Odle Community Forum – October 25

Date: October 25, 2023

Forum Participants: 140

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 at Odle described a strong community connection that is important to them and their students. They were aligned on their commitment to the Advanced Learning (AL) program and keeping it intact at Odle. They believe the program is successful because of the quality of the teachers there. If the AL program moved, they asked that high quality educators be utilized in providing it. Participants are concerned about student teacher ratios and want teachers to have the time to give students input and feedback. They consistently said that 30 to 1 was too high to be effective. Some expressed skepticism about the demographers’ report and the data. Students’ social, emotional well-being was described often as a priority. Some were interested in finding out more about the budget and how additional money could be raised to support the schools.

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

Discussing this question, the Odle community participants prioritized keeping the AL program intact at the school. They do not want Odle closed. They also felt strongly that the quality of the educators providing AL must be high and having high class ratios diminishes the teachers’ ability to meet the needs of every student. This group values keeping their students together in a cohort. If there were a consolidation, they would want the kids kept together with their teachers as much as possible. They also do not want long commute times for kids. Many asked about the pace of the decision-making and wondered whether this must be decided right now or if we can gather more data and decide later. Some expressed distrust of the process and the district.

Responses to Question 3: What questions do you have?

Many of the participants’ questions fell into the following themes:

• Budget and finance
  • People want to know more about the state of the budget, what our deficit looks like.
  • Where does the money come from and how is it used?
  • Are there other ways to raise money?
  • What are the savings with consolidation vs. other options?
• Options and alternatives
  • What other options are being considered?
  • Can we merge choice schools or integrate choice programs into each school?
  • Are Big Picture and International off the table? What about merging them?
• Demographer’s report
  • What was their methodology?
  • Are we too focused on the COVID effects of enrollment?
  • How do we know the data are correct?
• The AL program
  • If one middle school is closed, can AL be provided at the remaining middle schools?
  • If we disband the program, will it be put in the other schools?
  • If we close the AL program, people will leave.
• Enrollment
  • Why are people choosing private schools?
  • How can we attract more non-resident students?
• Process
  • How will the decision be made?
  • Will there be more community forums?
  • What will happen to community feedback?
  • Learn what we can from the last process, talk to parents who went through it.
• Staff
  • What will happen to staff in a school that gets consolidated?

Return to all Community Feedback

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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?

