Whatcom Middle School students and staff will be relocating to Bellingham High, Fairhaven Middle and Geneva Elementary schools.

The change starts Thursday, Nov. 12. The relocation is due to a fire that roared through the school Thursday morning, Nov. 5. The fire investigation is on hold until the structure can be stabilized enough to enter.

An information meeting for Whatcom families will be on Monday, Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in Bellingham High School’s auditorium. An emergency school board meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m.

Students and staff will attend school based on the following plan:

• 8th graders and their teachers will attend Bellingham High. BHS staff are shuffling rooms to allow the middle school students to have their own wing.

• 7th graders and their teachers will attend Fairhaven Middle School.

• 6th graders and their teachers will attend Geneva Elementary School, which has seen an enrollment drop of nearly 150 students since the opening of Wade King Elementary.

Information about electives, transportation, sports, insurance claims, how to help and more will be avialable at the Monday meeting.

The schools were chosen partly for the quickness with which Whatcom students and staff will be able to return to class.

For more information, check out the Bellingham School District news release here. When I return to work on Monday, I’ll start gathering more information about insurance, what the plan for the building is, why Lowell Elementary wasn’t used, what the financial impact to the district will be and what will happen to Whatcom students and staff in the long-term.

Several people have been asking about ways they can help with this morning’s devastating fire. As I get information, I will post it.

• Former Whatcom Middle School teacher Sara Strommer, has started an account for the school at Scholastic Books online. People can donate gift certificates towards getting new books for the classrooms, or can simply order books that they know middle school classes might need. Go to www.scholastic.com/parentordering and sign in using the following:

Class User Name: Books4WMS
Password: booksforteachers

• People interested in making donations can also call the Bellingham Public Schools Foundation at 671-6150. They are working to set up a Whatcom Middle School fund, according to Tanya Rowe, district spokeswoman.

Updates are in red italics

As of 2 p.m., fire crews were still monitoring a hot spot or two, but the fire was out. Bellingham Fire and Police departments are joining to conduct the investigation, which may take several days.

Whatcom Middle School caught fire about 1 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5. By 6 a.m., the school was still on fire. (To read the initial story, click here.

Whatcom students and staff should not report to the school, but all other schools are open. Bellingham School District officials are meeting around 9 a.m. to figure out a plan of what to do with students and staff. For up to date information, click here.

Whatcom Middle School students will not have school Thursday or Friday. According to district spokeswoman Tanya Rowe, the building will not be inhabited any time soon.

The roof of the school is at least partially collapsed.

I was on scene from about 3:30 til 5 a.m. and here is what I found:

Bellingham Fire Department Chief Bill Boyd said a call came in just after 1 a.m. saying there were flames on the roof. By 1:15 a.m. when crews arrived, the 3-alarm fire had spread from the right corner of the school to across two-thirds of the roof. Fire crews were initially sent through the front door, but the fire spread “so quickly across the roof” it was not safe and crews were withdrawn. A secondary sweep of the school had not been done.

As of 5 a.m., the fire had been contained to the top floor of the school (which has a daylight basement and two floors above ground) and the roof. Boyd said they were trying to keep the fire from spreading to the wood floors in the classrooms on the first floor.

Crews have been successful in keeping the fire away from the gym, however the roof of the school is essentially gone.

Between 75 and 100 firefighters have been battling the fire, coming from departments across Whatcom County.

Fire crews have been worried about the winds, which may have help feed the fire on the roof. Neighborhood patrols have been looking for any spot fires in surrounding properties.

As of 5 a.m., roads surrounding the school and neighboring city blocks are closed wtih detours in place.

No cause has been determined at this point.

Whatcom Middle School, which was built in 1903 and is the district’s oldest school building, has been under a seismic retrofit since the middle of last school year.

This is the second Bellingham school to burn in recent memory. Kulshan Middle School burned down in the summer of 1993 just weeks before it was set to open. The cause of that fire was an faulty electrical connection between an extension cord and a soda machine.

Please check back later for more information.

I took the photos below about 4 a.m.

Whatcom Middle School caught fire early Thursday morning, Nov. 5.

Here’s Wednesday’s update to the five contested Whatcom County school board races.

Bellingham

Position 4: Steve Smith continues to lead Rogan Jones with about 52 percent of the votes.

Position 5: Scott Stockburger held his lead over Michael Jay with about 60 percent of the votes.

Ferndale:

District 4: Lee Anne Riddle continued to lead challenger Larry Hoffman with about 54 percent of the votes.

District 5: Andrew McLaurin picked up some slight ground, however Troy Clark still leads with about 58 percent of the votes.

Lynden:

Position 5: Mike Haveman seems to be the clear winner in the race against Rollo Van Slyke, continuing his strong lead with 72 percent of the vote.

I will continue with updates as the ballot tallies continue to trickle in.

Here are election results for the five contested Whatcom County races, as of 8:38 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3. This is the only count that was released Tuesday night.

Bellingham School Board

Position 4: Steve Smith is leading with 7,227 votes, or about 52 percent of the vote. Rogan Jones has 6,711 votes.

Position 5: Scott Stockburger is leading with 8,669 votes, or about 61 p ercent of the vote. Michael Jay has 5,584 votes.

Ferndale School Board

District 4: Incumbent Lee Anne Riddle is leading with 2,387 votes, or about 54 percent. Larry Hoffman has 2,039 votes.

