Two notes today about related school projects – the West Seattle Elementary addition, and the Schmitz Park Elementary portables that will be required to house WSES students during construction:

WEST SEATTLE ELEMENTARY HEARING: At 10 am Wednesday (January 6th) online, the district opens an appeal hearing on the project’s State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA)-related checklist. (“Checklist” is the official term for this document, but it’s 228 pages long.- see it here.) The hearing is open to the public; this calendar listing includes information on attending by video or phone. The project is scheduled to start construction this summer and be complete in time for the start of the 2022-2023 school year.

SCHMITZ PARK ELEMENTARY PORTABLES COMMENT TIME: While the addition is built, WSE’s students are scheduled to spend the 2021-2022 school year at the former Schmitz Park Elementary campus. To facilitate that, the district plans to add 17 portables to the site, which held 20 before students were moved to the new Genesee Hill Elementary in 2016. 16 would be classrooms, while one would be restrooms. The two old portables left on the site would be demolished. After the year of housing WSE students, the district also plans for the site to be temporary home to Alki Elementary during its rebuild in 2023-2025. All this is detailed in the draft SEPA checklist for the project, on which the district is now accepting comments; you can see the 82-page document here. From the district website, here is how to comment, deadline January 11th:

Email: SEPAcomments@seattleschools.org

Mail:
Fred Podesta, Chief Operations Officer
Seattle Public Schools
PO Box 34165, MS 22-183
Seattle, WA 98124