Elementary Reorganization Task Force
Update: At its December 12, 2011 School Board meeting, the Port Angeles School District Board of Directors did not approve a recommendation to propose closure of Franklin Elementary School June 30, 2012. The Board approved a second motion not to close any elementary school in the Port Angeles School District for the 2012-13 school year.
Comments regarding elementary reorganization may be sent by email to info@portangelesschools.org, or by U.S. Mail to: Port Angeles School District, Attention: Board of Directors, 216 East Fourth Street, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
Statement from the Board:
The School Board wishes to extend its heartfelt gratitude to the members of the Elementary Reorganization Task Force for all their hard work and thoughtful attention devoted to developing a recommendation for restructuring elementary schools in the District. The alternative brought forth as a recommendation to the Board was the best alternative for restructuring the delivery of elementary instruction in the District, given our current configuration of elementary school buildings.
However, after reviewing the data and listening to the input and suggestions from the public, the Board has reached the conclusion that at this time closing Franklin Elementary School, and relocating 392 students, staff and programs was not the right decision for our community.
This decision was not made lightly, however; in looking at balancing our need to deliver high quality instruction, balancing the budget, and remaining institutionally flexible during these times of changing demographics, mandates and funding, closing Franklin would have resulted in the four remaining schools to be at or above capacity.
In addition, the recent word that the Washington State legislature is not planning any additional cuts for this fiscal year enabled the Board to reach the decision that retaining the current elementary instruction configuration will be sustainable for one more year. However, if enrollment and or educational funding continue to decline, we will need to revisit elementary configuration. The work of this task force will serve as the foundation for that decision.
Not moving forward with the recommendation last night gives the Board more time to be very thoughtful in how the recommendation would be implemented. It also allows us, and our community partners, more time to work with the legislature to fully fund public education.
Dr. Patti Happe, Board President
During fall 2011, the Elementary Reorganization Elementary Reorganization Task Force examined the restructuring of elementary school sites due to declining enrollment and the expense trends of housing five elementary schools. In mid-November it released three plans for public input. After thorough review, Task Force members voted at its December 5, 2011 meeting on the plan they favored for recommendation to the Board of Directors. By majority vote, Plan 2 was the preferred choice to present to the Board for consideration. Plan 2: Consolidation is recommended to minimize operational costs and provide effective educational services. The rationale for closing Franklin instead of any other school, including Hamilton, is because: 1) Franklin is reaching the end of its serviceable life - in a recent evaluation of facilities in the School District, it received the lowest condition score of any elementary school in the School District. As is, it is compromised by old infrastructure and the cost of major modernization would be very close to the cost of replacement. 2) Because Jefferson is geographically close to Franklin, by closing Franklin instead of Hamilton (which is the second oldest elementary school) we maintain an even distribution of neighborhood schools, from the east to the west, throughout the School District. The rationale for having four K-6 schools allows for the majority of students to stay in their neighborhood Future Possibilities: Proposed plans 1 and 3 considered by the Task Force included the following: Plan 1: Close Franklin Elementary; operate two K-2 schools (Jefferson, Hamilton); operate two 3-6 schools (Roosevelt, Dry Creek) Under Plan 1, all School District programs will be housed at one of these schools (MAC/Multi-Aged Community, Special Needs, Early Learning). Every school will house special education classrooms under each of the plans. Future possibilities under Plan 1: Sell Fairview, Franklin, Central Services Building, and use this capital funding to add a third wing on Jefferson. Plan 3: Under Plan 3, keep Roosevelt Elementary as a K-6 school; operate two K-2 schools (Jefferson, Hamilton) (MAC/Multi-Aged Community 1-2 housed at Jefferson);operate two 3-6 schools (Franklin, Dry Creek) (MAC/Multi-Aged Community 3-5 housed at Franklin). Future possibilities under Plan 3: As enrollment continues to decrease, move Jefferson students to Franklin while a third wing is being added to Jefferson, and eventually close Franklin and move those students to Jefferson. To review proposed plans, view November 7, 2011 Meeting Minutes/Talking Points below. |
December 5, 2011 |
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November 30, 2011 Meeting |
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November 7, 2011 Meeting |
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November 2, 2011 Meeting |
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October 12, 2011 Meeting
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October 5, 2011 Meeting
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September 21, 2011 Meeting |
Background
The Board of Directors revisited, revised and approved the Port Angeles School District's Strategic Plan in March 2011. Included in this plan is a goal of allocating resources. This reallocation calls for a task force to examine a restructuring of the elementary school sites due to the declining enrollment and the expense trends of housing five elementary schools. Enrollment in Clallam County has been affected by changing demographics, lack of family wage jobs, and increasingly scarce affordable housing.
