Dear Shoreline Schools Community,
At its January 22 meeting, the School Board set the public hearings for the proposed school closures of North City and Sunset Elementary and facility closure/program moves for Room Nine Community School and Home Education Exchange.
Here is the schedule:
First Round Hearings:
| Date | Time | Topic & Location |
| February 12 | 6:00 p.m. | North City Elementary, 816 N.E. 190th |
| February 13 | 6:00 p.m. | Sunset Elementary, 17800 10th Ave. N.W. |
| February 27 | 6:00 p.m. | Room Nine Community School, 2800 N.E. 200th St. |
| February 27 | 7:30 p.m. | Home Education Exchange (hearing at Room Nine) |
Second Round Hearings:
| Date | Time | Topic & Location |
| March 14 | 6:00 p.m. | Sunset Elementary |
| March 28 | 6:00 p.m. | North City Elementary |
| March 22 | 6:00 p.m. | Room Nine Community School |
| March 22 | 7:30 p.m. | Home Education Exchange (hearing at Room Nine) |
Closure Hearing Schedule Language Translations
There are many common questions and concerns related to the proposed elementary school closures that I would like to address. Particularly, I would like to take the opportunity to share accurate facts related to the District Advisory Committee for Program and Operations (DACPO) recommendations presented to the School Board on January 8.
The formation of the Committee was an outcome of the budget reduction process from Spring 2006, when the District needed to reduce expenses quickly to positively impact the FY 2006-07 budget. With primarily staffing reductions, the Board approved a budget that was approximately $4.7 million less in personnel costs than the FY 2005-06 budget. With increased salary and benefit costs in 2006-07, all of those reductions were not completely realized.
Knowing that the reductions made for FY 2006-07 were not enough to balance the District’s budget and restore the fund balance (savings account), a commitment was made by the Board and district administrators to carefully study potential savings in overhead costs and operating efficiencies in an effort to protect the classroom, instructional programs and support staff from deeper cuts in the future.
The DACPO committee was formed by the superintendent and asked to formulate its recommendations to the school board with the goal of reducing future expenses by $2 million or more annually with three specific areas that the District had committed to address: the middle school model, the 7-period day at the middle school, and school/program consolidations and/or closures.
Recent demographic information indicates that Shoreline has declined more than 900 students in grades K-6 since 1996. During the same period, we have opened additional sites that serve the same age population. Data shows that if the number of traditional elementary schools were reduced from 11 to 9, the average size of each school would still be considered quite reasonable (approximately 500) by most districts’ standards. In fact, schools that average approximately 500 also achieve staffing savings in the area of PE and music by reducing the need for travel between buildings, etc.
An evaluation of open classroom space in all K-6 buildings also indicated an ability to consolidate programs that would not lead to overcrowding or larger class-size. There will need to be boundary adjustments to achieve the 500 average elementary size. We would in many ways be creating nine new communities, not eliminating two with this proposal.
Operating fewer K-6 sites will help us to protect and preserve the support staff model that Shoreline has traditionally viewed as essential. Librarians, nurses, family advocates, office staff, and others are extremely valued in our school community. Other districts that have chosen to keep small schools open have not typically been able to keep the same kind of support staff in place at the schools. Nurses and family advocates at each elementary site have always been rare and most recently full-time librarians are being eliminated from many neighboring elementary schools. Our schools and community want to protect these resources and we believe that there are other support staff that would benefit students and staff in the classroom as well – but they require resources. Most of us believe that the only way to preserve and/or restore these resources in Shoreline is to have fewer sites.
There is nothing in the DACPO recommendation to close two schools that would cause class size to increase. In fact, consolidation should reduce the number of “bad breaks” (large classes) by providing more flexibility in scheduling. Classroom teachers will follow students in the same ratio we have this year to their new sites. Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to improve the average class-size since it is a top priority we have heard over and over again.
In terms of the west side of the District being larger than the east side, that is absolutely true. In 1986 when Shoreline High School closed, the I-5 arbitrary boundary divided the District more equitably. Since that time, Shorewood has grown larger than Shorecrest. The Boundary Committee needs to consider the wisdom of leaving I-5 as the boundary in the future. Currently, six of our elementary sites feed primarily Einstein and Shorewood and five of our sites feed Kellogg and Shorecrest (Parkwood has a small split in its feeder pattern). The proposal to geographically balance the District by identifying one school in the Kellogg/Shorecrest feeder pattern and one school in the Einstein/Shorewood feeder pattern for closure will reduce the numbers to five feeding the west and four the east. Data shows that we have a nearly equal number of open classrooms on each side of the District. Also, if you take the number of students currently being served on the east side of the District and try to place them all within three sites, the average school size would be over 600, which would potentially cause overcrowding. That would not happen on either side with the current recommendation.
The DACPO recommendation that was presented to the Board on January 8 is only a proposal. The Board has asked Committee members to attend a study session on January 30 at 4:30 PM to clarify additional questions they may have regarding the committee’s recommendations. I encourage you to attend for an opportunity to bring more clarity to the process thus far.
The Board has the ability and right to accept the recommendation, revise it or reject it. During the next 90 days, the Board will want to determine for themselves whether the proposal will work and what the impact of it will be on students, families and communities.
Consolidating our spaces and programs is long overdue in light of our declining enrollment. Nearly everyone I speak to believes that reducing the number of schools in Shoreline is the right thing to do. Each school community, however, truly believes that the school suggested for closure should not be theirs. What is so wonderful about Shoreline is that every school community and staff believe that they are unique and special. . . and the truth is, they are!
It is also important for you to know that we are committed to look at every other possible means of reducing expenditures and operating the District more efficiently. Transportation, food service and other District functions will be evaluated for their potential cost savings and efficiencies. Every improvement we can make in District operations will protect our outstanding instructional programs. We are committed to doing that.
Sincerely,
Sue Walker
Superintendent