Superintendent's Preliminary Recommendation

Analysis by region: SOUTHWEST

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Overview:  

There are twelve neighborhood schools in the Southwest region (Alki, Arbor Heights, Concord, Cooper, Fairmount Park, Gatewood, High Point, Highland Park, Lafayette, Roxhill, Sanislo, and Schmitz Park), as well as one regional school (Pathfinder @ Genesee Hill) that provide a total of 4,813 seats for kindergarten through fifth grade students. Currently 4,062 of the elementary students attending Seattle Public Schools reside in this region. The number of resident elementary students attending Seattle Public Schools is projected to decrease to 3,558 by 2014.

Currently there are 751 excess seats; by 2014 we anticipate having 1,255 excess seats. Therefore, we recommend closing two buildings and repurposing another. Additional schools may be recommended for closure in the future, depending on enrollment.

Building Closure Recommendation:  

• Genesee Hill (houses Pathfinder program— school analysis)
• Alki (school analysis)

Building Repurpose Recommendations:

• Cooper Elementary program eliminated ( school analysis) and students reassigned.
• Cooper building repurposed from a K-5 elementary to K-8 alternative school for the Pathfinder Program

Criteria Metrics:

Note: Buildings within the region are ranked on each criterion in descending order from 1 to 13, with 1 indicating the most preferred.

Discussion of the Criteria and Rationale:  

The Genesee Hill building has the second lowest rated of any school in the cluster, and while the recommendation is to close the building, we recommend that the Pathfinder program be retained by moving it to the Cooper building. Cooper is one of only two schools in the region that could potentially accommodate a K-8 program (High Point is the other). Rather than leave Pathfinder at Genesee Hill and incur an estimated $30-$40M in potential BEX III capital costs, the recommendation is to eliminate the Cooper elementary program and relocate Pathfinder at Cooper.  

Cooper is a relatively new BEX I building, but the elementary program has low first choice and very few students live within the walk zone. We recommend that the Cooper elementary students be reassigned to their neighborhood schools.

We also recommend closing Alki Elementary School. This school has the third lowest capacity in the region, and its building is in the fourth lowest condition. Although Schmitz Park has the smallest school size and the worst building condition, it is not recommended for closure because of its significantly larger site size. Sanislo has a slightly lower student capacity than Alki, but it is not recommended for closure because its building is in better condition and it has a relatively large site. Fairmount Park was considered for closure, but was rejected because it has a higher building condition rating and a somewhat larger site size. In addition, it is worth noting that although Fairmount Park's current enrollment is quite small, returning to a fixed neighborhood assignment plan with limited choice, along with the anticipated repopulation of the High Point development, the capacity of Fairmount park will be needed. Roxhill was also considered for closure but it has a slightly larger site size, a slightly higher building condition, and a slightly larger school capacity.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Overview:

There are two neighborhood middle schools in the Southwest region (Madison and Denny), and one regional alternative school (Pathfinder K-8 at Genesee Hill) that provide a total of 2,033 seats for sixth through eighth grade students. Currently 1,899 of the middle school students attending Seattle Public Schools reside in this region. The number of resident middle school students attending Seattle Public Schools is projected to decrease to 1,341 by 2014.

Currently there are 134 excess middle school seats; by 2014 we anticipate having 692 excess seats. This excess capacity is insufficient to support the closure of a middle school in this region, particularly given the geographic location of the buildings. Therefore, we recommend not closing any buildings at this time, although we do recommend repurposing one elementary school to house the Pathfinder K-8 program.

Building Closure Recommendation:  

• None

Building Repurpose Recommendation:

• Cooper building repurposed from a K-5 elementary to K-8 alternative school for the Pathfinder Program

Criteria Metrics:

Discussion of the Criteria and Rationale:  

See discussion above, in the Elementary section, for criteria and rationale for this recommendation.

HIGH SCHOOL

Overview:

There are currently two comprehensive high schools in the Southwest region (Sealth and West Seattle) that provide a total of 2,712 seats for ninth through twelfth grade students. Currently 2,476 of the high school students attending Seattle Public Schools reside in this region. The number of resident high school students attending Seattle Public Schools is projected to decrease to 1,941 by 2014.

Currently there are 236 excess high school seats; by 2014 we anticipate having 771 excess seats. This excess capacity is insufficient to support the closure of a high school in this region, particularly given the geographic location of the buildings. Therefore, we recommend not closing any buildings at this time.

Building Closure Recommendation:  

• None

Building Repurpose Recommendation:

• None

Criteria Metrics:

Discussion of the Criteria and Rationale:  

No changes are recommended.