Chinook Community Forum – October 23

Date: October 23, 2023

Forum Participants: 25

Summary

A note to the reader: This summary is intended to provide an overview of the consistent themes that came from the small group conversations at the forum. It is not exhaustive, but rather gives highlights of the feedback and responses. See below for the full set of combined notes from the meeting.

Responses to Question 1: What aspects of the middle school experience are most important to you/your student?

The participants of the Chinook forum were aligned on the following areas in this discussion:

• Keeping the community whole and giving students the opportunity to join other middle schools as a cohort.
• Making as little change as possible so that students are not disrupted.
• Access to the Advanced Learning program. Participants consistently said they wanted AL in more schools so they could access it in their neighborhood.
• Maintaining rigor of the academics.
• Maintaining high quality educators.

Responses to Question 2: If we were to consolidate one middle school, what priorities or factors do you think we should consider?

The priorities discussed most were class size and maintaining a reasonable student to teacher ratio; maintaining rigor and access to advanced coursework; integrating Advanced Learning into all middle schools to allow those students to attend their neighborhood school; transportation shortages and commute times.

In addition, there was skepticism and questioning of the demographers’ data and the participants asked for additional options, not just consolidating schools.

Responses to Question 3: What questions do you have?

Participants had many questions about the demographers’ reports including a reflection on whether they were correct for the elementary school consolidation and what happens if we have unpredicted growth. They asked whether students would have a choice of where to go if their school was consolidated. There were questions about the cascading effect of this decision and whether high schools will be consolidated next. Some wanted to know how the district is prioritizing and what other options are being considered.

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Combined Notes

A note to the reader: These are the combined raw notes from the small group discussions at this forum. These notes have not been edited except to remove names and correct spelling or grammar. They have been consolidated to share the combined responses to each question.

Question 1: What aspects of the middle school experience are most important to you/your student?

