(WSB photo, past-and-future Alki Elementary site earlier this week)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“We’re frustrated that the school’s not being built, and that our voices are not being heard.”
That’s how Eva Chappell explains the letter-writing campaign she and Stefie Deeds have organized in support of the Alki Elementary rebuild/expansion, so far delayed almost a full year because of appeals filed over zoning exceptions involving parking.
Chappell and Deeds are both parents of Alki Elementary kindergarteners. The old school closed after the 2022-2023 school year and has been demolished, with other site preparation under way, but no construction until the latest appeal is resolved. Right now, it’s set to go before a city hearing examiner right after Memorial Day.
A bit of backstory if you’re just tuning in: Seattle Public Schools sought nine zoning exceptions (“departures”) for the rebuild/expansion. The city granted them. Nearby residents appealed. A hearing examiner denied the appeals on all but one point – the plan for no on-site parking (following zoning rules would require 48). The district went to court to try to overturn the ruling but was unsuccessful. Finally it submitted a new plan with 15 parking spots. The city approved that. A different set of nearby residents appealed in March. And that’s the subject of the upcoming hearing.
Meantime, Alki Elementary students and staff are wrapping up the first of at least three years in temporary quarters at the former Schmitz Park Elementary, which is so small, Chappell and Deeds say, some of the classes – third- through fifth-graders – are in portables.
But what they’re most concerned about is that parents like them have no voice in the process that’s extended their children’s stay in temporary quarters. In a conversation with WSB earlier this week, they explained that many Alki parents don’t even know what’s going on with the project – they “have no clue that it’s being held up,” Deeds says. “Nobody thought this was going to happen.” She’s an eight-year Alki resident who was excited about being able to send her child to a neighborhood school – but now for at least three years, they’re not within walking distance. “Alki really deserves a walkable school.”
She contends that appellants are wrong to contend that the new, larger school will pose a traffic nightmare because everybody drives, saying that in fact, many parents they’ve spoken with say they’ll be walking, as will her child.
So they’re hoping their voices of support can make a difference; more than 200 letters have been sent already via their online campaign. District officials including our area’s School Board director Gina Topp are the designated recipients.
They’re stressing that their intent isn’t “to diss anyone” – not even those who’ve been fighting the rebuild; they want to “regain a sense of community, in raising awareness.” They hope to “sit down together” with school neighbors as well as with other school families and staff, to discuss the school-related traffic concerns.
But first – they want to see the project back on track.
WHAT’S NEXT: The appeal hearing is scheduled to start at 9 am Tuesday, May 28, in the Hearing Examiner’s hearing room in the Seattle Municipal Tower downtown (700 5th Avenue). If a second day is needed, that’s scheduled for Thursday, May 30.
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