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.