is serving two elementary schools.

I know it’s shocking that such an organized institution would make such basic errors in its assessment (said with sarcasm).

Morgan – yes, we have a lot of dysfunction in upper management in Seattle Public Schools. But we have some really great schools with dedicated teachers and family who really go the extra mile and make a difference – STEM being one of them in my humble opinion. Private schools are not without their own issues and headaches, we have many families that transferred from private to STEM. So, I wouldn’t assume private = better. My son went to Gatewood for K-1, I liked the community and the teachers and many kids are thriving there. My son just needed a different approach and is thriving at STEM. You really have to tour the school, talk to parents and parents and make a call about what seems like the best fit for you and your child(ren). There really are some great things going that are overlooked amid upper management dysfunction.

Arbor Heights parent September 23, 2014 (4:41 pm)

It doesn’t make sense to me that the district would spend the time and money to conduct a facilities/educational adequacy report on schools that had already been slated for rebuild e.g. Arbor Heights, Genesse Hill, etc.

robin September 23, 2014 (5:05 pm)

Besides spending money on a report when the BEX is covering so much of this – then also get so many things wrong! Right of the top – Boren is not an “interim” it’s been voted and approved as a permanent location. They have the count wrong for the portables at Boren (SPS removed some last year). They looked at the site as a middle/ high school when it’s K-5 and then K-8 (meaning more work is needed to have it be OK for little bodies to school there permanently. Boren was upgraded using funding, but they upgraded it as an interim site – not as a location that will (and is currently housing!) 700 little kids!

It’s like Heidi A said, in schools there are just some amazing things happening. Some great GREAT teachers, but the incompetence at the district level never ceases to amaze me.

Gatewood Rules September 23, 2014 (6:09 pm)

@Morgan, Gatewood is awesome. Our neighbors send their kid to Westside and their situation is no better, no worse. Just spending money.

Eric1 September 23, 2014 (7:13 pm)

The only reason private schools “appear” to be better than public schools is the existence of an income filter. A student’s performance is highly influenced by income and if you can eliminate the “poor” people from your school, you immediately improve performance. That being said, it is surprising that many private schools don’t do better than most public schools. Elite private schools combine good teachers, facilities and income filters to do extremely well. If your private school doesn’t do much better than public schools using an income filter, what does that say about the educators at that school?
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It isn’t rocket science: Ask yourself where are all the best public schools located? Rich neighborhoods or at least those with limited poverty. Some of the “best” public schools have the worst buildings. Conversely, some of the best buildings have the worst performance.
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Seattle has good teachers and decent facilities. Sure there are challenges with the dysfunctional school administration and micromanaging school board but most schools function pretty well despite that. The Seattle public school system gives you what you put into it. No more, no less. Do your children a favor and invest some time into their education.

Tattoo September 23, 2014 (9:05 pm)

Eric1 is absolutely correct.

gatewoodmom September 23, 2014 (9:22 pm)

I second Gatewood Rules. Could there be facility improvements? Sure. But the heart of the school is golden. The teachers care a great deal. Many of them giving their free time, weekends and own money to complete betterment projects, like painting and refinishing floors.

StringCheese September 23, 2014 (10:04 pm)

Hmmm… methinks there was no small amount of cut/paste going on at MENG Analysis. It seems pretty clear from the Boren report that there is no way that they actually conducted an inspection in April. The inaccuracies are ridiculous!

StringCheese September 24, 2014 (6:12 pm)

Upon further inspection of the documents related to Boren, it would appear that they did, in fact, complete a survey of the physical structure (calling out the failing 50 year old HVAC unit for instance) but clearly cut/paste from old reports on the Educational Adequacy section which throws off the whole chart posted here. MENG needs to come back and fix all of the glaring errors.

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