By Guest, on April 18th, 2013
The following is a guest post from the Wedgwood Open Space Neighborhood Coalition.
The Seattle School District’s latest idea for the Thornton Creek playing fields reminds me of Joni Mitchell singing “you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” For many of our Wedgwood neighbors this will be the case if the plan goes forward to build a new 650-student school and “put up a parking lot” on the playing fields for staff cars and school buses. The School District says it will mothball the present Thornton Creek School building and may demolish it in 2021. Given present projections for growth in the NE, it is extremely unlikely the old school will remain unoccupied. The most likely scenario is for a 1,000 student campus, with severely limited space and time for recess.Most of us value Wedgwood’s modest-scale. Do we want developers, public and private, to respect the quiet livability our Vision Plan embraces? Should that vision extend to all of us or exclude some of us? What the District intends to build will overwhelm those who live in our area with an onslaught of traffic extending well beyond the streets bordering the school. We have been told to expect a tripling of traffic, leading to a tripling of air and noise pollution.
On 40th Ave NE there has been a steady increase in traffic these past few months. The little streets surrounding the present school are already choked with traffic at bell times. Routes leading to the school lack sidewalks, but there is currently no plan to improve pedestrian safety, except for completing the sidewalk surrounding the school property. At a time when we are looking at terribly unsafe conditions on 75th street, here comes the creation of a new and entirely avoidable hazard.
The BEX IV building plan for the playing fields has been poorly conceived in all of its mutations. This latest proposal to enlarge Thornton Creek School contradicts what the School District capacity managers have consistently told us: that the addition of a 650- student “attendance area school” was an absolute necessity while retaining the option school on the same site.
There are alternative solutions to over-crowding that would save open space, avoid placing the entire traffic burden on one corner of Wedgwood, and provide neighborhood schools that children could walk to. A very few years ago, the Seattle School District leased and sold schools in the NE which they could now buy back and refurbish. Once built on, the playing fields will be gone forever and in their place — a school plant for 1,000 young children with not enough room for recess, plus a traffic menace.
There is very little time left for us to make our views known, since the School District is fast-tracking the project. People who want to make their voices heard on this issue can email and call the Mayor’s office, city council members, and the School District to press for a better solution to school overcrowding.
Superintendent José L. Banda (206) 252-0180: superintendent@seattleschools.org
Office of the School Board: (206) 252-0040
Board President: Kay Smith Blum: kay.smith-blum@seattleschools.org
Mayor Mike McGinn: www.seattle.gov/mayor/citizen_response.htm
Seattle City Council: http://www.seattle.gov/council/councilcontact.htm
By Johnson, on April 10th, 2013
 As you may recall, last month we posted a summary of a meeting we had with Ms. Pegi McEvoy and others with the Seattle Public School District about the process for design and construction of the new NE Seattle K-5 School. The new NE Seattle K-5 school is being constructed following the overwhelming approval of Proposition 2 by Seattle voters in November 2012. While the 650 student school had originally been proposed for construction on the Thornton Creek Elementary site, local opposition from neighbors opposed to the loss of open space at the school successfully lobbied the District to modify the language within the BEX IV levy program to the following:
Northeast Seattle elementary school: To meet growing capacity, add K-5 school on Thornton Creek site by 2016 or equivalent additional seating capacity at another location.
Due to this modified language and an agreement to complete a review of additional, potential sites or options provided by the community. At last month’s School Board meeting, District staff committed to presenting the results of their review to the Superintendent on Monday, April 1st. On Tuesday, April 2nd, the District published the results of their Capital Projects and Planning website and summarized their new recommendation to the School Board. Our summary of this revised recommendation is provided below. However, to understand this revised recommendation, it may be helpful to provide a brief history of this particular new K-5 school (so far as we’re aware).
