SAT scores are up in the District

“More students are taking the test and scores on average are up,” noted Dr. Chip Kimball, superintendent. “We are making progress on our goal to ensure that students are ready for college.”

Redmond, Wash. – Lake Washington School District (LWSD) seniors in the class of 2011 scored higher overall on the SAT than students from previous years. District students continue to score well above state and national averages. Scores in the district increased incrementally, up two points each in reading and writing while decreasing one point in math.

Over the last five years, average SAT scores in Washington and nationally have fallen or remained the same. At the same time, Lake Washington’s average scores have increased 11 points in critical reading, nine in math and 16 in writing on average.  Read More >>

UPDATED: Singapore American School website lauds Dr. Chip Kimball as their 12th Superintendent, effective July, 2012



Singapore American School

 Dr. Chip Kimball appointed Superintendent of Singapore American School (SAS) 

Twelfth Superintendent of Singapore American School -  "largest single-campus international school in the world, with 3,878 students, 353 faculty members, and 222 support staff"

SINGAPORE, September 15, 2011 - Dr. Chip Kimball, Superintendent of Lake Washington School District in Redmond, Washington, has been appointed the twelfth Superintendent of Singapore American School by the school's Board of Governors. Rudy Muller, Chair of the SAS Board of Governors, announced the appointment today in a letter to the SAS community.

Dr. Kimball, 47, will take office on July 1, 2012 and succeeds Dr. Brent Mutsch who previously announced that he is stepping down in June 2012 after five years as Superintendent of SAS.

"Dr. Kimball is a respected and proven educational leader with the depth and breadth of knowledge to enhance student learning through 21st century best practices," Mr. Muller said. "Dr Kimball will bring innovative leadership to Singapore American School and he embodies the ideals of academic rigor, professional excellence, extraordinary care of students, creativity, and community building that lie at the heart of our mission."  Read More >>

UPDATED: Lake Washington School District Superintendent Chip Kimball will step down to head international school in Singapore

Singapore American School - "largest single-campus international school in the world,
 with 3,878 students, 353 faculty members, and 222 support staff"

“As a board, we are dismayed to learn that Dr. Kimball will be leaving us while at the same time we are happy for him and his family in their new endeavors,” said Jackie Pendergrass, president of the board of directors for Lake Washington School District

Redmond, Wash. – Dr. Chip Kimball, superintendent of Lake Washington School District, announced today that the 2011-12 school year will be his last in that position. “After extensive soul searching and deliberation, my wife Cheryl and I have decided to spend the next phase of our personal and professional lives overseas,” said Dr. Kimball. “Beginning in the summer of 2012, I will serve as the superintendent of the Singapore American School in Singapore.” Dr. Kimball noted that his decision was a very difficult one, made only after much deliberation with his family.  Read More >>

LWSD Superintendent Kimball projects an increase in portables

Sup. Chip Kimball

Lake Washington School District Superintendent Chip Kimball comfortably projects less than a 10% increase in district portables by 2014.

During Redmond city council's August 30 "study session" on school impact fees, Councilmember John Stilin asked about portables and how they add value to the community. (Stilin volunteers at Rockwell and has three kids through the district). He quoted, "7% of district students are in portables this year" with further increases over time.

Superintendent Kimball stepped in to respond. He described the challenge of managing fluctuations in populations over time with balancing the high overhead costs of building new schools. "It's a tricky balance", said Kimball. To give perspective to the challenge Kimball cited two examples:

1. The district currently has 3,000,000 square feet of school space. Increasing the square footage of space (with portables) by 10%, is the equivalent of building two high schools.

2. All-day kindergarten in every school is desired. If the district built one Kindergarten classroom in every school this would be the equivalent of building two elementary schools - "a 50 million dollar problem." (He noted, the State doesn't fund all-day kindergarten care.)

Stilin cited the dramatic growth in Rockwell Elementary (from 200 to 656 students). Kimball mentioned Redmond Ridge's Rosa Parks Elementary as another example of skewed growth. Despite this growth, "over the past four years portable count in the entire district was reduced by over 100," said Kimball.