District 5: Troy Clark is leading with 2,449 votes, or about 59 percent. Incumbent Andrew McLaurin has 1,721 votes.

Lynden School Board

Position 5: Mike Haveman is leading with 2,042 votes, or about 72 percent. Rollo Van Slyke has 780 votes.

For more election coverage, go to www.bellinghamherald.com. To see full election results, which will be updated Wednesday, go to the Whatcom County Auditor’s site here.

With winter just around the corner, the Bellingham School District has released update snow-route plans in case of snow, ice or flooding.

New this year is a requirement from Whatcom County. Public Works crews may close some roads during the thawing period following a long cold spell. This is to help prevent some road surface damage, which frequently happens after icy conditions.

This means school buses may not be allowed on some roads, due to the weight, and snow routes or alternate routes may be put into effect even if there isn’t piles of snow around. Parents and guardians will need to be prepared for alternate routes/plans during these restrictions.

For a round-up of the current weather-related procedures, click here.

For a list of bus snow-routes, click here.

And as always, when snow, ice or flooding is coming, I will do my best to update everyone on which schools and districts are closed, delayed or on snow routes. Please also check www.bellinghamherald.com on those mornings for the most up-to-date information. School officials rarely make closure and delay decisions the night before, so start checking around 5 a.m.

Parkview Elementary School might be going a little “clucky.”

Principal Jane Tromburg and intervention specialist JoAnn Johnson teach students in Miss Jiminez's first-grade class the Chicken Dance

And while Tromburg enjoys “making a fool” of herself, there is a reason behind the madness: the students raised at least $16,500 during the school’s annual jog-a-thon earlier this month.

Tromburg makes a deal with the students each year to do something crazy if they meet their goal. This year’s goal was $15,500, beaten by at least $1,000 with more receipts still coming in.

The past two years, Tromburg has spent a day working from the roof of the school as a reward for the students, but she decided to switch it up this year.

And the students loved the surprise, exclaiming “that was funny!” and “oh my gosh, that was fun,” after doing the short dance. The chicken and her farmer, school prevention specialist JoAnn Johnson, also passed out Chicklettes for students to enjoy after school.

“I’m just so proud of the kids and all the money goes toward our curriculum enrichment program,” Tromburg said. “It’s worth celebrating all their efforts.”

Don’t forget: ballots are due by Tuesday, Nov. 3.

To see a roundup of all election coverage, including contested school board races in Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden, click here.

According to a new study, the math Washington Assessment of Student Learning test is one of the hardest to pass in the country.

The National Center for Educational Statistics released a report Thursday comparing the rigor of state tests used to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act. Since all the tests are different, NCES compares the tests to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (a test given across the country to some students) to determine the equivalent NAEP score that would be needed to pass the state test.

According to the new study,Washington 4th grade students would need a WASL score equivalent to a NAEP score of 240 to pass the test, and 8th grade students would need 286. But to pass the NAEP, 4th graders need a score of 214 and 8th graders need 262.

These benchmarks make the WASL the 4th most rigorous 4th grade test and 5th most rigorous 8th grade test in the country.

For the reading WASL, the state falls into 10th place  for 8th graders, with a required score of 253. NAEP requires 243 to pass the test.

The only benchmark falling below the NAEP standard is the 4th grade reading test. According to the study, students are required to earn a WASL rating that is equivalent to a NAEP score of 203, but to pass the NAEP students would need a score of 208.

For more detailed information, check out an Associated Press story here.

For anyone that has driven past Whatcom Middle School lately, it’s obvious that the school is getting some major work done. But most, if not all, of the work should be completed by the end of December.

The school has been going through a seismic retrofit — similar to what happened at Lowell Elementary School — since last winter. Students and staff have remained in the 1903 building through the construction, moving classrooms to six portables when needed. Teachers and students complained of noise last spring as crews were jack-hammering during the day. This fall, people have been having issues with the dust in the air. At the Oct. 22 school board meeting, a few people spoke of health problems, including one asthmatic student who shared her story of having to transfer to Kulshan until the construction is done because she was having frequent asthma attacks due to the dust.

According to a recent district “Whatcom Seismic Update,” construction areas have been blocked off and sealed with plastic and tape, and adjustments have been made to the barriers when needed. Crews are also using HEPA filters and performing extra cleaning. District personnel and the Whatcom County Health Department have also been monitoring dust levels, asbestos testing, carbon monixide testing and lead paint testing outside the construction area. All test samples, which are analyzed by a third-party certified independent lab, have come back negative. The State Department of Labor and Industry recently took test samples from inside the construction zone and those results are pending.

Crews are through the first two phases of the project and started the final phase in June. Some of the most extensive retrofitting, including steel reinforcement of exterior walls, was mostly completed over the summer, but the noisy work continued into the first few weeks of the school year. Other work during this phase, including connecting floors to the ceiling, involves significantly less noise and construction activity, according to the school district.

Students and staff should be able to return to construction areas, including classrooms in the basement, first and second floors and the library, at the start of the new semester at the end of January. When the project is done, classrooms should have new paint, the school will have new flooring, the 1915 gym will have new maple flooring and the auditorium will receive improvements.

An outside consulting group determined that the 1903 building, the oldest in the school district, wouldn’t be safe in an earthquake. Voters approved a bond in 2006 to fund many construction projects around the district, including seismic work to Larrabee, Columbia, Lowell, Whatcom and the Roeder administration building. Only the Roeder project remains.