The formation of the Elementary Reorganization Task Force was approved by the School Board of Directors at its meeting on September 12, 2011.
The District has a long-standing history of operating small neighborhood schools. Port Angeles still has small elementary schools compared to the Prototypical School Funding Model the state just adopted for the 2011-12 school year. The state model for K-6 elementary schools indicates that 400 students per school is the best place to begin. Port Angeles averages 357.6 students per school. School facility expenses decline commensurately with fewer enrolled students. With less students to serve, the District has had to examine whether it can continue to afford the fixed overhead cost of keeping the same number of buildings operating. This difficult reality is experienced in other districts in Washington.
Additionally, as a result of the District’s Fiscal Advisory Committee work for the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 school years, along with additional funding reductions for 2011-12, the Port Angeles Board of Directors recognized even after trimming $3,860,000 to balance the past four years' budgets, difficult decisions need to be made to assure the District will maintain an appropriate fiscal balance for the 2012-13 school year and beyond. After an updated five-year Strategic Plan was reviewed and adopted in March 2011, the restructuring of elementary schools within the Port Angeles School District became a top priority.
The principals, staff, parents and community members representing the five elementary schools will contribute to and be responsible for reviewing the research on demographics for the Port Angeles School District boundary area, transitions and student academic achievement, neighborhood schools, and schools that are grade cluster specific.
This group is tasked with recommending the challenges and possible changes needed to create desirable and affordable elementary school programs, services and operations. The Task Force will consider, discuss and recommend program decisions with the District interests in mind.
Members of the Task Force
Board of Director Representative Sarah Methner
Dry Creek Principal Kate Wenzl
Dry Creek Staff Member Lisa Lisk
Dry Creek Parent Representative Laura Levine
Franklin Principal Amity Butler
Franklin Staff Member Cynthia Green
District MAC Staff Member Claire Rausch
Franklin Parent Representative Walt Mozingo
Hamilton Principal Gary Pringle
Hamilton Staff Member Trent Pomeroy
Hamilton Parent Representative Pauline Marvin
Jefferson Principal Michelle Jefferson
Jefferson Staff Member Evan Murphy
Jefferson Parent Representative Gretchen O'Brien
Food Services Representative Kathy Crowley
Elementary Restructuring Task Force
Roosevelt Principal Doug Hayman
Roosevelt Staff Member Stacey Nickerson
Roosevelt Parent Representative Teresa Beckstrom
Special Education Staff Member Anne Mitchell
Title I - LST Representative Coya Erickson
Physical Education Staff Member Tim Ochs
Music Staff Member John Kilzer
Elementary Paraeducator Teresa Bond
Maintenance and Custodial Representative Jim Varela
Elementary School Secretary Representative Julie Smith
Transportation Representative Karen Ross
Parent At Large Michele Haworth
Assistant Superintendent Michelle Reid
Superintendent Jane Pryne
Committee Charge
After a thorough review of the research on demographics for the Port Angeles School District boundary area, transitions and student academic achievement, neighborhood schools, and schools that are grade cluster specific, a recommendation will be communicated to the Board of Directors at its December 12, 2011 meeting to be held at the Central Services Building, 216 East Fourth Street. The action taken by the Board of Directors will inform District leadership of any possible adjustments that will impact current programs at all schools in accordance with staff and other resources allocated by the District.