OPINION: 4/19/07, Avondale Crest "death trap"



Orange tape marks 104th location and width of Avondale Villa Road



184th Ave Ne dumps heavy neighborhood traffic from 184th AVE NE onto 104th.  Avondale Crest "Road" is just down thec hill on the left curve.  It's faintly marked by orange tape.  The speed monitor is up hill from 184th.

OPINION:  "Avondale Crest" plat was changed to "Avondale Villas" after the 9-lot plat was changed to 8-lots.

4/19/2007:  Last night, council made a decision to approve the proposed 9-home Avondale Crest project near the NW corner of 104th St. & Avondale. This is a nightmare. After much discussion, Council voted 4-3 to deny resident Susan Wilkins, appeal. [I can't give councilmember names for the vote because the names were garbled when announced by the Council President]

The Avondale Crest project is a loser. A loser for the developer, a loser for the neighborhood, a loser for the city, and a loser for the people buying into it. Why? The access to the project is a "death trap" and just "won't work".

Traffic on the steep, curvy collector road to the project is both dangerous and congested. I'm talking about NE 104th Street. Congestion will worsen as nearby developments like Tyler Creek ( 92 homes) are built out and start flooding onto 104th. The final blow to congestion will occur when homeowners move into the Avondale Crest development. This project will be a juggernaut.

Avondale Crest (AC) cars turning left into their development will have to wait for cars coming up hill from Avondale. At the same time cars going down hill (if they don't crash) will be leaning on their horns "to persuade" that darn AC to by-pass their forced turn. The AC car will feel the heat and head down to Avondale and look for a turn around, so it can make an unobstructed right-hand entrance into their AC home. The same forced left-hand turn (with associated hazards) will occur for AC cars leaving their homes for Avondale.

Susan Wilkins appealed for "right-in, right-out turns only." She lost. The "laws of congestion" will show she was right. As it is now, free lance driving is allowed. And, so more forced turns will be made by AC cars resulting in more accidents and I hope not, even deaths. Recently, a neighbor told me (not in the police report I requested) that a propane truck jack-knifed and turned over on 104th. Consider it a rumor, but we can expect the worst, now.

This development is a mistake. .. an example of "forced planning" at it's worst. In this case, the preservation of a landowner's constitutional right not to have his land taken without compensation has taken precedence over preserving the safety and welfare of citizens. Council...what does it ever take?? The appellant will be asking council next week. ( council@redmond.gov for anyone interested.)

Susan Wilkins states: "The council's decision opens the City to an astronomical legal and financial obligation when someone is injured at the new intersection. I don't think that they realize this." Yes, I may be an alarmist and prognosticator. Yes, my language is extreme about the safety issues -- but traveler beware.

I just pray the Realtors and their buyers considering purchasing an Avondale Crest house read up on what they are "getting into" so they "find a way out", pun intended.

Professional Realtors owe their buyers full disclosure on this one!! [ I plan to send an alert to all the major brokers in the area to open their eyes to disclosure.] If I were I buyer, and I wouldn't be, I'd low-ball my offer, low ball it again, and then accept the concept of living in fear of bodily harm and frustration ...until I could find a new buyer.

As the Vice Chair of the Planning Commission stated this week -- the free market will decide how and IF this development gets built. The plat has been on sale for many months and no one wants to buy it. On the plus side, the applicant will have an option of selling TDR's (Transfer Development Rights") to recoup costs, if he can't find a buyer.

One last quote from the appellant Susan Wilkins "the whole process was confusing and frustrating. If I had had the Technical Report on the PRD before the Dec. 11 hearing, my whole approach would have been different and I'm sure the outcome would have been different." The Development and Review Department replaced long standing City Code traffic standards with new National Standards to accommodate Avondale Crest - the exception was approved by the Technical Committee.

These changes were improperly recorded in the PRD permit rather than the Plat file. When the appellant Susan Wilkins asked for the PRD permit file it wasn't available. Councilmember Kimberly Allen voted against the PRD permit, in part, out of protest.

Last and not least, THANK YOU  Susan Wilkins, for speaking up for all of us in your appeal. You represented us with sacrifice to your personal life and outstanding commitment to our community. Thank you.