• Environment, Odle, very good, feel safe, daughter was very successful, really great.
• Quality of education, AL, Cherry Crest, Odle, Interlake why we moved here just for Al
• Environment, actual learning, AL, teachers, programs are what brought us here, high quality, impact learning.
• Teachers are very strong, they care, care about the students, they learn from their peers, learn to become good citizens, I love that about this school.
• STEM, likes the environment, makes friends, work to connect with students, they compare to other schools, the strength of the teachers.
• The teachers are great, dedicated, you can feel that with the students, we love the school, kids like going to school.
• Kids are not great with changes, they are used to their friends, their network, worry that they won’t adapt.
• Kids have started a change.org petition.
• School meets the needs of a wide range of diverse students, AL, non-AL, kids from different families, backgrounds, etc. a very good mix of diversity.
• You can feel the positive energy when you walk in the door, very different from elementary.
• Odle has a rich history, many families have gone here for generations.
• It is a highly ranked school, what parents and families want.
• When we think of middle school, we think of Odle as the model.
• Students’ morale. Consistent and stable environment. AL community of students who have grown up together is very strong…reason not moving out of Bellevue is because of the strength and richness of the AL community.
• Student comment: Fear of having to switch schools and losing friends…how will we be able to start again at a new school without the built in support systems, like WEB Orientation activities.
• AL students need unique challenges throughout their day…how will these unique needs be met if the program itself is dismantled and spread throughout the district?
• The program she is in and the cohort she is with is what matters, not the physical building.
• Middle school that is from different places, opportunities for kids to meet others, adequate electives and choices.
• Stable and positive and supportive and secure environment. Not changing in the middle of school.
• Students love Odle. In a bigger school, how will they be supportive? Counselor at Odle is unavailable currently, if schools are consolidated, then how will the staff support an even bigger school. Important to stay with friends, students have already been impacted by pandemic. Consolidation is too much for the kids after going through the pandemic.
• Time for a lot of change. Providing a safe and reliable place. Place of job and have fun. Build a foundation where they like school. Gain joy and comfort.
• Diverse elective program. Electives were built up at Odle after many years. Daughter loves the community at Odle. Environment at Odle is welcoming and joyful.
• After an unhappy event last year, it’s too much. Kids don’t want to go back to home school. They want to stay with their friends. Many rumors.
• Keep AL program intact, if Odle shuts down, how will that work?
• Will current programs at Odle and established, closing Odle would cause disruption to these programs. (rocketry, chess, math)
• PTSA is strong at Odle, there are many after school clubs, run by parent volunteers. Would be hard to start this again from scratch. Would be challenging to re-start them at another school.
• Hard to find teacher to sponsor clubs.
• Uncertainty amongst students and they bring it up with teachers.
• If OMS consolidates, big impact for AL.
• Want to AL program to stay here.
• Keep our AL teachers, dedicated teachers.
• Compared with other students in the district, teachers use different materials and instructional approaches.
• Keep AL kids together.
• If we lose the AL, most students will leave.
• At least 4 classes together
• Reduce the bar to get into AL and draw back more students from private.
• Why not have a committee with AL parent representatives to help with decision making or recommendations?
• Keep AL program intact either here or other school but keep teachers together.
• Where would we move them to?
• We already have on in the South, the other one should be in North.
• Seems like Odle is most central for the North end.
• Fantastic teachers who understand how to deal with kids like this.
• Kids challenge each other, which really helps them.
• Regardless of what we do with the schools, we want AL to keep enough scale to have enough peers and teachers who understand AL student needs.
• Don’t want to see what Seattle did, they put all AL into the neighborhood schools but not AL classes.
• Curious about priority list.
• Where does AL come into the priority?
• How much do we care to maintain a high standard of the AL program?
• International School – would like to expand.
• Tesla School – would like to see something like this here.
• Facility utilization is not the right metric to track.
• What does it mean for the teachers when we merge?
• We should agree that AL is a specialty, and they need a special staff to support them. That is equity.
• What are the options to get out of the merge?
• The merge will result in more people wanting to leave.
• Families living in Bellevue, income is higher so education is important, and they can afford private school.
• Fix the problem from the root – fix the quality of education.
• If you can lower class size, kids get more attention.
• Do not agree with the merge.
• Property tax doesn’t make sense.
• Work with the community to contribute money.
• Raise money with the foundation. Tax deductible.
• Get people motivated about funding if you give them a specific goal.
• A sense of community that students are part of cohort and keeping them together.
• Teachers are important.
• Setting students up for success by providing the right tools and support.
• Equity means that every student has special needs that need to be addressed.
• It is important for the district to support AL programs.
• Students need diverse opportunities in learning. Courses, etc.
• Understanding of competing interests
• Quality of education: (how can we measure this?)
  • Attention
  • Rigor of advanced learning
  • Variety of classes
  • Quality of teaching and professional development
  • Specialized AL offerings & centralized AL program compared to other districts
  • Number of AL kids at the school (keeps kid humble)
  • Quality of teachers may trump central program over DE
