The growth of enrollment in Seattle Public Schools has created a need for the system to address capacity management the Seattle Public Schools said in a press release. The plan, to be introduced at a School Board meeting at the John Stanford Center on January 4 recommends reopening Boren School as an "interim site" for K-5 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) for students at Denny International Middle School and Madison Middle School.
The press release states:
A short-term capacity management plan to address Seattle Public Schools’ enrollment growth is being introduced at the Seattle School Board meeting Wednesday night, Jan. 4, with board action scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 18.
The recommended plan, approved by the School Board’s Operations Committee Dec. 14, was developed following input from the Facilities and Capital Management Advisory Committee (FACMAC) and from 300 attendees at six community meetings held in September-December 2010, plus 550 written comments.
Short-term capacity management recommendations include reopening Boren School as an interim site for the 2012-13 school year and having it serve as a K-5 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) option school for West Seattle’s Denny International and Madison middle school service areas. The plan also recommends the installation of portables at various school sites District-wide as needed to address short-term capacity management needs. The exact number of portables and their locations will be based on data obtained during the District’s open enrollment period, which will run from Feb. 27-Mar. 9.
Due to enrollment growth at all grade levels and in multiple attendance areas, SPS doesn’t have sufficient capacity to accommodate additional students in many of its schools. To address these capacity issues, the District has established a Short Term Capacity Management planning process for school year 2012-2013 and an Intermediate/Long Term Capacity Management process for 2013-2014 through 2015-2016.
For the past several months, SPS has been evaluating construction options, including opening buildings that are currently closed, or increasing capacity through the addition of portables, as well as other non-construction options – including school boundary adjustments – to meet these increased capacity demands. The Facilities and Capital Management Advisory Committee, consisting of community volunteers who have been meeting regularly since October, has reviewed the District’s planning assumptions and recommendations and advised on proposed changes.
Development of the short-term capacity management plan was coordinated with work on the proposed New Student Assignment Transition Plan for 2012-13, which supports the capacity management work. The two main proposals for student assignment changes are boundary adjustments to John Stanford International, B.F. Day and McDonald elementary schools and modifications to Geographic Priority Zones for Queen Anne and Thornton Creek elementary schools and South Shore K-8.
The proposed board action calls for reallocating $6.2 million from the District’s 2011-2012 Capital Budget Capacity Reserve to cover costs associated with the short-term capacity management recommendations and the 2012-13 student assignment transition plan.
