Old Hay reopening may ease enrollment in QA/Magnolia
After the contentious closure of five Seattle Public School District (SPSD) buildings, discontinuance of five programs and relocation of eight others, projections of increased enrollment mean the district will reopen five K-5 schools across the city-with Old Hay potentially starting up again by fall 2010.
"Under the new plan we're guaranteeing families predictability. Based on their address they have a guaranteed attendance area," said Patti Spencer, SPSD communications manager. "When we started looking at that level of detail by attendance area it became clear we had some projections that showed that by 2015 - the year we're looking forward to in our planning - that we would have a shortage of space in particular areas of the city."
The list of schools to be reopened includes Old Hay in the McClure Area, Rainier View in the Aki Kurose Area and three schools in North Seattle - Sandpoint in the Eckstein Area, Viewlands in the Whitman Area and McDonald in the Hamilton Area.
A study commissioned in early 2008 to analyze then-current enrollment and demographic projections produced three scenarios - low growth, medium growth and high growth. The district chose the medium growth scenario.
These enrollment projections combined with current overcrowding means the school district has to open more schools to attain functional capacity for school clusters - the attendance areas designated by the new student assignment plan.
"So we knew a year ago that we would definitely need additional capacity in the north and in Queen Anne and Magnolia," Spencer said. "In fact, when the board voted to close Hay the board said we know we may need to reopen this soon if enrollment continues to increase on Queen Anne."
For the McClure Area, the functional capacity of all elementary schools in Queen Anne and Magnolia is 1,605 without Old Hay and projected enrollment ranges from 1,770 in 2010 to 1,886 in 2015. Reopening Old Hay increases the functional capacity to 1,955, assuming a full capacity of 350 for Old Hay.
The McClure Area has the second lowest projected enrollment increase of the five clusters, with an expected increase of 261 students by 2015. Expected enrollment in the Hamilton Area is the lowest, hitting 54 seats over capacity in 2013 without reopening McDonald. The other three areas have projected enrollment increases of more than 300 students by 2015.
As an "option school" students will not be automatically assigned to Old Hay with the new assignment plan, but they can apply for a seat in the school, though they will be allotted a guaranteed seat at a school in their attendance area anyways.
"What has been discussed as a possibility for Old Hay is putting an all-Montessori program there," Spencer said. "However we do want to engage and talk with the community before that decision is made."
In this plan the Old Hay building would be reopened in fall 2011, but the school will start in fall 2010 at the Lincoln Building, formerly Lincoln High School. McDonald will also be housed in the Lincoln Building starting in fall 2010 but will be there for two years before returning to its original building site.
McDonald will also be housed at Lincoln High School starting in fall 2010 but will be there for two years before returning to its original building site.
Sandpoint will also reopen in fall 2010, but in its current building. Rainier View and Viewlands are scheduled to reopen in fall 2011 also in their current buildings.[[In-content Ad]]