OPINON BY BOB YODER
PHOTOS BY YODER

LETTER: School Zones, Speed Limits and Crosswalks on Education Hill, By Susan Wilkins

Letter from Susan Wilkins, a PTSA volunteer and resident of Redmond.

I have been working on bus transportation for Horace Mann. I got mail from [LWSD Deputy Superintendent] Janene Fogard that said Title 1 funds could not be used on non-AYP transportation so Horace Mann students were not allowed to ride the Einstein or Redmond El buses. I have been reading Title 1, Part A documentation and there is a lot to read to familiarize myself with the details.

I couldn't find any documents that said or could be interpreted to mean that Horace Mann students weren't allowed to ride in surplus seats on AYP buses. I sent email to Ms. Fogard to ask her to clarify what she meant and where this rule is cited. I haven't heard back.

The attached article came about as a response to [neighbor] Paige Norman questioning the varying speed limits and school zones along 166th at the end of one of my letters. I had read so much about traffic and crosswalks while researching the NE 116th Street crosswalk and speed cameras, that I decided to organize my thoughts and explain what I had found.  I hope people find it interesting: 

###

"School Zones, Speed Limits and Crosswalks on Education Hill", By Susan Wilkins

We have a lot of schools on Education Hill – a high school, a junior high, five elementary schools and numerous preschools. We also have a variety of street signs and zones surrounding the schools, but there is a lack of uniformity in how the signs and zones are assigned. While going through official documents pertaining to school safety and crosswalks and making observations in the neighborhood, I have found that the implementation of school zones and speed limit signs appears to be uneven, inconsistent, overused and possibly misused on Education Hill.  Read More >>

Water Tenders "Salmon Seeson" Cancelled, No Rain

Water Tender President Susan Wilkins at 
 Issaquah fish hatchery 

My daughter, Lexie, was the youth Water Tender Board Member while in high school.  She wrote a white paper on Bear Creek nimbyism and organized Key Club restoration work parties.  In 2023, she was promoted to Lead Environmental Scientist / Planner for a regional engineering company in Spokane.  Lexie's LinkedIn information.

At tour of the Salmon Fish Hatchery with Water Tender President Susan Wilkins. 

Every year from September - October during the "Salmon Seeson" you will find the Water Tenders at North Bear Creek educating children, families and adults about the life cycle of salmon.  This Fall was the 4-year cycle for sockeye so we were expecting a good run.  The Water Tenders put up sandwich board signs along Avondale Road to direct viewers to the creek. We usually see a lot of  returning salmon but this year owing to a prolonged drought there were none to be seen so the exhibit was shut down. Usually over 100 viewers walk up the trail to see coho, sockeye and chinook salmon.

Every year the Water Tenders pick up 1-2 Chinook salmon from the Issaquah fish hatchery for their Bear Creel exhibit.  Susan Wilkins, Water Tenders President says," this is an excellent way for viewers to see and touch the gills, scaling, and fins for show and tell."  Here's a picture of Susan at the hatchery standing by two chinook she was saving for the exhibit.

Salmon docent holding chinook 

According to their mission statement, "The Water Tenders are a group of individuals who care about the wetlands and streams in King County. We are your neighbors, friends, and family. All of us are willing donate our time and energy to preserving, protecting and restoring the wonderful natural  heritage of Washington State. We believe that it is our community’s responsibility to be good stewards of our natural resources in order to preserve them for the next generations. Water Tenders was founded in 1989 and is proud to have spearheaded and accomplished many efforts towards those ends."

A few other Water Tenders projects are removal of invasive Knotweed and Blackberry shrubs from wetlands and creeks, monitoring the Western Pearl Schell populations -- an indicator of stream health -- measuring rainfall within the Bear Creek Basin, and activism to protect wetlands and streams from proposed environmental sensitive land-use developments.   