• Strong desire to keep local communities/students together. Emphasis on importance and benefit of school community beyond academics (including the recognition that schools function as social clubs & sports hubs).
• Value of access to above level courses and concerns shared over rigor of courses/high level teaching if students from other schools are added to Chinook (mother shared her experience with new students at Medina from consolidated elementary, and her perception that the level of the class is no longer the same as it was when her older students attended a few years ago)
• Recognition that the AL program will likely be tied up in this decision. Question: Should there be change with AL structure, how will this be implemented? “We do not want to lose access to more advanced classes. Adding AL to more middle schools could add and enhance learning opportunities for all of the students.”
• Concerns about loss of community connections if school is consolidated. Sports Fields are a community connection for our neighborhood and bring tremendous value.
• “All my students are in AL program. We live here in the neighborhood. We moved here to be near the schools but now they are going to Odle for AL. We want them at Chinook since we live right here. For us, it would be the greatest if we could have our students in AL embedded in the community we live. Odle is the furthest acceptable commuting distance.”
• Concern over rigor in classrooms & access if middle schools consolidate to become larger; “will a 6th grader needing 7th grade math be able to get into the class? Or will it be too full?”
• We know something is going to happen. To some families who experienced this last year, it felt like the decision was done to them. When we don’t know, we make assumptions that can be very negative. We want to be involved in the process.
• “If we were to hold the programs like choice programs whole, I worry about the inequity there. I worry about a divide. I do think that at MS, there are the options of leveling up (ex. 7th grader in 8th grade math.) I am concerned that the flexibility of student schedules might be limited with larger student populations (less access to classes). Do we have the classroom size and the number of teachers needed to absorb the students? Or are we maxed out already at this school?” Concerns shared over class sizes. The group agreed that half full buildings is not as important to families as the number of students in a classroom.
• Students are currently in elementary and I am wondering what will happen to the special programs.
• Concerned about where the Advanced Learning Program will be going.
• Similar concern about where advanced learning will be located and what will be the resulting commute.
• Wondering what the appropriate utilization level is or what is optimal.
• We are wondering what people are looking for.
• Most important is getting to know new people and the importance of being within your neighborhood.
• Balance between being in your neighborhood and having some exposure to other students from across the district.
• High quality teaching, safety, friendly peer environments, same level of teaching quality needs to remain.
• Keep the peer and teachers’ relationships the same, not too many changes.
• Good teachers are critical, whatever is consolidated we need to make sure that we minimize the change and we don’t want to lose amazing teachers.
• After school clubs are critical and want to make sure we have as many after school clubs as possible. Being part of ASB or other activities are critical.
• Having friendly environments and keeping peer groups together.
• Make sure there is timely information for staff and families.
• It would be great to have less lunch periods (no more than two so that students can get to know most of the school community).
• Quality of the education, extensive research to get to this school district, safety in the school, have had bad experiences in other districts with safety, having students in elementary and secondary it is important that the schools are close together.
• Don’t lose the engineering lab at the schools.
• Facilities matter. We went through this last year and had to move to Woodridge and 5th grade is in a portable so want to make sure there is enough room at the school he will go to, friends in the neighborhood.
• If there is going to be a school closure, please make the decision now.
• Social aspect and being with friends so students feel comfortable.
• Consistency and as little changes as possible.
• Good teaching and ensure friends can stay together.
• Having an option to take AL courses at their home school.
• Good food, good buildings, small classrooms,
• Safety, academic support (from parent perspective), stability for students,
• Safety, Teaching quality – if enrollment goes down does teaching quality change?
• Resources – Advanced learning access, and resources support and resources to continue to support the programs. How do we guarantee we have advanced learning support. Continue to support the AL experience in HS as well. Can provide opportunities to rethink supporting students. Distance to travel/convenience is also a concern.
• Experience opportunity, students engaged and build skills to be lifelong learners.
• Options for learning that meet student needs.
• Smaller class size
• Kids at Woodridge and high school. Before consolidation at Woodridge, some friends went to Tyee and some came to Chinook. I would have liked my child to go to Tyee, more creative classes that she was interested in than at Chinook. More academic classes at Chinook. Dance, Art. Easier for us to get to Tyee than Chinook. Location is also important, sharing custody, one week with mom, one week with dad.
• Distance from home to the school is a concern. Now with 4 schools, you will have more traffic to drive through. If you close one, people will have to drive farther? How do you mitigate that?
• Has there been conversation about middle schoolers taking the metro? That could help with traffic. When my child was a freshman, I was more uncomfortable with her taking the Metro – I was more comfortable with students taking a school bus with other kids. But on the Metro, there are other students too. My older daughter can take her younger brother on the bus, and that makes me feel more comfortable.