Lake Washington School District Superintendent Chip Kimball comfortably projects less than a 10% increase in portables by 2014.  

Stilin had concerns that rising birth rates from rising employment in Redmond "could throw off the counts." Sup. Kimball responded, birth rates are only one of many factors in planning building space. New developments and attrition are considerations. Juanita counts are decreasing; Redmond Ridge is up. "We don't rely exclusively on birth rates." Kimball went onto say:

"It's interesting, every time we have this conversation people will call into question the methodology we use because of their experience; they walk into a room like Rockwell and say, 'my-gosh, this place is crowded, are these people idiots?' That's what we get.

The district has 25,000 students and we're usually within 100 kids of our projection, based on historical data. We have a good methodology that's pretty accurate, given the degree of error."

Reported By Bob Yoder

School impact fee rates, LWSD portable projections and "One Redmond" economic development were on the table at this August 30 meeting. I'll try to get to all of them.  9/4

School Levies | Ross Hunter

Ross Hunter
48th District Representative
Chair, Ways and Means

"We spend MUCH to heavily on local property tax to fund  education"
  
-- Ross Hunter, Chairman of House Ways and Means,  Ross Hunter's Blog

School Levies Ross Hunter: "For the past two years we’ve had a group of technical experts working on proposals on how to fix school levies.

Read more about the basic problems with local levy funding

UPDATED: To maintain teachers salaries: Local levy dollars are used, LWSD 2012 calendar shuffled

Dr Chip Kimball

Local levy dollars used

Lake Washington School District 2011-12 school year extended

UPDATED:  Redmond, Wash. – Lake Washington School District’s school year calendar for 2011-12 has been extended to 181 days from 180 and the last day of school moved from June 20 to June 22. May 25 will become a non-student day.

These changes result from an agreement with the Lake Washington Education Association (LWEA) to maintain current salaries, in spite of the state salary cuts, through the addition of two workdays.

The state legislature cut funding for teacher salaries by 1.9% in the recently completed session. Dr. Chip Kimball, superintendent, noted that teacher compensation affects retention and recruitment of good teachers, a priority that he shares with district parents.

“Teacher salaries, in real dollars adjusted for inflation, have been declining for 30 years,” noted Kevin Teeley, LWEA president. “Despite that fact, the legislature is asking teachers to take another cut in pay.”

Dr. Kimball proposed to the LWEA keeping teacher compensation at the same level as 2010-11, using local levy dollars to make up the difference. As part of the proposal, teachers would work two additional days, focusing the time on preparing for the district’s change to a new grade configuration in the fall of 2012. Teachers voted overwhelmingly to accept this change to their contract.   READ MORE >>

Transportation, Traffic, and Parking studied by School Board -- STEM school project approved.

"Citizen Participation in the Planning Process -- a horrifying prospect for some administrators -- has proved to be the most effective way to avoid mistakes and unintended consequences."  Duany, Plater-Zyberk, and Speck, Suburban Nation, 2000.

JUNE 16, 2011  On Monday, June 8th the Lake Washington School Board made a unanimous decision to approve Hearing Examiner Jim O'Conner's  recommendation to build the STEM secondary school.  STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and is sorely needed in the district (and around the country.)

Citizen participation in this STEM project was robust with 15 citizens speaking at the April 5th Hearing and others emailing Sup. Kimball and staff.  Mr. O'Conner conditioned his recommendation with the following  items brought to his attention by citizens at the Hearing:    READ MORE >>

UPDATED OPINION: Lake Washington School District Making Big Strides Forward

OPINION (UPDATED):    The Lake Washington School Board significantly improved their governance process from the last year and the Administration is playing a large role toward that end. 

From the 18+ board meetings I've observed in recent years, there's no comparison in their quality of work this year from past.  This year, the Sup. functions more often as resource; and Board members are participating, communicating, sharing and brainstorming during meetings.  They appear more engaged and more articulate and thoughtful with each other and staff.