If you'd like more information about the Water Tenders or want to join this non--profit ($25) please e-mail Bob at redmondblog@gmail.com  

 -- Bob Yoder, Fall of 2018
    Photos, Yoder

The Wild and Natural Preservation Areas near Redmond, WA. By Susan Wilkins

Redmond Preservation Map

The Long-term plan for the Bear Creek and Evans Creek Basins east of Redmond

By Susan Wilkins
Redmond, WA.

We in Redmond are fortunate to live near some of the wildest natural areas in King County. On the east edge of Redmond, running north-south along Avondale and Mink Road is the Bear Creek Valley. And the deep valley traversed by Redmond-Fall City Road (SR202) contains the Evans Creek Basin. Both of these valleys are heavily forested and surprisingly undeveloped. They both contain significant native salmon runs with wetlands surrounding the network of meandering streams, especially compared to the incorporated, urban areas of nearby Redmond and Sammamish.

The decision to preserve the Bear and Evans Creek drainage basin areas was made more than 20 years ago. According to Paul Reitenbach, Senior Policy Analyst for the King County Department of Development and Environmental Service, in the early 1990s as part of long-term urban growth planning mandated by the Growth Management Act, the county decided to designate the Bear-Evans Creek Corridor and the Soos Creek Basin (in Kent) as permanently preserved natural areas. The King County Comprehensive Plan was written to include tight restrictions on residential and commercial developments in these basins and the county began programs that promoted habitat restoration and reforestation. Land along Bear Creek has been purchased by King County for permanent preservation using Conservation Futures Tax money provided by open space levies. Many landowners along and near Bear Creek have entered into long-term habitat preservation agreements with the county in exchange for reduced annual property tax bills.  

In the Evans Creek Basin, the City of Sammamish owns the Evans Creek Preserve, a 180-acre city park with nature trails, wetlands and meadows. King County has 30 acres under permanent protection in the Evans Creek Natural Area and also own most of the land with steep slopes along Sahalee Way.  Read More >>

LETTER: Redmond High School Addition will Provide More Permanent Classrooms at Lower Cost

Director Kathryn Reith

LETTER by Kathryn Reith:  in response to Susan Wilkin's Opinion:  "Redmond High Expansion Costs $18,600,000- Ads only 14 classrooms." 

Redmond High School Addition Will Provide More Permanent Classrooms at Lower Cost

By Kathryn Reith, Communications Director, Lake Washington School District

The opinion piece by Susan Wilkins from December 5 on the Redmond High School addition contains significant errors of fact. Let me provide some specific corrections here. To start with, the total budget for the project is $16,400,000, down from the original estimate of $18,600,000.  Read More >>

Water Tenders is resurrected

Key Club members help to restore a Bear Creek tributary
My daughter Lexie is far left; she recruited the Key Club
members.

Water Tenders is a group of people who care about the wetlands and streams in the Bear Creek area and King county.

The torch of Water Tenders (WT) leadership was passed from President Eric Soshea to Susan Wilkins at the WT Annual Meeting last week.  Many of the of the original tenders were present, including a relative of the founder. Leader Terry Lavender and past president Dick Schaetzel were out of town. Gary Smith was present. Debbie Aftebro from Novelty Hill had never attended a WT meeting yet she collects and measures rainwater for Guy Baltzelle's program. She wanted to meet Guy but unfortunately he wasn't at the meeting.  Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was up front with Susan and Eric. Shirley was once President and is now the Treasurer, replacing John Reinke,who replaced Dick S.  One of the new board members, Heather Poe was president and secretary for WT in the Early 2000 - 2005 era (before Susan became a member.) Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was also once a president along with five others. 

In her presentation, (video) Susan held up a map of the entire Bear Creek watershed. She was re-directing and expanding our attention to the entire Bear Creek watershed.  She states:

UPDATED: Bear Creek advocates hold meeting

Credit/ Water Tender John Reinke 

Water Tenders is a group of people who care about the wetlands and streams in the Bear Creek area and King county.

