This is a copy of a letter sent to Schools Superintendent Raj Manhas: Please reconsider the Citizens Advisory Committee recommendation to send Pathfinder K-8 School to the Boren building. This choice is inappropriate for our school.

Our school community at Pathfinder followed the Citizens Advisory Committee's process closely and actively. It seemed clear to us that, by all accounts, our program met the criteria set by the school board for a successful program. We entered the process confident that the process would measure and reward this worth to the greater West Seattle community. The Citizens Advisory Committee's final recommendation does not reflect our worth to the community. Rather, it seems a convenient way to dispose of us.

A dedicated group of parents formed an advocacy group at our school in January 2006 to advocate for a facility that would allow our program an adequate-size gymnasium, library and space for a K-8 facility. We carefully surveyed our families about their flexibility to change, moving, and their impressions of our facility overall. We educated the Citizens Advisory Committee about our school in a written report which they received and in consequent dialogue seemed to understand and appreciate. The Pathfinder Facility Advocacy Group clearly stated that our program desires to stay small and independent of co-housing programs. Twice in the past Pathfinder has been co-housed in facilities with other programs. It does not work for our staff and our unique approach to education.

The Boren building has the capacity to house over 1,000 students. Pathfinder K-8 desires to stay small with only a growth in the middle school of 30 students for a total school population of 400. This keeps with the alternative philosophy and vision of a small community, with child-directed learning and expeditionary curriculum.

The Citizens Committee provided no compelling case for Pathfinder to move to the Boren site, only Boren is a more spacious facility and would allow for growth of the program as well as potential co-location of compatible programs. Parents have contacted me directly to indicate their concern with the Boren location on a busy arterial and that the bigger problem of properly supervising all areas of this enormous facility will preclude their children's safety.

The proposed move does not address the pressing need for an adequate facility, rather it moves us from a small outdated facility needing many repairs to a huge outdated facility needing in excess of 11 million dollars in basic repairs to be functional. Excerpts from the Meng Facility report on the Seattle School District website state that the Boren Building is not ADA compliant in the interior, furthermore:

"This middle school is currently used as an interim school for Cleveland High School. The original facility is of low-end construction with generally low ceilings and dark interior corridors and conventional teaching spaces. This building has not aged well and warrants complete upgrade if systems and finishes were to be used for a middle school again."

The Citizens Advisory Committee provided no rationale or a vision to support this move, nor the promise of substantial capital improvements in order to make it in any way appealing. Would it not make more sense to spend the substantial amount of money needed for capital improvements to build a proper facility at our current Genesee Hill location?

By all accounts, other than the state of our current facility, we are a flourishing program that meets the criteria set by the Seattle School Board for a successful program. A proposed move to Boren does not tell the West Seattle community that we are valued, nor does it honor our school and its future.

Lynette Martin

co-president

Pathfinder PTSA