• Resources: Clubs, Sports, Band
• Well-being:
  • Mental health support.
  • Stimulated at school.
  • Friends – maintain same group.
  • Strong peer group.
  • Emotional support through transition.
• Quality of education
  • Number of teachers?
• Mental Health
  • Who can help students manage the transition?
• Communication
  • Competing interests during the decision-making process.
  • Understanding how open enrollment works.
  • What are the factors that the district is considering?
  • Share the operational savings of closing a school.
  • Middle school reimagining.
• Right preparation for their career is very important. Meeting the needs of all students at all levels. At university level it has been seen that students are not always ready to do college work. How can we close the gap? Not just passing rate, but what they really need to be successful.
• Supportive environment. Middle school sets a good foundation if it meets their needs. Friendship circle from elementary school continues, little worried about losing that. Kids need a supportive environment, familiarity is important. Students made the decision to come to Odle.
• Stability, supportive environment. Safe to make mistakes and learn from them. Middle school is a big transition stage, pace increases, higher stakes. Figure out what it is they want Middle school helps them explore their interests and passions. Friendship groups shift, protective environment is important.
• Counselors, everyone is assigned one counselor. What if you don’t connect with them? Be great if it is easier to change counselors. This is a big part of the supportive environment. Retain as many electives as possible. What do they like to do? Make sure that they can have a variety of music, art and tech classes. At least one class that they really love that they look forward to. Helps them stay engaged. Make retaining those electives a priority.
• Community is important. If you have a strong friend group, you don’t need counselors. Social circle is really important. Especially at this level.
• Transition from ES to MS, acts as a WEB leader to get used to Odle. Did a meet up to see how first month is going. Hard to catch up to the standards, have to rise to the level very quickly. Easy to fall behind and hard to catch up. Supportive environment is very critical.
• Elective requirement for Applied Engineering. Not excited at first but loves it now. Having friends in those classes, group that you are comfortable with is very helpful.
• Clubs and activities are really important, strong community and make friends at the same time. Sports, stay active at the same time.
• Meet people that have the same interests, can connect and form friend safety net.
• Culture/atmosphere at Odle, what older grades are doing, shapes what they see they can do. Clubs/activities to group students at all grades, can interact across different years and grow.
• There is a reason why students like a school. No matter what the decision is, you need to keep the culture and the things that people appreciate, find a way to preserve those things.
• (Suggestion/lunch discussion) Support ability to build social network. Make lunchtime the entire class period rather than 30 minutes. More time to socialize. Sometimes lunchroom is really loud. Need a quieter space to decompress, can’t eat in the library. If they try to eat fast to go out to the field, they still don’t have much time to go outside and run around and talk to friends. Don’t split up grades. 1st lunch is hard because it is too early. What if students were in cohort/houses?
• Questions regarding the validity of demographer data.
• Methodology seems to be one- or two-year projections extrapolated to 2030. Not statistically reliable.
• Projections are consistently under predicted over time
• COVID had a significant impact on enrollment and may be the major factor of enrollment loss. Projections can’t predict events like COVID. Making a big decision on the basis of projections is dangerous if the foundation (projections) is not convincing.
• Even if projection is accurate and average the two, it’s still 6% inaccurate.
• With more density in Bellevue anticipated, we could be rebuilding 7 years from now when it’s much more expensive.
• It’s always a tradeoff. Smaller schools-strong communities versus larger schools with more choice but harder to create community.
• Small schools are more conducive for building community.
• Sense of belonging is extremely important for middle schoolers and supporting mental health is important. Displacement due to consolidation can have a deleterious impact.
• Students are already talking about it. Rumors abound. Students are distressed.
• The longer it takes to get to a decision can really be impactful. The waiting is very hard.
• If we have to cut costs, the brunt of the impact should be equally distributed. With consolidation, one group of students bears the impact.
• Consolidation could increase the loss of students to private schools. Closing schools creates instability and uncertainty and a loss of confidence in public schools and could perpetuate the enrollment loss.
• Consolidation doesn’t address the cause of enrollment.
• Consolidations will contribute to a loss of trust and the BSD reputation will be compromised.
• Love choices at Odle. Jazz program, sports, course options.
• Odle has a great Community feeling. Every student belongs.
• Kids feel supported in AL. One site for AL provides a strong community. If we lose it, it is impossible to bring back the same success if AL is dispersed.
• Electives, course offerings are not a game changer. Would rather have less choice to maintain current program. You could close Odle, and offer 10 additional choices, but it still doesn’t pencil out.
• We moved here because of the schools. I’m now wondering if we made the wrong choice in moving here.
• Quality of BSD schools is one reason for the high cost of housing. We need to keep the quality of schools high. Consolidating a school could jeopardize perception and perception is reality.
• Consolidating a school could cause snowball effect. Loss to private schools which could lead to a lack of support of future levies.
• Be aware of the long-term implications of decision today that could have impacts for years and perpetuate the enrollment challenge.
• Need to maintain the high quality of schools to maintain the students we have and to attract non-resident students and students currently in private schools.