The torch of Water Tenders (WT) leadership was passed from President Eric Soshea to Susan Wilkins at the WT Annual Meeting last week.  Many of the of the original tenders were present, including a relative of the founder. Leader Terry Lavender and past president Dick Schaetzel were out of town. Gary Smith was present. Debbie Aftebro from Novelty Hill had never attended a WT meeting yet she collects and measures rainwater for Guy Baltzelle's program. She wanted to meet Guy but unfortunately he wasn't at the meeting.  Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was up front with Susan and Eric. Shirley was once President and is now the Treasurer, replacing John Reinke,who replaced Dick S.  One of the new board members, Heather Poe was president and secretary for WT in the Early 2000 - 2005 era (before Susan became a member.) Shirley Doolittle-Egerdahl was also once a president along with five others. 

In her presentation, (video) Susan held up a map of the entire Bear Creek watershed. She was re-directing and expanding our attention to the entire Bear Creek watershed.  She states:

"The Bear Creek Basin is an exceptionally natural and healthy environment for our native salmon runs given that it is so close to a major metropolitan area.  We want to direct more community involvement into observing the stream habitat and collecting year-round data (such as rainfall, water temperature, stream flow) across the whole Bear Creek Basin.  We also want to carefully monitor land use planning by the local government jurisdictions to encourage preservation and protection of our land and water resources."

Five members who volunteered for the new Board met with Susan after the meeting.  The first order of business was to select officers.  Susan is the President, Mark Reynolds is the V.P. (he told a touching "avatar" story about the value of engaging children.)  Mark is a software engineer for Nordstrom and a "take charge" kind of guy.  He is working on a new website and very motivated for WT to make a difference for kids.  Me too.

Youth have been involved in WT over the years:

My daughter, Lexie Conley, was once a Youth Board member -- the first and last.  She wrote an article on the history of environmentalism that was published in the WT's 25th Anniversary Issue of the newsletter.  Terry recruited her to lead the Green Team in a Derby Day parade...and work the booth. Lexie recruited her Key Club members to help restore a forest in what is now the Redmond Bike Park site.  Notably, Dick S. attended that.  The Key Club also spent a day restoring a northern Bear Creek tributary -- an ongoing WT project.

Susan Wilkins actively engaged her children in the environment.  Her daughter was a docent for the annual WT salmon "SEEson" event.  In 2007 her children surveyed the Camwest Perrigo Heights preliminary plat's northern forest boundary ...in preparation for the citizen/council/mayor/Eric Campbell's woodland march to the proposed Steep Slope sewer location.

Colorful salmon cut-outs were made for children. (don't have the details.)  Kiosks were built to educate children and adults. Exhibits were held at REI.  Terry Lavender worked at the Redmond Medical Center from where the Derby Day Children's Parade started every year. She organized the kids and I think gave them a short education on salmon before they took off on their bikes. 

### 

A 5-minute YouTube of Susan Willkin's presentation at the Annual Meeting:  https://youtu.be/_SfMBTinhqg

A slide show of my daughter and her Key Club/ Bio-Chem classmates restoring the Bear Creek tributary.  

LETTER: Lake Washington School District Director gives the Facts on the District's facility planning process

While Susan Wilkins is entitled to her opinions concerning the Lake Washington School District’s facilities planning, I would like to provide corrections to a number of misstatements in her various letters and comments posted here.

Fact: There is no district proposal concerning Evergreen Middle School at this time, as Ms. Wilkins states. The Long-Term Facilities Planning Task Force is recommending a set of projects, including one that would modernize Evergreen Middle School. These recommendations would meet the district’s needs through the 2029-30 school year, or the next 14 years. Specific funding measures and final project lists are still to be determined.

Fact: The Long Term Facilities Planning Task Force proposes an addition to Redmond High School OR a small Choice High School to serve the Redmond and Eastlake Learning Communities at a site to be determined. An addition to Redmond High is not the only proposal, as Ms. Wilkins states.
Read More >>

Rare, 1964 photos of flooding along what is now Bear Creek Shopping Center.

"I was at the King County archives last March looking for photos of the Cadman Gravel pit and found these photos of flooding along Bear Creek dated January 2, 1964. For reference, Redmond Way and the railroad tracks run parallel through the photos and cross Bear Creek just south of what is now the Bear Creek Shopping Center. The original photos were sharper -- I'm not a very good photographer so these are slightly out of focus. Let me know if these photos arrive.