Brief History
In June 2012 I met with a member of the Thornton Creek Site Council who explained from their perspective how the District arrived at their recommendation to build at new 650-student K-5 (at that time a K-8) school on the Thornton Creek site. It was explained to me that in response to larger enrollment and District capacity management planning, the District wanted to bring in 4 new portables over a 4 year period and expand the enrollment of Thornton Creek Elementary school. Thornton Creek staff and parents thought that this proposal would hurt their program. After some public meetings, the District countered with a request that the school expands their geo-zone (e.g., where students are preferentially chosen from). The intent was to have Thornton Creek Elementary accept more students from the attendance areas of Wedgwood, Bryant, and View Ridge elementary schools. Also, new portables would also be added at Wedgwood, View Ridge, and Olympic View elementary schools. By December 2011, Ms. McEvoy asked Thornton Creek staff and its Site Council if it would be willing to become a K-8 school to also alleviate capacity needs at Eckstein Middle School. In response, the Thornton Creek Site Council said that it would grow up to 500 students if the District built them a new building on their site. The District never responded to the Site Council’s counter offer. Instead, the District proposed a new 650-student K-8 attendance area school within its Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which has since been revised to a new K-5 school. Thornton Creek Elementary, an option school, would have remained in its existing building at the site.
Revised Recommendation
 As we understand it, the District’s revised recommendation is essentially to build the new 650 student NE Seattle K-5 School at the Thornton Creek School site and then move the Thornton Creek Elementary program into the new school. If capacity forecasts remain the same, the plan will likely include demolishing the existing the existing Decatur building once the new school was built. It’s important to understand that this is only a recommendation at this point and no decisions have been formally made (to our knowledge).
Upon learning of this revised recommendation, we sent the following questions to the Ms. McEvoy and others at the District to clarify their new recommendation. Below are our questions and District responses.
Q1: Why did it take the District this long to acknowledge the Thornton Creek Parent’s Group’s offer to accept Ms.McEvoy’s counter offer, if that is what this recommendation is?
A1: Annually, the District receives updated resident enrollment projections in February. In order to ensure that the most current information was used for this important decision, the District decided to wait to make recommendations about the NE school configurations. Additionally, the School Board had asked for additional feasibility studies on which to base their decisions. These became available in late March.
Q2: My presumption that the District did not move forward with this counter offer was that it ultimately did not provide the capacity needs that we’ve heard about throughout NE Seattle, which was required to alleviate overcrowding at Wedgwood, View Ridge, and Bryant Elementary Schools. Does this proposal meet the District’s goals for meeting the forecasted capacity requirements in the Eckstein Service Area? If not, are there other capital improvements expected to be required during subsequent BEX levies?
A2: Per the BEX IV levy, four schools will impact positively the permanent capacity for the NE region, including Thornton Creek, Olympic Hills, Jane Addams K-8 at Pinehurst and the remodeled Cedar Park. With the subsequent boundary changes due to new schools being opened, the District believes that it can meet the projected capacity needs in the NE Seattle area.
Q3: Should this proposal be accepted by the Board, should we presume that Thornton Creek Elementary would become an attendance area school or remain an alternative school? Would Thornton Creek Elementary also become a K-8 program, as it was suggested last year (per my understanding)?
A3: At this time, it is recommended that the Thornton Creek Elementary program remain an option K-5 school although its geo-zone may be updated during the future student assignment plan updates to help alleviate over-enrollment at nearby elementary schools.
Q4: Within the BEX IV levy program, approved under Proposition 2, the project that voters approved is described as follows:
“Northeast Seattle elementary school: To meet growing capacity, add K-5 school on Thornton Creek site by 2016 or equivalent additional seating capacity at another location.” Does the District’s revised recommendation provide “equivalent additional seating capacity” at another location or otherwise? Is so, great. If not, would this recommendation meet the intent of Proposition 2?
A4: With the combined additional seat capacity for the four schools in the Eckstein service area, the revised recommendation would provide sufficient capacity to meet the current resident projections.
We weren’t the only ones caught off guard by this curve-ball-of-a-recommendation. You can watch the School Board meeting from the evening of Wednesday, April 3rd, when many of the School Board members were just hearing this revised recommendation for the first time as part of Agenda Item 11, which was to authorize the construction management contract for Heery International, Inc to manage the construction of the new NE Seattle K-5 School.
In the following video, Ms. McEvoy introduces Agenda Items 10 and 11 with rationale for why the District awards construction management contracts for these type of projects. The conversation that follows is focused on Agenda Item 10 though (not the new NE Seattle K-5 School).