In last year's "work sessions" the Board's work was dominated by the Administration; conversation was infrequent and directed by staff.  A Director of Curriculum was the most frequent speaker and would drone on with his data.  Click the blue link to "Read More" >>

Kimball Administration explains Bell, Rush, and ICS school construction plans to Board

Sup. Kimball

In the April 18 Regular School Board meeting the Kimball Administration presented modernization plans for Bell, Rush, and ICS schools (1) to the School Board.  Construction for all three schools is planned for 2011, pending public review.

Dr. Kimball told the School Board, "Construction in the 1970's was shoddy, built quickly and very cheaply."  He said  "These are the schools we are currently tearing down."  Kimball continued, "I think there may be possibly a point in time in Phase 3 and during Phase 4... when 'remodeling' (3) is done more often than tearing out and replacing."   Facilities Director Forest Miller presented the following 'modernization' (tear out and replace) plans for Bell, Rush, and ICS: 

To "Read More" click the blue link >>

UPDATED: LW School District Tightens the Spigot to Citizen Participation

UPDATED:  4/19
ATTN:   Since this story was published, the Administration edited this link to the Board meeting schedule and included an asterisk* to flag public comment opportunities.  


Six Regular Board Meeting now start a 5 or 5:30PM this year instead of 7PM. (On 4/19 Pres. Pendergrass called these meeting time changes "emergencies", for various reasons.  


Four of the 5:00 & 5:30PM Regular Meetings are now planned between April and June (Neighborhood meetings and Hearings for the STEM School and Rose Hill JH projects occur during these months. )

The remaining Public comment periods in 2011 are scheduled in following meetings: April 18, May 2, June 6, June 20. and August 8.  SUBJECT TO CHANGE!  (Chip Kimball sets the agenda and Pres. Pendergrass approves it)

Parents have three oppotunities left to speak
 to the School Board, Mr. Kimball and Staff this school year.
They are "waiting" to hear frrom you.

 UPDATED, 4/6 - The District changes some of their meeting times again.   A quick note to parents and community -- opportunities for public comment and participation with Lake Washington School District Board members and Sup. Chip Kimball is tightening up.  So, if you'd like to give some input to the folks who run our schools now's the time. 

Only three school board meetings are left for public comment this school year after Spring Break:  April 4, 5:30pm [scratch], April 18 (5:00)   May 2 (7:00pm) [time changed again], and May 16 (5:30pm), June 6th (5pm), June 20 (7pm) [meeting added] all are on a Monday.  The 5:00 pm time isn't convenient for most working parents with children, but that's what the Administration and Board scheduled.  For some reason, the meetings were originally set for 7PM but then rescheduled for the dinner hour. 

There's lots of stuff going on right now in the District:

• Modernization of Rose Hill Junior and others
• STEM School curriculum decisions
• STEM School site location, busing and traffic Public Hearing
• Redmond High and Eastlake High additions/remodeling
• Class reconfiguration to 9-12  / 6-8
• [Budget Public Hearing, August 8.] 

Probably, the best place to comment on all of these issues is the Monday, May 2 at 7PM.  Board Meeting (timed for right after Spring Break).  It's held at the Lake Washington District HQ in Redmond Town Center.  The Board wants you to sign-in 15 minutes early if you plan to speak (up to 3 minutes).  If you're late, Jackie Pendergrass  may have a grace period.  (Often times, the Administration plans a pre-business meeting event.)

On April 5 and 6th at 7pm, the Administration will hold a public meeting at Rose Hill Junior High cafeteria to address "remodernization" of Rose Hill JH.   Notice of the meeting was given to the bordering homes but if you have questions the meeting is open to the public.

If you're interested in commenting on the STEM School land use project, location, and traffic -  a good meeting for input is the April 5 Hearing (6-8pm) at Alcott  El.  Details and Directions.  If you have any questions or need directions for any of the meetings contact Kathryn Reith at kreith@lwsd.org .