--Susan Wilkins, geologist
Education Hill - PTSA volunteer
Redmond, WA.

by Susan Wilkins

* With Ms. Wilkins permission, these photos were shared with the Redmond Historical Society and Steve Hitch, C.O.R. Stormwater Engineer.

City Council gives District go-ahead to remodel Redmond High School; modifies parking plans

Redmond High School 

UPDATED:  City Council modifies LW School District's Redmond High School plan to construct two building additions, three portables, and additional parking.  Passes amended Ordinance 2608  approving RHS remodel. (6-1, Cole opposing).

The district is required to impliment and maintain detailed management plans for "event parking" and "daily operating parking".

It's a known fact, traffic is bad on 104th Street and 166th Avenue when school is in session.  During the July 19th city council meeting on the proposed Redmond High School (RHS) building additions, even Council President Richard Cole said he avoids driving these roads whenever possible.  Richard has this luxury; his kids graduated years ago. 

Susan Wilkins, a mother of two RHS students, unfortunately doesn't have this option.  In the July 26 permit Hearing, she bravely spoke for almost 10 minutes on district traffic study omissions and school project costs. City and district lawyers and officials listened intently.

"With 500 more potential parent drop-offs of 9th graders, traffic will be horrible" Wilkins said.  "I can't even get on 104th Street without making an illegal left turn".  She said her "kids had to walk on Avondale just to get on a bus, just so the District could get paid [for that route]."   Wilkins advised that a state law goes into effect this September giving eligibility for busing only to those kids living outside a one mile radius from school (not counting twists and turns).  She concluded, "It's better to drive my kids".

Ms. Wilkins focused her argument on severe lack of school and Metro bus ridership stating:

"Only 300 ride the bus to RHS, of 1450 students.  That's less than 20% of the population.  At Lake Washington High School almost 1000 students or, 50% ride of the kids ride the Metro bus".   

She said the District needs to provide more buses or give Metro incentives.   Unfortunate for Ms. Wilkins and her supporters, Council didn't address busing.  A traffic planning ordinance (TMP) and lack of documentation appeared to limit Council on the issue.

What the District committed was Read More >>

Citizen activist rebuts LWSD bond measure at Redmond City Hall

UPDATED:  The City Council voted 5-2 to endorse the two proposed LWSD levies and bond but not before Susan Wilkins, citizen activist, spoke up to warn them to act carefully, as follows: 

Ms. Wilkins said that 23 of 30 elementary schools are already overcapacity and the new bond wouldn't fully resolve the overcrowding problem.  Alcott has the most dire overcrowding with 227 students in 8 portables. 

The scope of portable usage in elementary schools is significant with  91 portables district-wide.  Wilkins said 1822 elementary students use portables for their classrooms.  The 2014 bond, if it passed would create 1615 seats by 2016 which is still below present and mid-term needs.  The three new elementary schools do not completely address the crisis with portables and modernization of Meade, Kirk, and Rockwell won't happen for 7-8 years.  And by that time the schools will be severely overcrowded, Wilkins said.

Wilkins also said the District has understated the cost of the two Levies and Bond.  She conceded that while the measures may cost the average $450,000 home $30/month in 2014 total costs for the measures will escalate to $80/month by 2018.  "People deserve to know what they're voting for", concluded Wilkins.

Byron Shutz,of the Bond and Levy Committee and now Redmond Councilman-elect, was present but had nothing to say.  All councilmembers made positive remarks about LWSD in support of the measures. 

Reported by Bob Yoder

 

Lake Washington School District Director Reith explains issues around the STEM School

Lake Washington School District Communications Director Kathryn Reith says on April 4th.... 

I appreciate Ms. Wilkins’ interest in and concern about the proposed STEM school building. Unfortunately, she made some conclusions based on the traffic study we provided to her that are not correct. First, the district has no plans to further develop the site. Second, the educational program for the STEM school has not yet been determined. The possible scenario she reports was provided to the traffic consultant since it would create the most traffic to the site: that’s what a traffic impact statement should consider. Again, no decision regarding the STEM school academic program has been made.

