Do we really need another elementary school in North Redmond? Better question: Do we really need another elementary school at the top of Education Hill? We already have three: Mann, Rockwell and Einstein. Or would Redmond be better served by a new elementary school on the valley floor to serve all the students who live there - and there are many. Einstein Elementary gets hundreds of students from along Avondale Road. Rockwell Elementary gets hundreds of students from the condos and apartments near the Bella Botega QFC. Why aren't these students walking to neighborhood schools in the downtown or along Avondale Road where they live? Because the school district never figured out where to put new schools that would serve students living in the downtown areas. Redmond Elementary is the only elementary school for all the students in the downtown area and it is full. The school district should have built additional schools for all the downtown children long ago. Students from southeast Redmond in the Woodbridge neighborhoods have to leave the city and go 3 miles out to Alcott or Dickinson because there is no room for them at Redmond Elementary. (It would have made sense to build a school in southeast Redmond when Woodbridge was developed but instead 9 portables were added to Alcott. This is not wise planning.) Redmond has become a city without adequate school facilities for its students and families. The problem has been slowly festering for about 15 years as Redmond has added more and more housing units without the addition of adequate school facilities. Adding an elementary school in North Redmond isn't really the right solution to address the lack of adequate school facilities for residents in the downtown.
The school district should have seen this coming - literally. Their main office is at Towne Center in downtown Redmond. All they had to do was look out the window to see all the new buildings going up!
Besides purchasing the Washington Cathedral site and turning it into a K-5, K-8, 6-12 or 9-12, the district should look for other school locations in downtown Redmond. (Note that the Washington Cathedral site could be easily accessible by *walking* from the new neighborhoods being built along NE 116th Street.) The Woodbridge area still has medium sized parcels that aren't fully developed. It's unfortunate that the district didn't look to build a school there when Woodbridge was being built and large tracts were more easily available. There are also medium size parcels in the Willows Office Park area. The school district has said that it needs 10 acres to build an elementary school, but on closer investigation, this claim is not valid. The Washington Administrative Code (WAC 392-342-020) recommends 10 acres for elementary schools but it doesn't require 10 acres. (This explains why many elementary schools in Seattle are on only 4-6 acre parcels.)
Another large parcel that needs to be brought to the district's attention is the Keller Farm on Avondale Road. The northwest corner of the farm is zoned high-density. In 2007, the City of Redmond created the Bear Creek Overlay district and designated the 8.8 acres where the fruit stand is located as high density (for a retirement center that was never built.) A requirement of the plan was that the remaining 120 acres of the farm be left as permanently undeveloped. The City of Redmond is looking to purchase the farm for flood control and as an environmental mitigation bank. In a joint partnership, the school district and city could jointly purchase the property with the district getting 10 acres for a school and the city getting the rest for flood storage. The school would be an excellent location for students who live along Avondale Road and on the eastern edge of Redmond in the Woodbridge neighborhood. It's just an idea
The school district should have seen this coming - literally. Their main office is at Towne Center in downtown Redmond. All they had to do was look out the window to see all the new buildings going up!
Besides purchasing the Washington Cathedral site and turning it into a K-5, K-8, 6-12 or 9-12, the district should look for other school locations in downtown Redmond. (Note that the Washington Cathedral site could be easily accessible by *walking* from the new neighborhoods being built along NE 116th Street.) The Woodbridge area still has medium sized parcels that aren't fully developed. It's unfortunate that the district didn't look to build a school there when Woodbridge was being built and large tracts were more easily available. There are also medium size parcels in the Willows Office Park area. The school district has said that it needs 10 acres to build an elementary school, but on closer investigation, this claim is not valid. The Washington Administrative Code (WAC 392-342-020) recommends 10 acres for elementary schools but it doesn't require 10 acres. (This explains why many elementary schools in Seattle are on only 4-6 acre parcels.)
Another large parcel that needs to be brought to the district's attention is the Keller Farm on Avondale Road. The northwest corner of the farm is zoned high-density. In 2007, the City of Redmond created the Bear Creek Overlay district and designated the 8.8 acres where the fruit stand is located as high density (for a retirement center that was never built.) A requirement of the plan was that the remaining 120 acres of the farm be left as permanently undeveloped. The City of Redmond is looking to purchase the farm for flood control and as an environmental mitigation bank. In a joint partnership, the school district and city could jointly purchase the property with the district getting 10 acres for a school and the city getting the rest for flood storage. The school would be an excellent location for students who live along Avondale Road and on the eastern edge of Redmond in the Woodbridge neighborhood. It's just an idea
9 comments:
Fantastic information, Susan!
The District needs to work smarter with OUR money; not just spend it and then ask for more.
Yes, Education Hill needs another elementary school!