The following video is the District’s presentation of their revised recommendation for the new NE Seattle K-5 School and their justification for the change. The School Board discussion and Q&A is very interesting.
By Johnson, on April 3rd, 2013
We apologize in advance for a less-than-thorough post on this subject. We will expand on this shortly when time allows. However, we thought it prudent to get some information out to the community as best we can about significant changes proposed by the School District on what to do with the NE Seattle K-5 School that voters approved.
As we understand it, the District’s revised recommendation (summary of alternatives and recommendation) includes constructing the new NE Seattle K-5 school building at the Thornton Creek School site (as planned) with the intent that the Thornton Creek Elementary School would relocate to the new facility with the existing Decatur School building to be demolished. We have provided the District with a series of questions to get more information on the revised recommendation. We hope to provide that to you along with a more thorough blog post.
In the mean time, you’re passionate one way or another on this topic, there is a School Board Meeting tonight (going on now) and this topic is to be discussed along with a construction management contract for the new school. Here’s the website with all the detailed alternatives analysis and supporting information behind this recommendation.
By Johnson, on March 7th, 2013
During the February 6th election, Seattle voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 2 which approved the Building Excellence IV Levy and provided the Seattle Public School District with much needed funds for desperately needed capital improvements to many school, such as seismic improvements, technology upgrades, and the like. However, within Prop 2 was construction of a controversial new NE Seattle K-5 school “at Thornton Creek or equivalent additional seating capacity at another location.” Now that voters have approved the construction of a new NE Seattle K-5 school, we try to answer the question of “Now what?”
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Yesterday,the District’s Assistant Superintendent of Operations, Pegi McEvoy, and others at the District were gracious enough to meet with me to help answer several questions that I and others had on what happens next. Hopefully this post will answer some common questions and provide some idea of the critical steps as we currently understand them. We’ll continue to provide updated information as we get it or as circumstances change. For ease of understanding, I’ve tried to put the meeting into a FAQ-type format with a paraphrased summary of what was heard. Therefore, the answers should not be construed as quotes from the School District.
Q1: The BEX IV levy stated that a new NE Seattle K-5 school would be built at “Thornton Creek or equivalent…” Where does the siting process stand and when will we know for sure where the school will be built?
A1: The District is in the midst of narrowing down a list of potential sites that were brought to their attention for consideration. The other potential sites the District is currently considering include: Lake City Property, Cedar Park Property, and a “Wings” alternative built off the existing Thornton Creek school. They have already ruled out Magnuson Park, Fairview Christian School, and Bill Pierre Ford Property off Lake City as none of them worked because the sites wouldn’t be available in the time frame necessary, the property is not available at all, and/or the site doesn’t work well for an elementary school. The siting process will need to be made by the end of March or early April in order to stay on schedule for a 2016 opening, as indicated in Proposition 2. According to Superintendent Banda’s comments in the 2nd video below, where he introduces the Thornton Creek A/E Contract topic for discussion, he mentions that he’s requested an update on April 1st on the alternative site review process. So, presumably, the decision on “equivalent sites” will be made after that.
You can watch the Public Testimony of Satcha Dearborn Graham, representing the Wedgwood Open Space Neighborhood Coalition, discussing among other things their concerns of the ongoing siting and awarding the A/E contract. Ms. Graham’s testimony begins at 15:17 in the following video.
You can watch discussion beginning at 35:40 in the following video regarding the Thornton Creek school, alternative site analysis, the expected community design process, and the contract for the A/E firm. The School Board had several thoughtful questions for Ms. McEvoy and Ms. Lucy Morello as part of the process.
Q2: Who will be designing the new school, once the siting process is completed?
A2: Last night, the Seattle School Board was scheduled to vote on Architectural and Engineer (A/E) contract ( Part 1 and Part 2) for the selected design firm, Mahlum, which the board approved by a 5:1 vote. Mahlum is a northwest firm who has a long history of award winning school designs, including the renovation of Nathan Hale High School. According to the A/E contract, Mahlum would be under contract to design the new school at “Thornton Creek or equivalent.” Therefore, the siting process can still occur and result in a different site other than Thornton Creek while not impacting Mahlum’s scope of work or fee. Additionally, within the A/E Contract for Mahlum, it states that Heery International (office in Seattle) will be the Construction Manager for the project. Heery also specializes in educational facilities and has a broad portfolio of recently completed projects throughout the Northwest. Other specialty consultants, such as traffic engineering and analysis, have not been contracted yet by the District.