I invite any community member or parent who is interested in this proposed building to attend the hearing at Alcott Elementary School on Tuesday, April 5. While the hearing will begin at 6 p.m., district staff will be available beginning at 5:30 p.m. to answer questions and will have site plans on display.
 
By Kathryn Reith
Communications Director, LWSD
April 4

Response by Susan Wilkins
 - District parent, PTSA member, volunteer:

"Kathryn Reith says that the district has no additional plans to develop the site? Well, in 2001, the district had plans to put a junior high on the site and had every square foot of the property covered by buildings, fields and parking. The district’s 6-Year Capital Facilities Plan 2010-2015 on page 14 says that all new schools will be built with plans to add portables as needed. The idea that the district can use only 7 acres of the 22-acre site and set aside 15 acres for “permanent conservation” isn’t believable or even allowed by a public agency. The property is listed as being held for the district’s “long term needs.” There is no doubt that the site will be fully developed over time".

Read More >>

Hiding in Plain Sight: The Snoqualamie River Channel

Here is an interesting article that is not related to schools, but I wanted to write it while the horse show tents are up at Marymoor Park.  It turns out that the photos don't capture what the eye sees, but once you know what you're looking for, you wonder why you didn't see it sooner. - Susan Wilkins

SNOQUALMIE CHANNEL CUT INTO HILLSIDE ABOVE MARYMOOR PARK
(note the arrow in the sky marking the channel )

 HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: THE SNOQUALMIE RIVER CHANNEL 

The tents for the Cavalia Horse Show at Marymoor Park give us a good reference point for finding the ancient Snoqualmie River Channel. During the last Ice Age when the continental glacier from the north blocked the Snoqualmie Valley and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, water melting off the glaciers and out of the Cascade Mountains flowed over the large hill between the Snoqualmie Valley and Bear Creek Valley east of Redmond. We can see the channel if we look at the horizon to the right of the Cavalia Tents where the hillside appears to have a large bite taken out if it. This is what’s left of the ancient Snoqualmie River Channel.

At the time that the channel was in use, about 15,000 years ago, the downtown Redmond, Bear Creek and Sammamish Valley basins were filled by a great lake called Glacial Lake Russell. Lake Russell filled Puget Sound from the Olympics to the Cascades and all the way south to Olympia near the State Capitol Building. The surface elevation of Lake Russell was at 160 feet above sea level. The bottom of the Snoqualmie Channel that we see cut into the hillside hangs in the air at 160 feet above sea level because that is where the Snoqualmie River flowed into Lake Russell.

J. Harlen Bretz, the famous geologist who discovered the Missoula Floods in eastern Washington, visited Redmond in the early 1900s and recognized that the Snoqualmie River had once flowed across the hillside from the east and into the Sammamish Valley. He wrote about the Glacial Snoqualmie River in his 1913 classic, Glaciation of the Puget Sound Region.

Next time you drive down SR520 into Redmond, look for the Snoqualmie River. It’s up there, hiding in plain sight.

By Susan Wilkins
Redmond resident & frequent contributor
Photo by Wilkins

Part Two: History of Growth Management in Redmond

The Lake Washington School District's proposed STEM School is currently being held up by two Appeals.  One of the Appeals is related to the Growth Management Act  and the location of the STEM School outside of the Urban Growth Boundary.  Click to enlarge Susan's map. B.Y.

History of Growth Management in Redmond, WA. 

By Susan Wilkins
Redmond Resident, Parent, and PTSA volunteer

In response to widespread growth and sprawl in the state, especially in Western Washington, the legislature passed the Growth Management Act in 1990 that created areas where significant urban growth would be concentrated, leaving large areas of rural and forestland undeveloped.

