All posts by Wendi Dunlap

Editor of the Beacon Hill Blog.
Getting Around

Safety drill to close MLK Jr. Way today

This morning, from 9:00 am to noon, don’t be surprised to see a lot of police and emergency response crews at the intersection of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and South Cloverdale Street. It’s a safety drill to help prepare for the opening of the Link light rail service this July. (We hear July 3 is the day. We can’t wait!)

During the test Martin Luther King, Jr. Way will be closed to through traffic from South Kenyon Street to South Henderson Street, though Metro Transit will be allowed through. Other traffic will be detoured to Renton Avenue South and Beacon Avenue South.

Need more information? Contact Bruce Gray, Sound Transit public information officer, at 206-398-5069.


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Clean and Green

Help restore the Maple School Natural Area

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The Maple School Natural Area is a 15-acre greenspace, overrun by invasive plants such as blackberry and ivy. The Northwest Environmental Education Council has planned a work day on January 19 to remove the invasive plants and plant native species to restore the greenspace.

If you would like to help, please meet at the base of the stairs at South Lucile Street and 18th Avenue South at 10:00 am on January 19 (MLK Jr. Day). Wear work clothes. Tools, gloves, snacks and instruction will be provided.


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Education

School changes ultimately useless?

A commenter at the Seattle Public Schools community blog provided a link to a very interesting presentation that suggests that the Superintendent’s proposed closures and program relocations don’t make any meaningful change to existing capacity imbalances, and the costs will be unacceptably high.

The presentation is based on the plan as it was a few days ago, and does not reflect some of the changes made in today’s announcements, but much of it still applies. Dick Lilly had an editorial yesterday on Crosscut that made many of the same points.

An interesting note: over 20% of Southeast cluster students would be forced to move, and the costs of these changes would make changes to this cluster a net loss for the District.

It would be nice to see an updated version of these stats to reflect the status quo after today’s announcements.

Education

Final school closure/relocation recommendations posted

The Seattle School superintendent’s final recommendations for school closure and relocation have just been posted at the District’s website. There have been some slight modifications, but the effects on Southeast Seattle are fairly similar to what’s been proposed all along.

Here are current recommendations for this part of the city (the South and Southeast clusters of the Seattle Public School system, plus Thurgood Marshall which is just north of I-90):

Building closures:

  • Van Asselt

Relocated programs:

  • Half of Lowell APP to Thurgood Marshall (Half of the Lowell APP program will remain at Lowell)
  • Thurgood Marshall EBOC to Dunlap and Hawthorne
  • Van Asselt to African-American Academy

Discontinued Programs:

  • African-American Academy (K-5 students will be reassigned to Van Asselt, and 6-8 students will be reassigned based on where they live.)

NOVA and SBOC will be moving to Meany, and Summit K-12 is still recommended for closure.

A motion on these recommendations will be introduced to the school board at their meeting tomorrow, January 7. The board will then vote on the plan on January 29. In the meantime, there are two public hearings planned, one at Lowell, 1058 E. Mercer Street, at 6:30–8:30 pm on January 20, and one at the school district headquarters in Sodo, the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, 2445 3rd Avenue South, at 6:30–8:30 pm on January 22. To testify, you must be added to the list in advance. Email hearing@seattleschools.org or call 206-252-0042 to do this.

You can also express your opinion by emailing comments to capacity@seattleschools.org or schoolboard@seattleschools.org, calling the School Board at 206-252-0040, or mailing comments to School Board, PO Box 34165, MS 11-010, Seattle, WA, 98124-1165.

(Edited to add: the District has posted a FAQ about the proposals, as well.)

Education

Educators, Students and Parents group posts online petition against school closures

A new group, Educators, Students and Parents For a Better Vision of Seattle Schools (ESP) has posted a “Save Seattle Schools” online petition against the current closure/relocation proposal. Group representative Nora Wheat tells us that they are “hoping to raise awareness of the challenges faced by the district while generating support and solutions that will not negatively impact families and communities to the degree that the district’s current proposal does.”

An excerpt from the petition:

“The proposal is rushed and ill-conceived. It lacks clear explanations of its choices and hard data to justify them. In many places, it contradicts the district’s goals, guiding principles, and codified policies. It will further erode trust in our schools and drive even more of our families out of the district or to private schools… The proposal also lacks critical information from the district’s Functional Capacity Analysis (which will not be released until Jan. 13, 2009), and the new school assignment plan (which will not be completed until 2010).”

While we are quite skeptical (to say the least) about the value of online petitions, we don’t mind spreading the word so you can make your own decision whether to sign. Over 1,000 people have signed so far.

Seattle Schools superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson will announce the final school closure and relocation plan this afternoon.

Life on the Hill

“I want them to be able to say more to me than ni hao”

The Seattle Times has a lovely feature today on Beacon Hill’s Dolores Veliz. Veliz realized several years ago that she was unable to chat with many of her neighbors because they didn’t speak English well. Instead of merely wishing things could be different, she took action to demolish the language barrier directly by offering free English lessons. In three years, she’s taught about 500 students, aged 5-75, and made about 500 new friends.

Beacon Bits

Beacon Bits: Veterans, bridges, and Metro, schools, and snow

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Getting Around

How much should light rail fares be?

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Sound Transit wants feedback from you on proposed fares for the Link light rail line, which will open in July this year. The current proposal is for a distance-based fare, starting with a base fee and then increasing the fare the further you go.

An unofficial version of the proposed fare charts can be seen in this post at the Seattle Transit Blog. The two pricing plans are as follows: one plan keeps the current Ride Free Area downtown for the trains (so you could ride the train from Westlake to the International District for free) with a $2 base fare and a 5 cent charge per mile, rounded to the nearest quarter. The maximum fare in this plan for a ride from downtown to the airport would be $2.75. The other plan does not have a Ride Free Area for the trains, but starts with a $1.75 base fare, and a 5 cent charge per mile (rounded as in the other plan). The maximum fare in this plan would be $2.50.

For trips from Beacon Hill, we are looking at $2.25 from the Hill to Westlake and $2.50 to the airport under the first (Free Ride Zone) plan, or $2.00 from the Hill to Westlake and $2.25 to the airport under the second (no Free Ride Zone) plan.

Sound Transit will be presenting these plans and listening to your feedback at a series of public meetings:

If these dates and locations sound familiar, it’s because these are also the dates and locations of the SDOT meetings we posted about on December 22, to discuss parking changes in the light rail station areas. Looks like there will be a lot to discuss at those meetings.

Can’t make the meetings? You can also express your opinion on the light rail fares by emailing linkfares@soundtransit.org, phoning Project Manager Sarah Lovell at 206-398-5405, or writing to:

Sarah Lovell
Sound Transit Office of Policy and Planning
410 S Jackson St
Seattle, WA 98104

Getting Around

Sound Transit “lunch bus” tour and Thai food, January 16

Want to get an up-close look at the SODO, Stadium, and Mount Baker light rail stations, peek at the Beacon Hill Station area, tour the changes on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South, and view the new trackway in Tukwila and near the airport? Sound Transit is hosting another “Lunch Bus” on January 16. It’s a guided tour of the light rail project areas, with a stop for lunch at Thai Recipe Restaurant. The cost of lunch is $10. Details and RSVP here.