Email is often a convenient way to communicate to the Board.  The Administration is creating an email address for writing to all Board members at once.  Chip Kimball emailed today:  "We are going to be putting that in place."

Reported by Bob Yoder

The Regular Meeting for the Annual Budget Hearing is scheduled for August 8, 7PM 

Click this link for the schedules of ALL Board Meetings:  http://www.lwsd.org/About/School-Board/Board-Meetings/Pages/School-Board-Calendar.aspx.  Meetings are subject to change!  Email Kathryn Reith if you have any questions about meeting times:  kreith@lwsd.org

Facts about Lake Washington School District spending and exam results

from the desk of WPC intern Kendra
UPDATED:  3/10/2011

Washington Policy Center (WPC)
PO Box 3643 Seattle, WA 98124
P 206-937-9691
http://www.washingtonpolicy.org/

Key Facts about Lake Washington Public Schools
February 2011

New research released by Washington Policy Center, a non-partisan public policy research think tank based in Seattle, provides key facts for the Lake Washington School District.  Education budgets in Washington State are at historic highs, reaching $10,200 per student statewide.  Average teacher pay in this area (LWSD) is $58,981. Yet, because of restrictive work rules and multi-layered bureaucracy, only 59 cents of every education dollar reaches the classroom and public school students continue to lag in academic achievement.

READ MORE (student failure rate, average teacher salary, superintendent salary, spending/pupil, etc.) >>

UPDATED: President Pendergrass explains some of the "jobs and duties" of the School Board

"The job of the Board is to represent the citizens and to lead the organization by asking critical questions and by determining and demanding appropriate and excellent organizational performance." (LWSD By-Laws)

January 24, Regular meeting notes: 
In the January 24 School Board Meeting, Jackie Pendergrass was re-elected President and Ravi Shahani was re-elected Vice President by thel Board.

Just prior to the Consent Agenda (passed unanymously), President Pendergrass expressed, "I guess for our pubic", some comments about the jobs and duties of the school board, as follows:

"...none of us really has a power as a Board Director"

"...being President for this organization is really helping to run the agenda, the meetings that we have and then being avaibalble to discuss anything they (the Board members) have that may come up..."

"...we can't make decisions on our own that represent the Board, especially in our business"

"...we certainly represent the community and we listen to the community but we can't make decisions on our own, it takes the majority of the board..."

No one explained how the Board  represents the community as a single entity or as individuals.

Pres. Pendergrass and Dir. Bernard indivdually co-authored a Letter to local media outlets, yesterday advocating the levy.  It wasn't signed by all the Directors.

Watch and listen to President Pendergrass's entire talk (before the Consent Agenda) here

Reported By Bob Yoder
Photo By Yoder
Source:  Regular meeting of the School Board, 1/24 - personal attendence and video archive.

REPUBLISHED: Dr. Kimball unveils plan to cope with severe overcrowding in LW schools

Superintendent Dr. Chip Kimball

 October 11, 2010 Regular Board Meeting (video)

REPUBLISHED from 10/11/2010 -  Jill, a mother of two with a daughter at Rockwell Elementary, testified to the School Board last night about "the horrors of overcrowding".  Jill was shocked when she learned the Rosa Parks Elementary population reached 700 this year and she fears it won't be long for Rockwell.  When she moved to the neighborhood 3.5 years ago Rockwell had 480 students.  Today it's 610, with new portables and few options for full-day Kindergarten.   

Based on Jill's testimony, the overcrowding problem in some elementary schools is real .  Data from the input sessions suggested that the District ask for money to deal with immediate overcrowding issues but "not over ask".  Superintendent Kimball and the Board agreed on the following proposal for the February, 2011 ballot.

