The Lake Washington School District committee charged with determining boundaries for elementary schools on the Sammamish plateau made public today its final recommendation. This recommendation incorporates changes made on the basis of public comment in a January open house meeting. The recommendation has been forwarded to superintendent Chip Kimball who will make his final recommendation to the board for approval at the February 11th board meeting.

“We heard from several neighborhoods with specific concerns around the draft scenarios,” noted Dr. Cindy Lundvall, committee chair. “Some parents drew our attention to specific transportation issues and the impact on existing school communities. As a result, we looked at making some changes while at the same time ensuring that those changes did not have negative impacts on other neighborhoods.”

The new recommendation includes two changes to the Site 52 boundaries as reflected in the previous scenario C: the addition of Broadmoore Estates and of students residing in homes on NE 24th to 28th accessed from the west side of 244th NE. These students will join Camden Park students in one bus route to Site 52, which provides more transportation efficiency.

McAuliffe Elementary will retain the western Vintage neighborhoods so that those students do not have to change schools. Parents in these neighborhoods asked to go to Site 52 with the eastern part of Vintage or to remain at McAuliffe. Due to the number of students who live in these neighborhoods, no scenario with all of Vintage at Site 52 was viable. It will also continue to serve current students who live in the area between 232nd and 229th Aves. SE from NE 4th to SE 8th St. New enrollees in this area will attend Smith. As a result of retaining students from these areas, McAuliffe will not have space to host the Quest program which will be sited at Smith Elementary.

Smith Elementary will continue to serve students on S. East Lake Sammamish Parkway. It will host a Quest program site and will include new enrollees in the area between 232nd and 228th Aves. SE from NE 4th to SE 8th St.

Mead Elementary boundaries will not change.

“The result of this scenario is that fewer students will be faced with moving from one school to another - only 534 children, which is fewer than any other scenario,” noted Lundvall. “Also, Smith Elementary will have the room to accommodate expected growth from the Mystic Lake and Town Center developments as well as other developments planned for the future.”

The committee also recommends that incoming sixth graders, now in fifth grade, at Smith and McAuliffe be allowed to continue enrollment in their current schools for the 2008-09 school year. Siblings of these current fifth graders will also be allowed to continue at their current school for one year only. Transportation will be provided for the 2008-09 school year for these “grandfathered” students.

“This scenario, like all other scenarios generated, is not perfect,” noted Dr. Lundvall. “It projects possible capacity issues at McAuliffe and Site 52 by 2011-12 and beyond as well as the use of up to four portables at Site 52 from the day the school opens. For enrollment projections, we know they are not exact and these numbers could change, so we will have to monitor them closely. Second, if it appears that these numbers are going to hold true, there is the potential of additional adjustments later as well as possibly asking voters for funding for potential building additions.”

Enrollment and classroom capacity projections

Capacity Summary - Classrooms Needed
	'07-08 Total Available Classrooms*	'08-09 Total Available Classrooms*	'07-08	'08-09	'09-10	'10-11	'11-12	'12-13	'13-14	'14-15
McAuliffe	28	28	27	23	25	28	29	29	30	30
Mead	26	26	26	26	25	25	25	25	25	25
Site 52	0	22**	0	22	22	22	23	23	23	23
Smith	32	26	32	16	16	20	22	23	24	24
Total	86	102	85	87	88	95	99	100	102	102

*Includes existing portables
**Includes up to four portables that could be added to this site
Note: Darkly shaded area indicates school would be over capacity

Enrollment Projection
	'07-08	'08-09	'09-10	'10-11	'11-12	'12-13	'13-14	'14-15
McAuliffe	656	586	627	678	708	731	753	758
Mead	615	609	622	616	620	627	611	616
Site 52	0	515	532	535	547	544	551	554
Smith	782	425	442	485	545	586	592	607
Total	2,053	2,135	2,223	2,314	2,420	2,488	2,507	2,535

Notes: Quest program at Smith. Charts do not include four classrooms and approximately 100 students for Quest.

Enrollment projections are based on current enrollments, King County birth rates, plus known planned development.

Boundary Recommendation Map (PDF version)
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Boundary Recommendation Interactive Map/Site 52 Map