Urban Growth Boundary lines were drawn around cities and parts of the county that were already developed and populated. Urban services were to be concentrated inside the urban growth area in order to provide the most benefit to the majority of the population at the lowest possible cost. Housing developments that could be built anywhere in King County were suddenly only allowed inside the urban growth boundary. Read More >>

LETTER: A View Of Our Awful Traffic On Education Hill

1st Video of traffic in front of Redmond Junior High during school, Tuesday, June 15, 2010

2nd Video of summer traffic in front of Redmond Junior High, Tuesday, August 3, 2010 

A VIEW OF OUR AWFUL TRAFFIC ON EDUCATION HILL, by Susan Wilkins

Many years ago, the main north-south road to the top of Education had only one lane in each direction. Over the years, as more and more houses were added to the neighborhoods, the two lanes couldn’t handle all the cars going up and down the hill so the road was widened to two lanes in each direction.

Fast forward to 2008 and the City of Redmond decided that they once again wanted only one lane of traffic in each direction on 166th Avenue NE with a center turn lane.

LETTER: Where will the children moving into downtown Redmond go to school?

Susan Wilkins said...

Where are the children from the new apartments and condos in downtown Redmond supposed to go to school? Redmond Elementary is already near capacity with 401 students and Redmond Middle School is seriously overcrowded with 970 students. Nearly 400 elementary students from the east side of Redmond (Woodbridge, Evans Creek & Hidden Ridge) are bused out to Dickinson Elementary and Alcott Elementary every day. Both of these schools are more than 3 miles outside the city limits. Students from River Trail, north of QFC, are bussed up to Rockwell Elementary. It seems like the vision for downtown Redmond is walkability - walk to shops, walk to parks, walk to entertainment, walk to the transit center. But walk to school? Forget-about-it! Why hasn’t the City of Redmond told the school district to plan for students living in the downtown area and insisted that they build schools to meet the walkability model that is being developed?

The school district says that there isn’t enough land available to build schools in downtown Redmond. Note that Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWIT) built a satellite campus next to Marymoor Park in 2004 and DigiPen just moved into its new campus along Willows Road last year. A number of churches/religious groups have converted warehouses in the industrial areas that are comparable to a typical school in size and space usage. Redmond could really use another elementary and a middle school downtown (or maybe a K-8) that residents could walk to.

Bob Yoder has hit a nerve when asking what the future identity of downtown Redmond is going to be. Maybe the plan is to create a thriving, exciting downtown for Yuppies (young urban professionals) and DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids) in which case, downtown schools will not be needed. If children are supposed to be part of downtown Redmond, then the City needs to open a dialogue with the school district about where they will go to school within the City limits – and insist that the schools be located where children can actually walk to school.

By Susan Wilkins, Education Hill, Redmond

 

How the District keeps track of millions of dollars of classroom space

COMMENTARY: (Susan Wilkins)  I have a 2010-2011 student directory from Horace Mann Elementary that lists 19 teachers in 19 classrooms in the school. But look at the LWSD 6-Year Capital Facilities Plan and it says that Horace Mann has 17 classrooms. Which is it? 17 classrooms or 19 classrooms? I brought up this discrepancy with Janene Fogard who is the acting facilities planner for the district. I was told that I needed to meet with Barbara Posthumous who is the Director of Finance because she was in charge of classroom counts for the district. (I actually don't know why she is in charge of this.)

I went to Barbara's office and she took out a photocopy of Horace Mann's floor plan and proceeded to number the rooms at Horace Mann with a pen. She numbered the classrooms from 1 to 19, then she looked at another sheet and said that two rooms were "resource rooms" so that Horace Mann had 17 rooms. Which rooms were 'resource rooms' and what were the resource rooms used for? She did not know. I pointed out that my directory said that Horace Mann had 19 classrooms that were clearly used as classrooms. We argued whether Horace Mann had 19 or 17 rooms for another 30 minutes until she needed to get to another meeting. Two rooms is not a lot; however, the district has 56 'resource rooms' in its elementary schools - enough classroom space for 3 additional schools. 

I found the whole experience to be unreal. Was the district really keeping track of millions of dollars of classroom space using a pen and paper? The district says that they have 56 'resource rooms.' What are they all used for? Many members of the task force asked for a space audit and a classroom inventory to find out what the classrooms were being used for. From January through June, Janene Fogard refused to authorize a space audit until school was out and then stated that the district would do a space inventory in the future. 

