Seattle Public Schools have released their preliminary recommendations for building closure and program adjustment for the 2009 school year, and they are far from uncontroversial. Some of the changes will affect Beacon Hill and the rest of Southeast Seattle, particularly the programs at the African-American Academy, which are slated for cancellation.
Six buildings are recommended for closure: Genesee Hill, Lowell, Mann, T. T. Minor, Pinehurst, and Van Asselt. (Old Hay will close, but this may be temporary.)
Nine programs will relocate: the Lowell APP program to Hawthorne and Thurgood Marshall; NOVA to Meany; Pathfinder K-8 to Arbor Heights; SBOC to Meany; Summit K-12 to Rainier Beach; Thornton Creek to Summit’s current building, the old Jane Addams Junior High; T. T. Minor K-3 Montessori to Leschi; Thurgood Marshall’s EBOC to Bailey Gatzert; and Van Asselt to the African American Academy building on Beacon Hill.
The African American Academy, AS #1, Arbor Heights, Meany, and T. T. Minor programs that already exist would be discontinued.
Details are on this Seattle Public Schools FAQ PDF.
Final recommendations will be released on January 6, 2009. With the holidays, there’s not a lot of time to get your opinions heard, so if you want to give SPS a piece of your mind, you should email SPS soon at capacity@seattleschools.org, call them at 206 252 0040, or mail your comments to School Board, PO Box 34165, MS 11-010, Seattle, WA, 98124-1165.
There will also be a series of public meetings. Dates and times may be found on the SPS Capacity Management website.
Readers, are any of you affected by these changes? Please tell us what you think.
Thanks to the West Seattle Blog for liveblogging the SPS meeting tonight. You rock!
They are canceling the “African-American Academy”? GREAT! Get rid of this poorly performing school that has the extra added bonus baggage of being a racist way for naive white Seattle liberals to assuage their stupid guilt. OR better yet, keep the “African-American Academy” and open up a “White American Academy” or a “European-American Academy” too. Fire Caprice Hollins too.
I concur with the poster above. What will be the plan for the somewhat new AAA building?
Here’s an idea…Sell it to a private party and open up an Asian American Academy!
The plan is in the post on this page. The Van Asselt program would move into the AAA building, which is less than 10 years old.
The above 2 posters are obivously ignorant. Unless you have worked at the school, had a child go to the Academy or even taken the time to see what the school is all bout then I suggest you not comment. There is nothing wrong with learning about who you are and where you come from, white kids learn that everyday and are taught that they are superior above any race. No one said anything about the Indian Heritage school but wait that’s because everyone in the world wants claim to have a certain % of native american in them. When you look at areas like Beacon Hill it’s very diverse but when you look deeper you’ll see that Beacon Hill Elementary is predominantly Asian American so if you really want your own school ask Dr. Goodloe-Johnson to open up one these already closed buildings and have a field day. I won’t let any justify so stupidly why my children shouldn’t be able to be at a school where no matter what race walks through that door they are proud of who they are.
KUOW’s Weekday is featuring the school closure debate during its morning talk show tomorrow, Tuesday, Dec. 16 from 9-10 a.m. Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson and Board member Michael DeBell will be among our panelists. We encourage all listeners to call in at (800) 289-KUOW or e-mail weekday@kuow.org to help get a healthy, balanced discussion going.