• Class options, and the social aspect. Continue to develop friendships, and shared interests. My daughter is now double accelerated in math – she felt bored previously. She had already learned the curriculum. We came here because BSD does double acceleration – came from St. Thomas. She is really excited, and even though she misses her friends, she is glad to be able to learn and accelerate in math. Her last school, she fell asleep in math every time. Now a change in her mentality. A pod of students – forming a tight bonding system. Want to continue this program and the friendships developing.
• Thinking about putting my child into the middle schools – concerned about student to teacher ratio – more students per class is a concern for me. If the location is farther, I wouldn’t make the switch. What is the class size before consolidation, and what would it be after? Will there be a floating teacher to support if the class sizes are much larger? Dealing with a lot of kids and different demands. How do you make sure all the kids are getting enough attention and all the help they need?
• We were at Woodridge – there are 30 students per room now, previously when we were touring, we were told they would have about 25 students per room. There is no assistant teacher available.
• What space is available? If you consolidate, will there be more classes in portables? In Woodridge they moved a 5th grade into the school and closed the science lab.
• What is the definition of full utilization? Has BSD ever operated under full utilization? Is that 35-40 students per room?
• Maybe we should target 70% utilization.
• What is the trend in the history of utilization? What is the trend? Are you talking about classrooms used? Number of students per classroom?
• Property taxes have been going up, it has been doubling and tripling the property value and thus increasing the property taxes. Even with non-district students enrolling, do we get money from the other district? That should offset it.
• From the state, if we get a certain amount of money, is that amount of money per student fixed? Or has it been increasing as the standard of living and taxes go up?
• We have a classroom chat group – some parents can’t come tonight. They would like to see the BSD revenue – to know this side of the story and help reach that understanding and agreement.
• Same thing with enrollment numbers. Has the number of students proportionally been lower in lower grades and more in higher grades – just seeing the snapshot of today’s enrollment doesn’t help us know about trends.
• How come the data for enrollment stops at year 2020? If we have data to 2022, we should show that.
• We should see the full papers that the demographers have sent us? How to get to the demographer reports.
• Everyone in their mind might make their own back-of-envelope calculations.
• 950 non-resident students who came in, perhaps from the Arabic language program, that’s about 5% of the whole district – so now, maybe starting a Hindi program and Korean program, starting next September, that could increase enrollment.
• If BSD offers attractive offerings like heritage language programs, music, programs for students with artistic talents, this could increase enrollment.
• How do families if they have their children enrolled outside the district get their kids to school?
• Is there a cap on how many students we want to have from outside districts? Who makes these decisions for various programs, who decides how to start a new program.
• Make a newsletter to announce these types of new programs – even outside of the community that speaks that specific language.
• There are lots of kids who are multicultural. Is there anything talking about children understanding what it means to be a multiracial/multicultural student?
• How do you engage parents who aren’t paying attention?
• The more languages you offer, the more vibrant your district looks.
• In the advanced learner program – with a school closing, International will go to Odle, and the Odle advanced learners will disappear. This causes a lot of anxiety. If a teacher at Odle is teaching history to 4 different classes, how can the teacher move around the 4 schools over the course of the day? What happens to the advanced learning program?
• Two locations for Advanced Learning – if you spread it out, they will lose that friendship from peers. And teachers will be spread out.
• Maybe you do have some of the classes online for Advance Learning across different schools?
• When I went on a tour of the schools, the teachers said that for advanced learning students, they only accelerate in math, and social/emotionally these students are sometimes behind their peers and need extra support in these.
• Teachers who have taught AL year after year, they know what the students need, and they can tailor to their needs year after year. If not, the students don’t have the challenge they need, and they don’t get the help they need in SEL. That’s why an effort to put them together.
• How about somebody who is accelerated in their learning, they can use those skills to teach someone who is behind in that subject. And they can get SEL support from that other student.
• Advancing a student whose academics are high their SEL may not be in the right spot when they come to middle and high school.
• People think the decision is already made. Will any input from parents of AL students have any influence or voting power?
• If AL students are separated into 4 different schools, would AL students still have dedicated classes with their peers?
• It would be important for AL students to be cohorted together, especially as it feeds into the IB program at Interlake.
• What percent of students in the IB program come from AL and what percent come from gen ed?
• The value of having an interest in students going through a track of AL classes together from elementary to high school/IB.
• This makes a clique of students – how do you keep more diversity, and different perspectives from different learners?
• There are people who are very analytical, emotional, creative, how do you keep that diversity of students?
• I don’t want to have a place where everybody is one thing.

