I found this presentation on the school district’s website from a couple of weeks ago, in which staff made recommendations about what to do with closed school buildings.
Interesting tidbits related to TT Minor:
- TT Minor is apparently considered a building in an area of the city “projected for growth but school age population may not be a factor”
- TT Minor is proposed to be placed in “inventory” status, with a note that it may be needed again, but probably not within the next 3 years.
So it sounds to me like the district won’t be selling off the property to developers or even leasing it for use as a community center any time soon.
Please. A little progress goes along way.
Look at the Naval Hospital (now Amazon.com Headquarters) or the City Light Building (described as “on the verge of collapse”, but had two stories added onto it, and is now Expeditors International HQ) for other instances of valuable city owned property that slipped away for a song despite all “good intentions”.
Hell, for something in the district, look at Queen Anne High School. Follow the money on that one….
It’s best if it not be made surplus property, so placing on inventory status is good news. But, it will also be good if they do a short lease with someone so that the property does not sit vacant and unused. That kind of thing becomes a real drag on the area.
Maybe a nice private school? Lord knows we need decent schools.
we need nice public schools!!!!
That slide 26 shows the city is expecting growth in QA/Magnolia, the NW and NE- so school capacity may be needed in those area. Slide 27 shows that our area (Downtown, Cap Hill) is expecting growth, but will not be needing the school capacity. Thus- who knows what will happen to TT Minor or Mann.
I wish all the central district families with young children would gather at a school board meeting. This evening would work.
>http://www.seattleschools.org/area/board/calendar.dxml?month
…”school age population may not be a factor”?!? Am I the only one who has noticed all the babies/toddlers in the area?
A group from TT Minor has been regularly testifying at School Board meetings to advocate that if a school be closed that Lowell close and the neighborhood and APP programs planned there be moved to TT Minor as Lowell would not be located within the reference area and has not had a neighborhood designation for many years. It is in the Sevens Reference Area.
Yes the demographic information is important and suppose to be one of the main considerations under rules in the School Board Policy.
We have been having been meeting with staff and School Board members with some progress in that direction
According to the new draft student assignment plan, they’re going to re-draw all of the boundaries (and call them “attendance areas” instead of reference areas). I assume the new western edge of the Stevens area will be around 15th, and I’m curious to see if they extend it further south.
Lowell has a sizable special education population that is medically fragile. That’s one of the main reason the district decided not to close the Lowell building — relocating those students and outfitting a new school for them would be very expensive. It would make more sense if you’re going after another area school to close to close Montlake, which doesn’t have the medically fragile population but does have a building with a low building score.
I hear you DJ- EXCEPT…
The medically fragile students at Meany are being moved to make way for Nova and SBOC.
The district found $750,000+ to retrofit 2 classrooms at Hamilton for music use.
We should not let the district off so easily. They have options, and repeatedly make very poor decisions that hurt students, families and our communities. TT Minor is still fighting, and we should help them.
without the TT Minor building the area with the greatest birthrate in the Central cluster and fastest growing number of children under the age of 5 would not have a school that had a walk area to any school. Reasonable reference/attendance areas would most easily be drawn with closing Lowell or Montlake. Lowell has not been a community school and it’s location is not well-suited to become a attendance area school, is located in the Stevens Reference/attendance area and in a less residential and more adult setting than the other school. A redrawing of the Steven’s attendance/reference area would not provide a walk area for TT Minor which is one of the state goals of the new student assignment plan.
Reference areas are the same idea as attendance areas. There is no new implication with this change in language.
The current proposal for the new student assignment plan is to serve the medically fragile children inschools closer to home
Thanks to all who are actively working to keep TT Minor open. I figured it was a lost cause but have checked myself.
I agree 100% about keeping the school open. My only disagreement here is about whether Lowell or Montlake is the target school that is more likely to create the successful result of keeping T.T. Minor open.
If you are able and willing to make your case to the Board do so soon as the new assignment plan is in process and the 2009-2010 school year is drawing near. I would have to be more aware of your vision before I would offer an argument beyond what I wrote.
Closing Montlake doesn’t make sense either — it’s a successful school with a very strong community. Why close a school that is desirable, oversubsribed, and getting good grades? The argument for closing it in the past has been the building, but I never understood that — yes, it needs some TLC, but it’s a really nice structure with “good bones”. Nice high ceilings, big windows, lots of natural light, etc.
The Mann building on 23rd and Cherry where Nova is now will be closed and the plan for it is to remain vacant for the next three years. Anyone who thinks that schools closures would not impact their lives is wrong. We will be looking at yet another vacant property for the next three years in the CD.
Will sit empty UNLESS we occupy it on behalf of the school/community.
This is a deal gone wrong- for students, for the school, for the neighborhood. The community should intervene, and the district isn’t interested in demographic or economic data, legal appeals, common sense, educational advances, honestly or integrity. Stay Tuned.