(October 2015 photo of planned charter-school site at 35th/Roxbury)
The organization that’s been planning a charter school in Arbor Heights tells WSB tonight that it’s continuing to move forward, despite the state Supreme Court‘s
decision not to reconsider its ruling against public funding for charters..

After word tonight of the court’s denial of motions for reconsideration, we contacted a spokesperson for Summit Public Schools, which has been planning for almost a year to remodel the church/ex-supermarket property at 35th/Roxbury into Summit Atlas. The response:

Today’s news does not change Summit’s plans to move forward with opening Summit Atlas in West Seattle. We are hopeful the legislature will make this right for our kids.

In fact, more than 400 students, parents and educators from Washington’s public charter schools participated in a day of action in Olympia on Thursday, urging legislators on both sides of the aisle to fix the glitch that allowed the state Supreme Court to rule against the more than 1,100 kids currently enrolled in charter schools.

Summit students participated in a civics lesson, toured the Capitol, rallied on the lawn, met with legislators and testified in front of the Senate.

Summit students, families and staff learned on the drive home from Olympia that the state Supreme Court denied both Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s and the Washington State Charter Schools Association’s motions to reconsider the unfair September ruling.

We remain hopeful that our state legislature will ultimately do the right thing for our students.

While we are disappointed in the court’s decision, this does not change our promise to keep our doors open and continue to provide a free, high quality, personalized high school experience that prepares every student for college. We look forward to being able to offer West Seattle students and families this important public school choice.

The West Seattle school, planned to eventually be 6th-12th grades, would not open before next fall; the Summit students mentioned in the response would have been from one or both of the schools opened in Tacoma and Seattle’s International District earlier this fall. We broke the news of the charter-school plan in early January when it turned up in the city’s online files; in June, the site was purchased by Washington Charter School Development for $4.75 million with the intent of remodeling it to house the first Summit Atlas students.

The Seattle School Board has approved the final revised list of “bell time” changes for next school year. First, the announcement, followed by the current and future times for all schools in this area:

The Seattle School Board voted 6-1 Wednesday evening, to adopt a Transportation Service Standard that would revise arrival and departure times for the 2016-17 school year. The changes to bell times will authorize the superintendent to implement the cost-neutral plan as recommended by the Board, allowing minor modifications as necessary for implementation. Additionally, the district reviewed recent community feedback and made the following adjustments:

· Change #1: Adjust all tiers 5 minutes earlier
· Change #2: Add a modification that allows the Superintendent to decrease the number of 3rd Tier schools if “actual routing during spring 2016” can adjust schools while maintaining the no cost option. We will be asking for schools to volunteer to be considered (through the principals) as we realize this may be considered disruptive by school communities and they may not wish to go through this process. Any changes would be announced prior to the end of the school year.

The recommendation reflects Seattle Public Schools’ extensive community and stakeholder outreach over the past year. This is in response to a resolution approved by the School Board in March of 2014 in response to ongoing discussions between School Boards and Superintendents since 2008, around the benefits of shifting to later start times for adolescents.

“We will become the largest district in the country to make this switch, and hopefully we will set a trend,” said Board Director Sharon Peaslee. “This is a historic moment.”

The Resolution directed the Superintendent to determine feasibility, costs, impacts and logistics of shifting to later start times for adolescents, for implementation in the 2016-2017 school year, while continuing to simplify the transportation standards and align them with the Student Assignment Plan. The Bell Time Analysis is the outcome of this directive.

Transportation costs will increase in 2016/17 due to enrollment growth, boundary changes and Special Education program service updates. That amount is estimated to be $182,500.00.

It’s a big change for many local schools. From the citywide list in the last pages of this district document, here are the West Seattle times, now and next year (note that these are the actual start/end times, not the bus arrival/depart times that bookend them in the doc, and also remember that “this year” refers to this school year (2015-2016), while “next year” refers to next school year):

HIGH SCHOOLS

Chief Sealth International HS
*This year – 8:40-3:10
*Next year – 8:45-3:15

West Seattle High School
*This year – 7:50-2:20
*Next year – 8:45-3:15

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Denny International MS
*This year – 7:50-2:20
*Next year – 7:55-2:25

Madison MS
*This year – 7:50-2:20
*Next year – 8:45-3:15

K-8 SCHOOLS

Louisa Boren K-8 STEM
*This year – 9:30-3:40
*Next year – 9:35-4:05

Pathfinder K-8
*This year – 8:40-3:10
*Next year – 8:45-3:15

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

Alki
*This year – 8:40-2:50
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

Arbor Heights (at Boren this year, new building next year)
*This year – 8:40-2:50
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

Concord
*This year – 9:30-3:40
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

Fairmount Park
*This year – 8:40-2:50
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

Gatewood
*This year – 8:40-2:50
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

Highland Park
*This year – 8:40-2:50
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

Lafayette
*This year – 9:30-3:40
*Next year – 9:35-3:45

Roxhill
*This year – 9:30-3:40
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

Sanislo
*This year – 9:30-3:40
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

Schmitz Park
*This year – 8:40-2:50
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

West Seattle
*This year – 8:40-2:50
*Next year – 7:55-2:05

It’s been four years since a district transportation-plan change pushed Concord, Lafayette, Roxhill, and Sanislo to 9:30 am start times; we covered Sanislo’s fight against it. Now, three of the four will be moved to the district’s near-universal 7:55-2:05 elementary schedule – all except for Lafayette.