• AL Odle and Chinook. Moved from LW to BSD for the community and the schools for the reputation. Stabilize the community and the peers. Emotionally, this is important. Maybe people will move here, and we will be overcrowded.
• Quality of education. Experience from elementary and the teacher experience was not good. AL is special and we need specialized instruction for AL students. 60% of students at Odle are AL. How do we maintain the same quality?
• Emotional stability is critical. It’s important to see familiar faces adults and students.
• Avoid worst case scenario: AL goes away, and we have to go to private schools.
• Need to improve the quality of teaching across the district.
• Best scenario: keep Odle and AL open here. If it has to move, make sure to preserve the quality of the AL program. Concern of this process: and there’s not questions answered.
• 6thGrade AL student.
• Odle is fun. I have lots of friends here. Don’t want to split up with my friends.
• Our son is in AL, want to make sure he still has the same quality of education as he has currently in AL at Odle. He used to be getting some AL support at Enatai before – that just doesn’t work, not close, as having a dedicated classroom for AL. Odle has very distinguished labs for robotics and similar, that are not at other middle schools, which make a significant difference in his life – he’s the president of the robotics club and very excited – we fear moving to another school will restrict his reach to those labs. And his friends – changing schools impacts friend and friend group, and includes those not in AL. That he has been with since 1st grade at CCES. Location is close to their home. The teachers, we are happy with them, classmates. When my child was not in a self-contained program for AL before, it was like they didn’t get any services at all.
• Location – AL – Cohort, AL was his regular teaching, which is truly separate, don’t want to lose that in consolidation. School to teacher ratio – in elementary schools this has come up.
• AL remains a self-contained program. Concerned that there may be a push to cut AL as self-contained and distributed to other schools – it just doesn’t work. I’m very unhappy with how elementary schools were closed last year – told that due to a lack of students they had to close schools. My kids were moved to a different school – poor logistics to get to (Woodridge) and insufficient classrooms. My students were in an exterior cottage last year AND this year. The idea that we don’t have enough students doesn’t make sense. The student to teacher ratio right now is over 30 to 1, which for a district which averages 20 teachers per student is absolutely not ideal. Very disappointed. Now in the idea that there is a push in some parts to distribute AL in classrooms of 25-30 student per teacher, but understanding that kids learn at different rates, this will impact the quality of education – slow down the speed at which student learn and dilute the rigor of what students need. I have zero confidence in the demographic data. Looking at the study they were off by 20% in some years. If they were off by that much in one year, how do we think this would be right for 10 years?
• We know the population in Bellevue grows about 5% a year. The idea that real estate has gone up, we will see increased enrollment is BS. Those of us who work in tech, we can change stats any time. To make them suit what we want them to look like. My kids barely get attention now in a classroom of 30 to 1 – the idea that they can get better attention in a classroom where it is not self-contained and the class sizes are higher, that is terrible. He gets tests wrong because his computer didn’t work but he didn’t get attention from the teacher in time to get help.
• My daughter last year at Spiritridge – and this year at Woodridge with 30 students. The teacher doesn’t have time to answer questions. Last year my student got lots of feedback on writing, this year the teacher doesn’t have time for that. The time is a critical resource for teachers. My daughter is in 4th grade, loves learning.
• AL doesn’t just build on each other grade by grade – the students are learning from each other, and that is the key importance. I think there is an essential difference between AL classes and gen ed classes. Putting them in a normal environment, nothing will happen for them. My daughter I still remember, in the beginning, she wouldn’t dare to start reading Harry Potter, and she was intimidated, but her friends did, and talked about it, and it encouraged her to read it. In 4th grade now, they are reciting Hamilton! Because friends are doing this. The environment is very important.
• My daughter is in 6th grade at Odle – in Elementary she was in Jing Mei – most of her friends went to Tyee or Tillicum, she’s the only one at Odle. Only here one month, she loves it very much. The teaching style and her classmates – she loves it. She doesn’t want to leave here. One of her classmates has a petition of her classmates to sign to not close Odle. Most students don’t want it to close. I think it is good for the students’ health – they don’t want to change, in the middle of middle school – this would be a disruption to be in another environment – different students, different school. It would stop their growth. The AL students – that environment is very good for students studying and learning. Odle teachers and the learning environment is good for them. They can learn from each other – they all want to learn. Odle is a big middle school – it is almost the biggest in BSD – it is not smart to disrupt that many students. That would affect almost 1000 students. The location of Odle is very good – AL may come from different places, but Odle is central, and it is convenient for AL students to go here.