• a $65.4 million, 6-year Levy to pay for new 250-student additions at Redmond High and Eastlake High AND to build nearby a 675 student "STEM" school for grades 6-12.   
• the Levy tax is 0.31/$1000 assessed property; or $155/year for a $500,000 house.  No financing or interest is applied. 
• the "STEM" school core curriculum  is "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math" with a goal to incubate best practices for other schools.   STEM will cost $25 million with solid modular construction.
• Juanita High will "not be modernized right now" saving $135 million.
• Kimball's levy measure will cost taxpayers $190 million less than last year's bond which failed by 4%. The Levy only needs and 50% simple majority to pass.  Last year's bond required a 60% majority.
• Levy benefits:  no HS over 2,000.  no meg-high schools.  no double shifts.  no portables.  no excessive busing.  permanent classrooms, core gyms and cafeterias. keep space for computers and music.    

President Jackie Pendergrass said the STEM school should draw some grant money from outside sources. She suggested Microsoft and the Lake Washington School Foundation  as sources.  Board member Shahani was concerned about Juanita High age, but said the STEM school is needed to solve the space problem.  He likes the STEM "Choice" school concept.  Board member Bernard was pleased with the 1000 person survey turnout, no portables, possible federal grants, and no double-shift nightmares. She emphasized the new ventilation system at Juanita and the wonderful staff.  Board member Carlson said he favors "all Choice all the time" and asked to double the size of the STEM school to eliminate the two additions.  Kimball said this wasn't feasible.  READ MORE >>

Results from three community input sessions and a website survey were reviewed by Superintendent Kimball and the Board.   Parent and community participants (58%) recommended the District ask for money to deal with immediate overcrowding issues but "not over ask".   69% of the parents said "no not right now" to spending $135 Million on modernizing Juanita High School.  Juanita High was built in l971.  70% did not want to eliminate classrooms for music and computers.  All-day kindergartens received the most support for solving overcrowding.  70% gave a thumbs down on portables.  68% said yes to two new elementary schools in the next five years.  74% agreed to permanent classroom additions at Redmond and Eastlake High.  The statistical validity or significance of the survey was not discussed.

Reported by Bob Yoder
Republished:  1/23/2011
Source:  10/11/2010, Regular Board Meeting archives
Photo of Dr. Kimball from LWSD website
http://lwsd.org/

LETTER: Overcrowding at elementary schools may not be real, By Susan Wilkins

OVERCROWDING AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS MAY NOT BE REAL

LETTER:  As a parent of four students currently enrolled in the Lake Washington School District, I have had many years of volunteering and attending events at their various schools. Over the past decade, my children have attended Mann, Rockwell, Einstein and Rush Elementary Schools, as well as Redmond Junior High and Redmond Senior High. I have had the opportunity to observe day-to-day activities first-hand while volunteering and attending events at the schools. I voted for bond measures, EP&O and technology levies and I-728, the initiative that was passed to reduce class sizes in 2000.

We are now being asked to pass a $66 million dollar levy on February 8 to add additional space at Redmond High School and Eastlake High School and to build a new Science and Technology High School out on SR202 on the lot next to Alcott Elementary. The district has claimed through its mailings and speeches that we are almost out of space for students, that more students are arriving every year, and that soon we will be double shifting or transporting students long distances by bus. While some schools, such as Rosa Parks Elementary at Redmond Ridge and Alcott Elementary east of Redmond are extremely overcrowded, most of the schools in the district are overcrowded because of the way the district defines school capacity and not because there are too many students.

Let’s look at how the district determines whether a school is overcrowded. At each school, the facilities department counts all of the homeroom classrooms in the school and portables, and then multiplies that total by a set number of students per classroom. For elementary schools, the set number of students per classroom is 23. So for example, at Horace Mann Elementary, they have 17 classrooms and 17 x 23 = 391*. Enrollment at Horace Mann for the 2010-2011 school year is 483, so by the district’s definition, the school is very overcrowded.

Superintendent Chip Kimball Will Chat With Mayor At Senior Center

Dr. Chip Kimball

School Superintendent Will Chat With Mayor Marchione on January 10

Redmond, WA – The Redmond Senior Center (RSC) will host a conversation between Lake Washington School District (LWSD) Superintendent Chip Kimball and Redmond Mayor John Marchione on Monday, January 10 at 12:15pm in the Multi-Purpose Room of the RSC, 8703 160th Avenue NE.