Question 2: If we were to consolidate one middle school, what priorities or factors are important that you think we should consider?

• “We would hate to lose the higher levels of classes for student’s needs.” (ex: will there be room for 6th graders in 7th grade math classes.) “I see benefits if Odle was hypothetically dissolved, and if we can provide the level that students need here at Chinook. The positives are that we are uniting our community kids. We hate having to say goodbye to our friends after they leave Medina Elementary to go to Odle for AL.”
• Idea shared to use magnet schools for advanced learning like she experienced in North Carolina. One school that is all of the AL students. Other parents in the group disagreed with this idea. “We have fought for years to integrate our AL students with Gen Ed. Can’t they take PE and other classes all together?”
• “I like consolidated community schools to minimize commute times. I want students learning or in activities, not commuting on bus for long time riding across town.”
• “Agreed. Commute time is an issue for us with three kids in two different schools with AL program at Odle and elementary at Medina.”
• “It is hard to reconcile the demographers’ projections with the intrinsic birth rate. Bellevue is a preferred destination for school-age families. It is an attraction – families are moving here for school. I’m not sure how the demographer can project that influx. Sometimes there are external data pieces. ”
  • Example, Medina always shifts down in 4th & 5th because families can go to private schools and can afford to send them (Lakeside example from her neighbor). How are there micro-changes coming/going with other factors included in demographers’ projections?
• Our teachers that we know don’t live here in Bellevue. They live in Renton or Woodinville with lower housing costs. They commute in.
• Shared further concerns with staffing of school bus drivers and bus routes that are frequently cancelled.
• One of the most important is location.
• What happens to the school that is closed/consolidated.
• We need more information to participate more fully in this conversation. Right now, we have too little information.
• Would like to hear about the alternatives.
• Most important, having a variety of programs to pick from, band, orchestra, AL, Special Education. Will services be available at every site through consolidation?
• Bussing efficiency.
• Choice for the students and families that are being displaced.
• Elevate the voices of the families that have experienced consolidation at the elementary level.
• The district may want to consider programming and systems in the district simultaneously. Take this opportunity to “fix” things.
• After school programming, availability.
• Maintain quality of teaching, not too crowded.
• Keep the quality of the equipment and special classrooms (labs, engineering lab, computer labs, etc.).
• Keep current peers together.
• Would want to move one middle school into three schools so we don’t make one school too big, it would be better to have as little change as possible.
• Not too overcrowded, keep neighborhoods together geographically. Length of bus rides is important and having buses together.
• Heard from parents that experienced this last year about the emotional toll it took on them and specifically hear from them. Prioritize communication and requests from those families.
• The district should be asking what are the strengths and opportunities at each of the schools?
• Chinook: Strengths: amount of clubs, and different courses available, great people that work here, educating students about being safe.
• Really good experience here at CMS.
• Opportunities: too many lunches.
• Having a robust amount of afterschool clubs is important.
• It’s much more difficult to consolidate a middle school than an elementary school.
• Keeping tutorials is also a priority.
• Building a stable environment and structures in place for transition of students, especially.
• Priority would be to keep students together, focusing on the elementary experience.
• Prioritize AL placement. What is the program going to be for these students? What will this program look like? Can student relationships be considered as well? Both are important.
• Be very specific about future special programs and resources.
• The idea of closing a middle school is really sad, because your school is just gone. How do we help students to understand what is going on?
• How do students get to choose, if they do, where they get to go if their school is closed?
• The community the students built is gone – but can it shift and be in a different location?
• Diversity is important. I want to make sure my kids are learning from all aspects, even if my child is very academically driven, it’s only middle school, and I’d be anxious to see what she chooses.
• Even in AL, people can come from different backgrounds, and kids find a way to learn from each other.
• Will enrollment keep declining over time? Why don’t we wait a few years to keep tracking trends before we decide to consolidate?

Question 3: What questions do you have?

• How do we handle the big boom of populations over time like what was shown on the slides? What has been done in the past and did it work?
• Group asked more questions about the new apartments; Are the demographers connecting with city planners to ensure incoming families and local employers who are recruiting have housing and schools? This isn’t reflected in a single birthrate calculation.
• One group member asked specific questions about the methodology used by the demographers.
• What is the fundamental reason that makes hiring teachers difficult? Is it that there are no candidates, no one going into the profession or something else?
• The group asked if the presentation could highlight class size potentials instead of Utilization numbers. What would 50% utilization translate to in affective class size? Will class sizes be 15-20?
• Clarity sought on the actual budget deficit. How much money would the district lose with the enrollment loss?
• Curious about what happens to programming at the current sites.
• What other options exist, creative problem solving.
• Will we be having to look at the High Schools within the next 2 to 5 years as well?
• Will teachers be reduced as a part of this process?
• Which is more expensive? Consolidation of specific programs at specific sites or offering a full continuum at each site.
• What will it do to the student teacher ratio? Will with programming become too diluted to offer intensive programming.
• Wondering what the boundaries would look like for each site for each school that is under consideration for consolidation.
• Would this result in a cascading effect? Would this affect all or just some of the schools?
• What has been the impact on students that were moved in the elementary consolidation?
• Would there be a choice for students that want to stay with their friends?
• What are the most important factors to the district??
• What are the guiding principles that the district will utilize to make a final decision?
• Please respond to the questions even if the district does not know the answer.
• Report back on the successes and challenges of the schools that were consolidated. How can this inform our decision making going forward?
• Were the metrics we used to consolidate the elementary school correct? Did we achieve the outcomes we were hoping for with the consolidation?
• “QFC is being demolished to create 400 apartments. How are we going to have 1000 more apartments and still thinking that enrollment will actually decrease? How will the district accommodate all of these kids in apartments? Is it a pipeline problem and then will we repeat this process in a few years? For example, we saw Wilburton closing five years after it opened.”

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