Education Hill remains one of the fastest growing areas in Redmond with new developments and phased construction along 116th and Wood-Red Road. More than 100 homes will be completed within the next two-years. Our LWSD leadership is attempting to look ahead and plan for this growth. A new elementary school on Education Hill, which is in close proximity, built to education and District standards must be a priority. A bail out of Washington Cathedral, built as a place of community worship and congregation is not the answer.
This year, enrollment at Rockwell will exceed 650 students! However, enrollment at Redmond El, Mann, and Einstein remain below 450, because their building configurations and land size prohibits the placement of portables. So Rockwell continues to absorb all of the new growth with portables – and the entire student body suffers with inadequate bathroom, gymnasium and lunch facilities! Yet the amazing Rockwell teachers, staff and parents have stepped up to the challenge of making the school a warm and inviting place for students.
Redmond neighbors – LWSD leadership has made mistakes in the past, but can we please just move on and support the upcoming levy and give our kids a chance.
I agree that Redmond schools in particular are not growing proportional to housing and new residents in the area. Rosa Parks' overflow has been a bad situation for everyone involved.
But I would caution against a plan which would potentially 'park downtown kids' in one school. Yes, kids in a different situation may need different services (ESL, financial support/social services, etc). But Redmond El in particular has built a positive, supportive community where my kids can be with a diverse slice of our city. One of the things I like best about that school in particular is how different kinds of families are welcomed, embraced and nurtured - and while our PTA may never had a $200K fundraiser for example, drawing from a diverse socioeconomic area has been a positive and not a negative for our school and for our students.
I do agree that the Downtown Redmond core should really see another grade school. Or perhaps closer to Bella Bottega and the Redmond Slough, near to walking distance homes. I cannot imagine the traffic that would ensue if a grade school would be located off Avondale, although perhaps a side street situation could be created. And I think Education Hill sees enough of the pre-school and post-school commute.
When you look at all the high rise condo/apts going into downtown Redmond I can see what Ms. Wilkens is getting at in building downtown school(s). I think a lot of Rockwell students live in condos/apartments at the base of Ed Hill and add to the crunch. I find Ms. Wilkins ideas creative and refreshing and I hope the district will take positive action to "build smart."
While the Levy is an important topic, we have an immediate crisis at Rockwell NOW. As already mentioned, our enrollment is at 650+ (and certain to grow in the final weeks before school starts). We must put a serious plan in place to stop the overcrowding at Rockwell even before the Levy vote next February.
A number of Rockwell parents have made an urgent plea to LWSD to prevent any new neighborhoods from being added to the Rockwell population. Currently, there is a new development for 180 residences on 116th St. Additionally, there is a request for a new neighborhood off of Redmond-Woodinville Road (across from Kensington neighborhood and Washington Cathedral) for 33 new residences.
Our ask is that these neighborhoods under development be moved outside of the Rockwell school boundaries before the developers put any of these houses on the market. Additionally, the preschool should be moved out of Rockwell and allow for our elementary students to use this classroom.
Rockwell is now Rosa Parks II. If we wait for the Levy vote to make decisions on how to deal with the existing overcrowding emergency at Rockwell, then we will have lost our opportunity to move these new developments outside of the Rockwell boundaries without pain to new families.
This is a very thoughtful post. With the apartment building frenzy in downtown Redmond, and transit to follow - I couldn't agree more that schools should be developed near the new housing. The Avondale farm is one great idea mentioned, I have no doubt there are other parcels near the downtown "valley floor". It is unclear the match between development fees in Redmond for new building units, or planning for a very large increase in downtown ressidents' children. I would welcome some smarter planning by LWSD. It's also notable that Ed Hill traffic on 104th is already seriously problematic for people trying to work to pay taxes -- are there actually plans to put another school in the 104th corridor?
The school district's long-term solution to the lack of elementary classroom space in Redmond is to tear down and rebuild Rockwell Elementary and to build a new school at the corner of 172nd Ave NE & NE 122nd Street. If the district follows its current building standards, each school will have enough space for 400 students. This is the only elementary school construction proposed for Redmond on the February 2014 ballot. When these schools open, they will probably have portables. Horace Mann, Redmond El and even Einstein all have room for portables, so it's just a matter of time until each school has its own village of portables.
The school district asks for bond money, builds small schools that are overcrowded when they open, adds portables and then asks for more money to build more schools because the district is "running out of space." This has been going on for as long as I can remember.
Maybe we should put up signs along NE 116th Street and in the downtown where all the construction is occurring that say: NO ROOM IN OUR SCHOOLS - DON'T MOVE HERE.
During the last housing bubble, Redmond should have doubled it's building permit fees and given the money to LWSD to help build new schools - or at least pay for it's infamous portables. Growth should pay for growth, shouldn't it?
Too bad our liberal city government missed the opportunity!
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