Mr. Kimball will discuss the state of LWSD schools and answer questions about the Capital Projects Levy on the February ballot. This measure, if passed, authorizes a six-year levy totaling $65.4 million to build classroom additions and expand core facilities at Redmond High School and Eastlake High School and to construct a new secondary school.

Registration for the conversation is not necessary; however, lunch will be available at $3.00 for those over 60 and $5.75 for all others. Reservations are recommended. For additional information or reservations, call 425-556-2314.

City Press Release

RNB Editor's Note:  Several Weeks Ago, thc City Council voted 6-1 (David Carson) to support the L.W. School District 2011 Capital Projects Levy.    

Evergreen CEO Bob Malte starts talks with LWSD on "children's wellness & health" initiative.

Evergreen CEO Bob Malte

The Evergreen Hospital Board Study Session (12/7) proved fertile ground again for hospital news.  Commission meetings are open to the public and once a month they will listen to you.

CEO Bob Malte announced a "wellness and children's health" initiative to put additional levy tax-dollars to work towards community health service. He's already met with Dr. Chip Kimball of LWSD. North Shore and Riverside School districts may require different programs. Do you have creative community health service ideas for Mr. Malte or Commissioner Greenfield? Please send them to: Ms. Burton: lhburton@evergreenhealthcare.org   Commissioner-at-large Jeanette Greenfield, Board Secretary, sits on the Standing Levy Committee.

President Terrance Pheifer, MD and CEO Bob Malte described a revised "Compensation Committee".  Mr. Malte and Dr. Pheifer addressed the "199" document which lays out "who is authorized to spend unbudgeted funds besides the CEO".  A new policy was made to give the Commission oversight of unbudgeted funds when certain thresholds are met.  Read more...

READ MORE

Dr. Chip Kimball responds to criticism of Kirkland school modernization scheduling

Superintendent Chip Kimball

UPDATED  (Read More)

To the Editor:

Last week Matt Gregory wrote a letter to the editor regarding Lake Washington School District plans to place a capital projects levy on the February ballot, and specifically criticized intentions related to Juanita High School. Unfortunately his letter failed to address the overcrowding problem in the district, did not accurately reflect the community feedback solicited by the board, and failed to mention the significant investment Lake Washington has made, and continues to make, in Kirkland schools.

Lake Washington serves over 24,000 students across 50 schools in 4 municipalities. The school board and district leadership work very hard to ensure that EVERY part of the LWSD community receives a high quality education with up to date facilities. At any given time some facilities are older than others. But over time, all parts of the district are served, and all parts of the community are needed to support that service.

Lake Washington has in place a long term plan to modernize every school in the district by 2030. All schools have been evaluated and were placed into one of four phases based on their condition. Out of the 22 schools either modernized in the first phase (1998-2006) or in the process of being modernized in the second phase (2006-2014), sixteen (16) were in Kirkland or the annexation area. These decisions were made by an objective evaluation of facility condition. Almost three quarters of the over $600 million in construction projects since 1998 are in Kirkland. Turn our back on Kirkland….Not a chance!

Read More >>

Taped Highlights from the September 27 School Board Meeting

September 27, 2010 Regular Board Meeting

Superintendent Chip Kimball announced $42,469 PTSA donations this month, including a $27,299 donation from Wilder PTSA to Wilder El.  Click on the video link for all donations. 

Superintendent Chip Kimball appears to be inviting more staff members more often to present at Board meetings.  Conversation amongst Board Members is more dynamic, engaged, and purposeful.  President Pendergrass is running this meeting efficiently and openly with more attention to protocol. 

Read More>>

Kimball Administration does away with "The August Institute" - Changing culture

new logo

In the August 6 School Board Meeting, Superintendent Kimball announced the "August Institute" was dead.  He jokingly said, anyone saying the words "August Institute" would have to pay $5.00. The Administration and School Board also did away with the thirty-year old District LOGO.  This appears the beginning of a sea change in LWSD culture.

