Since the board meeting last night ran right up to deadline, there was some information I wasn’t able to fit into today’s story.
Before voting, the school board members, acting superintendent Sherrie Brown, and assistant superintendent of business and operations Ron Cowan, spoke about why an off-site location to keep everyone together didn’t happen.
They said that they visited the big box stores (Toys R Us, Good Guys, GI Joes, etc) on Meridian and deemed them unsuitable for a learning environment, plus they lacked several necessary items, including enough bathrooms. They also visited the Squalicum Lofts on Squalicum Parkway, and thought that might be a solution. But, there was a severe lack of science lab, cafeteria and indoor PE space, plus safety concerns due to other businesses already being there.
The most promising option to them, and the one they thought was going to work until Tuesday afternoon, was leasing the North Bellingham Elementary site from the Ferndale School District. The board and the group helping Brown make her recommendation (WMS administrators, a couple teachers, and principals from the high schools and Geneva) were ready tour the site Tuesay afternoon, but it got canceled at the last minute after they found out it was going to cost more than $1 million to make the site viable. From what they said, this sounds like a combination of what the district wanted for a lease (Clearview High School is currently housed at the site and would have to be relocated if WMS were to go there) plus what would be necessary to make some repairs to the school (the main building on the site, which is where the library, main office and some classrooms are located, has been condemned since August 2007.)
According to board member Ann Whitmyer, the $1 million price tag was five times what insurance was willing to consider.
Now that the relocation plan has been approved, Brown said they will start working to figure out details, including transportation, student class placement, teacher placement and how to make life easier for the elective teachers who have been “running themselves ragged.”
Kira- thanks for the additional info, although maybe knowing this seems worse to me. If I understand, the “$1 million deal breaker” was for North Bellingham- a location that would not leap to many WMS parent’s and teacher’s minds as a prime location to move to. Some questions and comments: what do the science teachers feel about potential solutions that may be feasible at the Squalicum lofts? How is the rather lame PE set up at Geneva any worse? What about safety issues at WMS with contractors, dust and debris, etc? What would the transportation costs have been for the District’s chosen plan, versus the North Bellingham, versus the Squalicum lofts? Finally, what would the cost of the Squalicum lofts facility have been? It may have been nice to have had a real discussion of these issues with the school district admins- with a bit more brain power a creative plan might have been figured out. If the School Board really represents us, why did they not step in a month or so ago to make sure these discussions happened, or at least have a qualified parent or two on the “half-baked plan” committee? If this had been the path taken, there would be a greater level of trust and faith in the district, and perhaps a couple of plans with solid support would have emerged- the 90% overwhelming failure rate of the 10 plans put forth for discussion should point to a problem with the process. I hope at least the Board understands that parents can tell when they are being genuinely approached for input, and when they are being given surveys as window dressing to enable whatever process or plan the district dreams up to go forward. Posting comments (without any reply) is not a form of discussion, and is not a substitute for a real and substantive debate of options and scenarios. It seems the Board’s chosen function is to take the easy path, and serve as a simple rubber stamp.