Q3: Why is a new NE Seattle K-5 School necessary?
A3: The District continually monitors school capacity needs and expected enrollment with the help of a demographer. Using their draft capacity numbers (soon-to-be-released), the District currently has about 300 students between View Ridge Elementary, Thornton Creek Elementary, and Wedgwood Elementary who’s home rooms are portables. This means that there is currently enough students between those 3 elementary schools for a stand alone elementary. Additionally, by 2020/21, the District is forecasting additional capacity needs of approximately 1,000 elementary students for the Eckstein Service Area.
Q4: What role can the community play in making the new NE Seattle K-5 School as successful for the students, the neighborhood, and the District as possible?
A4: The District’s typical design process includes a design advisory committee comprised of teachers/educators and other stakeholders. The District has assured us that the community will be part of that process, although the exact size and make up of that committee is not known yet. The WCC intends to make sure that the Wedgwood Open Space Neighborhood Coalition and the immediate neighbors have a voice on that committee. Additionally, the District expects the Parks to be part of the process too as well as the little leagues who use the play fields. We also understand that Thornton Creek staff may be part of the committee as well.
As Ms. McEvoy stated in her discussion of the Thornton Creek design process in the video above, we have asked that prior to beginning the conceptual design process, that the Mahlum and the District hosts a community design charrette to capture ideas of what the neighborhood would like to see with any design moving forward so that any design includes these features to their greatest extent practical. This also allows everyone in the community the opportunity to be part of the process. Based on Ms. McEvoy’s comments, this early community design charrette is likely to occur although the Mahlum (the A/E firm) was not under contract at the time. Once the design process begins, the District will host a public online portal with the project drawings and information to keep the community informed on the project status.
We also asked the District for the community to be part of the naming process. The District has a policy for naming new buildings and every building name requires School Board approval, but they thought the community could be part of that decision. Our local historical guru, Valarie Bunn, has already begun to look into the naming of the old Decatur School and other naming origins. More info on this will be sure to come.
Additionally, there will be parallel SEPA processes with the District acting as the SEPA lead and the City completing its own SEPA process. Therefore, there will be ample opportunities for formal public notification and official comments to be submitted by the community throughout the design and permitting process for the new school.
We stressed to the District that where ever possible and reasonable, we would expect the District to involve the community and seek their participation so that we can achieve a successful school for everyone. We will continue to remind the District of this and seek ways for the greatest community participation.
By Johnson, on February 13th, 2013
At the time of this writing, both King County Proposition 1 and 2 are passing by wide margins. Proposition 1 is currently leading 74.11% to 25.89% while Proposition 2 is ahead 71.58% to 28.42%. As we’ve written about before, both Propositions support the Seattle Public School District. Prop 1 will provide the District with approximately 25% of their Operational Budget while Prop 2 will finance improvements to existing facilities and a few new facilities. With the apparent passing of Prop 2, the following improvements will be coming to a school near you!
- Thornton Creek School would get new athletic field improvements (although it is not clear if this is a result of the new school proposed on the ball fields)!
- Eckstein would get a new science lab!
- Eckstein, View Ridge Elementary, and Wedgwood Elementary School would get seismic upgrades!
- Eckstein, View Ridge Elementary, and Wedgwood Elementary School would get new track and/or playfield upgrades!
- Eckstein would get its roof worked on!
- And a variety of technology upgrades…
Of these capital improvements, the most controversial part of Prop 2 for Wedgwoodians has been the proposal to construct a new K-5 elementary school in NE Seattle. Originally, the new school was specifically sited on the ball fields adjacent to Thornton Creek Elementary School. However, strong grassroots opposition to the school managed to have the wording changed in the final list of projects to allow flexibility in the school’s siting should a more suitable site be identified. We’ve had no word on whether or not there are other sites being considered at this point.
