(The story below originally appeared in the My Green Lake blog.)
Seattle Public Schools has revised the proposed attendance boundaries, which are a key component of the new student assignment plan. The Seattle Times is reporting that the district made changes in the boundaries for 45 of its 58 elementary schools.
The changes reflect many of the more than 1,000 suggestions made by parents and other community members, said Tracy Libros, director of enrollment planning.
The School Board is scheduled to vote on the boundaries Nov. 18th.
The board earlier approved the outlines of the new school-assignment plan, which will return Seattle to a neighborhood-based system for the first time in three decades. The district has been moving in that direction for many years, but this new plan would take the final step by assigning students to a nearby school based on their address.
The board’s goal is to create a plan that will provide families with certainty about where their children will attend school, and that will be simpler to understand. The plan preserves some of the choice that Seattle parents have had, but the district won’t provide as much yellow bus transportation to faraway schools as it has in the past.
[ … ]The staff is still recommending reopening five closed schools over the next few years — even McDonald Elementary, south of Green Lake. Some school board members had questioned the need for that school, but Libros said Tuesday that without McDonald, the other schools in that area would not have enough space.
[The Seattle Times]
The attendance boundary for Roosevelt High School (1410 NE 66th St) now stretches west of Green Lake to Greenwood/Phinney Ave and north past the original line at N. 80th St to N. 85th St [pdf].
Another change can be seen in the boundary between Green Lake Elementary (2400 N 65th St) and McDonald School (114 NE 54th St) [pdf]. The boundary has moved south from N 60th St to N 57th St. This change also affects Middle School assignments for families that live in the three blocks between the first proposed boundary and the current boudary: previously assigned to Hamilton International School (4400 Interlake Ave N), they are now assigned to Eckstein Middle School (3003 NE 75th St).
See any other changes that we missed? Have some thoughts about the proposed new boundaries? Let us know in the comments.
I am disappointed with the boundary change between Green Lake Elementary and McDonald Elementary. I think that boundary should follow the Green Lake/Wallingford neighborhood boundaries to support stronger community ties. If you are disappointed too, please voice your opinions. If you would like to email the School Board Members, they are:
Sherry Carr – [email protected]
Harium Martin-Morris – [email protected]
Peter Maier – [email protected]
Cheryl Chow – [email protected]
Steve Sundquist – [email protected]
Mary Bass – [email protected]
Michael DeBell – [email protected]
It would be a tragedy if this school does not open. I understand and empathize with the families who have children going to Green Lake who’s younger children may need to go to McDonald. It completely stinks and the district should make short term sibling exceptions to alleviate those issues. But for the greater good of the neighborhood now and in the long term, the school needs to open. The school district has earmarked almost 15M for renovation and there’s a real opportunity here for the community to provide input and shape what it becomes…..push for SPECTRUM programs, provide direct input on who/how a principal is select or even partner with John Stanford to make it an international school. Ultimately it improves the desirability of our neighborhood and helps build a solid community. Unfortunately those families are just “caught” in the timing. In 4-5 years it won’t be an issue. The area between 46th & 56th has been widely considered a “dead zone” in terms of schooling, which is why most who live here end up sending kids to private schools and the sense of community is lost. There is a McDonald School Coalition consisting of folks who live in the McDonald School boundaries or are specifically interested in seeing the McDonald School re-open being developed. If you’d like to join, please contact Nytasha Sowers at [email protected] to get added to the e-mail distribution list. There are a series of community council (Green Lake & Wallingford) and school district meetings in the next couple weeks where the school opening is being discussed. I encourage you to get involved. This is a fantastic opportunity to be heard and open a solid new school.
All parents affected by the change and the opening of McDonald are encouraged to join the yahoo group McDonald [email protected]
There are both lots of concerns and lots of excitement about how we can help shape a great school…strength in numbers…
Okay that was [email protected]
seems I need to go back to school…