The district isn't sure how all of its classroom space is being used, or if it's being used efficiently, but they've declared a space shortage because of surging enrollment and they want taxpayers to fund a bond.  I have my concerns.  

Commentary by Susan Wilkins
Member of the Task Force for Facilities Planning

LWSD is not saving money by cutting bus stops and combining routes on Education Hill

NO MONEY SAVED BY CUTTING REDMOND JUNIOR HIGH BUS STOPS AND COMBINING ROUTES ON EAST EDUCATION HILL

Contributed by Susan Wilkins

Lake Washington School District needs to act quickly and restore timely and efficient bus service to east Education Hill.  They should look at other bus routes whose stops have been reduced “for efficiency” and make sure that those routes aren’t being abandoned by students and parents in favor of driving. (Hint: Eastlake High School bus routes are too early to be usable.) The district has a new automated phone dialing system that can quickly call parents to inform them about important updates – like new bus routes. I hope to hear from them.

The really bad news is that the Lake Washington School District will not be receiving very much money from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction since bus transportation reimbursement is based on the number of students who ride the bus each morning. During the month of October, all bus drivers in the state will count the number of students on their buses each morning for 5 consecutive days and the annual compensation that the district receives will be determined by the counts multiplied by the distance that each student lives from the school. This year, nearly 40 seats will be empty and the Lake Washington School District will receive no compensation from the state for the empty seats. What a waste. And the new route was supposed to save money.

OPINION: LW School District: Important Information about the New Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) School

IMPORTANT REMINDER:   If  you're watching the NCAA Basketball Finals but still want to attend, please tape the games send Sup. Chip Kimball an email with your comments, name and address ckimball@lwsd.org.
  

 
View Larger Map Get Directions View Bird's Eye
Map to Alcott Elementary School

OPINION:  Lake Washington School District: Important Information about the New Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) School, By Susan Wilkins

STEM School Public Hearing: Tuesday, April 5th - 6 PM at Alcott Elementary – 4213 228th Avenue NE  (see map)

Parents have been asking about the new STEM high school that was approved by voters in the February 8 election earlier this year. Superintendent Chip Kimball has responded that a lot of the plans have not been decided and will be announced later. The public hearing for the STEM high school will be held on Tuesday, April 5. In order to apply for a building permit from King County, the school district was required to submit plans for the building and a traffic analysis to indicate how the school will be run and how disruptive it will be on the rural community. The most interesting information about the school came from the traffic report.

Most notable - the new school will not have a gymnasium or lunchroom because students will be double-shifted and will only attend for half of each day. The target attendance for the school is 675 students per session (although each session could have up to 825 students.) There will be a morning session from 7:00 – 10:30 AM followed by an afternoon session from 11:30 AM – 3:00 PM. A total of 1300 students are supposed to attend the school each day when it opens in 2012. Students in the morning session will return to their home high school for lunch, Language Arts, History, PE, foreign languages, Art, Music and other electives. The afternoon session will arrive at the STEM high school by 11:30 AM after spending the morning at their home high school. It’s not clear which school the students will receive their diplomas from. What is clear is that the STEM School will not be a full-day regular high school because it is not equipped with adequate facilities or classroom space for students to attend all day.  Read More >>

OPINION: Redmond High School Expansion costs $18,600,000 - Adds Only 14 Classrooms

RHS Expansion:  14 classrooms, 4 portables, small gym, staff parking

$18,600,000 REDMOND HIGH SCHOOL EXPANSION - Each Classroom costs one million dollars,  By Susan Wilkins

OPINION:  Everybody remember the dire warnings last January before the Lake Washington School District special election? If we didn’t approve the $65 million levy for additional classroom space then our schools will be so overcrowded that there would be double shifting at the high schools and portable classrooms!

The levy was approved in the February 8, 2011 election and the school district started plans to build the new schools right away. The election mailings sent out by the district projected that enrollment would increase from 24,500 to 27,000 in just a few years.

After the predictions of exploding student population growth and overcrowding, the Redmond High School Expansion will add only a small gym and 14 classrooms to the school: 11 classrooms, 2 science labs and 1 art room. At maximum capacity, that’s enough additional space for 448 students.  READ MORE >>