While the passing of Prop 2 may come as a blow for those opposing the proposition, and more specifically the new K-5 elementary school at Thornton Creek Elementary, we would like to remind the community at this point of our last communication with the District. During our email correspondence with Lucy Morello at the end of January, she reiterated the District’s intent to have the community part of the design process. The following is portion of an email exchange between myself and Ms. Morello.
…”As the levy approaches, I would just like to reemphasize that the Wedgwood Community Council and the NE Seattle communities and neighbors most directly impacted by the proposed NE Seattle K-5 school would very much like to be part of the design process from the outset. The WCC believes that strong community participation in this process can improve the overall outcome of the school for the District, our kids, our community, and the neighbors. From Ms. Morello’s email to me back in May 2012 (see below), I presume the District agrees with this as well.”… - Email from Per Johnson, President of the WCC, to Lucy Morello, Pegi McEvoy, and Harium Martin-Morris with the Seattle Public School District on January 24th 2013
“Yes, we (the District) very much want the community represented on the School Design Team Committee (SDT) for the NE Seattle K-5 school.”… – Response from Lucy Morello on January 24th 2013 to Per Johnson.
While Prop 2 is well on track to be approved, we will continue to reach out to the District to make sure that the NE Seattle community is represented during the design process whether or not the school is ultimately sited at Thornton Creek Elementary School site or not.
By Johnson, on December 11th, 2012
By now, you’re probably aware that school capacity is a big issue at the Seattle Public School District. Apparently, people are still having kids! More increase is projected, so the crowding is only going to get worse. The District has been hosting a series of meetings over the past year on what to do. Our NE Seattle and Wedgwood-area elementary and middle school buildings are beyond the capacity they were designed for and multiple portable units are being added. To address this, the District is looking at both short and long-term solutions.
Short Term (2013-2014) Capacity
On December 11th the District is hosting a community meeting at the John Stanford Building auditorium from 7-8:30PM to discuss their short term capacity management proposal. According to information shared at the December 5th board work session on short term capacity management, it looks like a new portable is planned for View Ridge Elementary and may be required at Wedgwood Elementary. If you can’t make it to the December 11th meeting, a NE Seattle Capacity Management Community meeting will be held on December 17th at Olympic Hills Elementary from 6:30-8 PM.
Long Term Capacity
In November, the District formally adopted a $694.9 million Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) Levy proposal to be voted on in February 2013 (along with a $559.1 million Operations Levy…that’s $1.25 billion). It is well known to some in Wedgwood that part of the District’s proposed long term solution to the growing capacity is a new school that is proposed to be constructed adjacent to Thornton Creek Elementary School, although language has been formally adopted by the school board in the BEX IV levy to allow some more flexibility on its location should another suitable site be identified. The adopted text is as follows:
“Northeast Seattle elementary school: To meet growing capacity, add K-5 school on Thornton Creek site by 2016 or equivalent additional seating capacity at another location.”
Now that the BEX IV Levy proposal has formally been approved, here’s a little bit on what the levy will do in the Wedgwood area if approved:
- A new K-5 school would be built at the Thornton Creek site or some place similar, to be open by 2016.
- Thornton Creek School would get new athletic field improvements (although its not clear if this is a result of the new school proposed on the ball fields)!
- Eckstein would get a new science lab!
- Eckstein, View Ridge Elementary, and Wedgwood Elementary School would get seismic upgrades!
- Eckstein, View Ridge Elementary, and Wedgwood Elementary School would get new track and/or playfield upgrades!
- Eckstein would get its roof worked on!
- And a variety of technology upgrades…
Not all of the proposed improvements have been welcomed with open arms by everyone in Wedgwood, but it’s because of these improvements and the pressing need to pass the Operations Levy, representing 27% of the District’s budget, that Schools First is hoping to emphasize how important these two levys are.
By Johnson, on November 4th, 2012
Help Nathan Hale’s Highly Regarded Radio Station!
North Seattle KOMO has a story that Nathan Hale’s amazing radio station, C-89.5, is in the midst of a fundraiser to sustain the station. They’re hoping to raise $140,000 and YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE too!
Wedgwood Area Schools Are Still Amazing!