Prior Superintendent Don Saul was a big believer in the Institute.  According to LWSD Communications Director, Kathryn Reith, "the Institute represented the kick-off to the new school year with the intention of   professional development of the district's leadership team".  It occurred two-three weeks prior to the opening of school.    

Ms. Reith wrote:   "The drawback of August Institute was that it could take up to two weeks worth of time just when principals needed time in their building to plan and prepare for the year and hire teachers if needed. Operations staff members were busy preparing school buildings, materials and systems for the return of teachers and other staff."   In short, the Institute interfered with operations. 

Superintendent Kimball said rather than "cram a bunch of information in their heads" in two weeks of August to remember in November, it's better to develop and train the administrators over time throughout the year.

Kimball was pleased to tell the Board and public that 85% of the District's elementary school teachers took summer math training even though it was optional.  He said this kind of commitment was "unheard of".   Read More

UPDATED: Bell Elementary parents question LWSD feeder school changes.

The following is breaking news and opinion from Kirkland Weblog.com about LWSD Bell El. feeder school changes:

Updated, 5/11 - "A lot of Bell Elementary parents in Kirkland are f-u-m-i-n-g right now." 

On May 4th, the Lake Washington School District announced changes to the configuration of elementary, junior high and high schools along with a change to the feeder school for AG Bell and Audubon.  The two changes are slated in 2012, as follows:

(1) schools will run K-5, 6-8, 9-12 (instead of current K-6, 7-9, 10-12)  AND

(2)  Bell students will go to Finn Hill Jr. High and Juanita HS (instead of Kirkland Jr. High and Lake WA HS) while Redmond's Audubon students will be coming to Rose Hill Jr. High and LWHS. These changes were initiated as a result of the need to address a boom in student enrollment.

Now to the fuming part....
Bell Elementary parents were notified via a memo in their children's backpack after the decision had already been voted on and passed. I've heard the principal didn't even find out until 4 hrs prior to the parents.
One Bell parent says,

"We were not included in meetings where this was discussed. This is a neighborhood filled with families who have specifically moved into the area to send their children to AG Bell, KJH, and LWHS but we were given no voice in this."

Some are worried about their property values and are left wondering why their kids would have to walk by KJH in order to get bussed to Finn Hill JH. Bell students also already have friends and connections from their sports teams that align into the same feeder schools. Another Bell parent takes a hard stand stating,

"I expect as a tax paying citizen in this district that this decision will be revoked until the community has a chance to repeal with alternative solutions."

Dr. Chip Kimball, LWSD Superintendent has stated,

“If we don’t make any changes, we will need over 100 portable classrooms at the elementary level and about 28 at the secondary level to house the expected enrollment and to provide space for all-day kindergarten in the next five years. Changing feeder patterns reduces the need at the secondary level."

Dr. Kimball expressed great empathy when I asked him about this situation, but said with the way the population is spread and the overcrowding they are faced with, there just aren't any viable alternatives. He knows this is really tough and plans to be holding meetings at the impacted schools this month.
So, here's what you can do:

• Go ahead and comment/discuss here (http://www.kirklandweblog.com/)  to share ideas and chat about it-
• Concerned families should attend the LWSD Regular Board Meeting on Monday, 5/17,  5:30pm.  Location is:  Redmond Town Center District offices:  16250 NE 74th St, Redmond.  No Public Comments will be taken at this Meeting.   
• OR watch the meeting LIVE (or archived the next day) at this link.  (It's not necessary to download Silverlight.  LIVE meetings sometimes begin up to 12 minutes late.  Wait for the sign-in button)
• Affected families will rally on Thursday 5/20 at 6:30pm in the AG Bell Gymnasium/11212 NE 112th St, Kirkland
• Send a note to the communications office or to Dr. Kimball care of kreith@lwsd.org

Read the complete story here.

This abridged posting is courtesy of the Kirkland Weblog   Contact Kathryn Reith at LWSD or the Kirkland Weblog editor Jan Rabuchin to confirm meeting times.  B. Yoder