As we’ve report in 2010 and 2011, the public schools in our neck of the woods are pretty amazing. Last week, the Seattle School District’s new superintendent, José Banda released their Annual School Reports and State of the District. Schools are scored 1-5 (5 being the highest score) based on a variety of metrics.
In 2010, the first year that all public schools were scored, there were 12 schools that scored a 5, including Wedgwood, Thornton Creek, and View Ridge Elementary schools while Bryant Elementary, Eckstein Middle School, and Roosevelt High scored a 4 and Nathan Hale High received a score of 3.
Last year, while most school scores remained the same, View Ridge Elementary dropped from a 5 to 4, Bryant Elementary rose from a 4 to 5, and Nathan Hale rose from a 3 to 4.
This year, Wedgwood-area schools continue to score well with Nathan Hale the rising star of the year!
Great work to our local schools, including the phenomenal educators, staff, PTAs, and students that make our schools so successful!
Building Excellence IV Levy – UPDATE
As you may be aware, the Seattle School District has proposed, within a draft list of a projects for their upcoming Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) levy, to construct a new elementary school generally located on the Thornton Creek Elementary School playfields. Their list of projects has gone through several iterations although the new “North Seattle Elementary School” has largely remained unchanged despite vocal opposition by some neighbors. On Wednesday, November 7th, the school board intends to vote on a final list of projects for the BEX IV levy that will go out to voters on February 12, 2013.
At this Wednesday’s school board meeting, the board will vote on Building Excellence (BEX) IV Capital Improvement Program and Authorizing Resolution 2012/13-4. Based on the new version of this resolution, the following language has been added relative to the new North Seattle Elementary School.
“At Thornton Creek, the project list allows for the possibility that any needed additional seating capacity may be built at an alternative location.”
Furthermore, within Exhibit “A” – List of BEX IV projects, which the board will be provided, has the following language.
“North East Elementary @ Thornton Creek or equivalent additional seating capacity at another location – Opens 2016″
We currently are trying to get more information on what this revised language really means, although it appears that the District is providing themselves some ‘wiggle’ room to continue the school siting process while maintaining the necessary timeline for BEX IV to get on the ballot in February.
The upcoming School Board meeting will be on Wednesday, November 7th, starting at 4:15PM at the John Stafford Center at 2445 3rd Ave South. Public testimony is supposed to start at 5PM (see rules if you’d like to testify).
By Johnson, on September 12th, 2012
The Seattle Public School District has sent out a letter summarizing their latest iteration of what’s included within the Building Excellence IV Capitol Levy (BEX IV levy), which will be voted on in February 2013. According to the letter, signed by the new Superintendent, José Banda, and Assistant Superintendent of Operations, Peggi McEvoy, more and more students are entering Seattle public schools.
Anticipating approximately 1,000 new students this year, we have been working hard to address our enrollment growth challenges. Projections show continued year-to-year increases in our enrollment for the next five years and beyond. We estimate an enrollment of more than 57,000 students by the 2021-22 school year, if current trends continue.
The BEX IV Levy is intended to address their growing (no pun intended) capacity issues while improving safety and security, addressing poor building conditions, and providing greater flexibility for programs and services. The District has released this list of projects to help solicit feedback from the community over a series of 3 community meetings/open houses beginning next week. Using the community feedback, the District proposes to refine their BEX IV Levy proposal for the School Board to vote on in early November.
Of most concern to some Wedgwood residents, the latest list of projects (which the District emphasizes is not final) still includes:
Northeast Seattle elementary school: To meet growing capacity, add K-5 school on Thornton Creek site.
Also of interest to some residents is the following project that has since been removed from the list of recommended projects:
Jane Addams K-8: Will not move to Cedar Park.
Under its current form, the revised BEX IV Levy totals approximately $650 million. The 3 upcoming community meetings/open houses for the revised BEX IV Levy will be held on the following dates. You can also EMAIL your comments to the School District.
- Thursday, Sept. 20, 6:30-8 p.m. at Whitman Middle School
- Sept. 24, 6:30- 8 p.m. at Madison Middle School
- Sept. 27, 6:30-8 p.m. at McClure Middle School
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