• Don’t split AL at Odle, — this attracts parents, who move into Bellevue – I’m a real estate agent and my clients choose Bellevue for the schools – not just the housing prices, it is parent expectations. I moved from out of state to Bellevue to stay here due to the quality of the schools. BSD hasn’t been doing a good job since the pandemic. That’s why Dr. Duran was fired. If people can’t do their jobs well, they should get fired. School is a special place; they shouldn’t be run like a business. Teachers who are good have been teaching for a long time, and if their school is closed, they can lose their motivation. If they split them to different schools, they communicate less with co-workers, this is bad for students and teachers. I don’t think schools should be run like a business – this is a special place for children. Having a stable environment – Middle school only has 3 years, that’s not long. My kids are in 6th grade AL – and if they had to leave next year, they would miss their friends, and this is unstable for them. For teens having to settle into a different environment, I don’t want another tragedy to happen like before. If you wait for a tragedy to happen, that is too late. Closing the school that would cause a lot of mental stress, and they have unstable hormones. A lot of girls are emotional – if they don’t see their friends again in a new environment, they could be attracted to a lot of bad things.
• If the demographers were correct, they shouldn’t have opened Wilburton, just to close it again. Property tax last year went up 30% which means the schools get a lot of money regardless of enrollment being down. The property tax is distributed by percentage, not by number of students. BSD should be transparent. If the school district really needs funding, we can make special donations to support our community – parents want to contribute. Keep the quality of education. Some of my friend’s kids went to private schools since the quality of education has been going down and class sizes are going up to 30 to 1.
• Education quality in terms of teacher to student ratio, program, electives.
• Sense of belonging with peers and teachers.
• Distance of the commute.
• Friends, if students are having to move keep them with elementary friends or back to the region they go to.
• Keeping in mind what supports for AL program will look like to continue to challenge students appropriately.
• What will the AL teachers look like if the program is moved?
• Ensure time to adjust to new schools if there is a change in placement.
• Think about the emotional support needs of the students if they only have a single middle school experience.
• Friendships are a primary importance for middle school age students.
• AL training for teachers to make sure they know how to appropriately challenge the students. Acceleration does not just answer the needs of AL.
• Beginning a foreign language has been exciting, music (band and orchestra) and coding are electives that students are exploring.
• Continuity into high school should be considered. Don’t impact multiple times.
• Consider ranking of schools in decision making.
• The support from the staff and that there be consistency of the education. Changing the environment will not help that.
• We want a high quality of education. Too Many changes are not good, and we don’t want to disrupt them (the students).
• Advanced learning program at Medina. It is important to stay in the advanced learning program. Want them to keep that and continue. It is important to their social-emotional growth and learning.
• We will go to private school if the AL program loses value. People buy homes in this area because of the schools. We work very hard to afford to live here (working for Microsoft).
• There is no other program in BSD that will challenge our children like AL.
• Change is not good, and stability is important. Moving is too big of an impact and we don’t want a new start.
• Concerns of cramming students into another facility and wonders about sufficient space for students and over-crowding; needing to use portables. As a student who lived through a school consolidation many years ago, remembering the number of electives that were added because of the consolidation and the funding that was available to do so.
• As a single mom who invested in this area and money in this area to have a good education. Spend money and sacrifice herself to live in the area. Need a good environment to be successful.
• Kids traveling longer distances is a concern and the transportation shortage is not good in this regard.
• Want to help fundraising,
• What are we doing to get more students?
• Dad of 6th grader with other AL elementary school students upcoming. Current student in the AL program at Odle. He has questions about the AL program impact. Most important is the quality of Education in Odle, in general education classes and about the quality of education in the AL program. “Teachers are the most important, and then the student peers that the AL program. So, they can learn together. Many other districts do not offer middle school AL programs. Bellevue does and it is important to maintain. AL Domain specific services were not effective for our students. We want a self-contained program. I can see the difference in the program.”
• Mom, twins at International, PTSA connection – Superintendent committee – taking notes and offering some thoughts. She shared the purpose of the superintendent committee.
• Dad, daughter at Odle, also the science club leader at Odle. His concern mainly is that we have to consolidate. “Is that the only option that we have to go? Based on the data and the birth rate and housing price. Housing prices will change soon with high interest rates. Now we make a big decision that is coming right out of a three-year pandemic. We need to remove that data from the pandemic years and then generate the predictions. What are the major reasons? Are there other reasons? If parents feel like the education ecology is not good, we will move to other school districts and the downward trends will continue. If it is good, we stay. If AL is a key attractor for the district and we disband it, then we might cause more parents to leave and make lower enrollment. We need to sync up with (whether) this is the only option. We can actually open the schools up to out of district families and attract more kids. Change is hard. Let’s keep it (the school and AL at Odle) going. It is a strong program. Attract the kids back. Attract more kids. In the data, the 9th grade and 8th grade has a sharp drop. That’s not related to the birth rate. That’s related to pandemic effects. We are making decisions on premature data. I am concerned. Academic experiences are important. Emotional experiences in middle school are important. Stabilize this, smooth it out and help with the kids’ emotions.
• Parent of 6th grader in another middle school, Highland – I’m coming to understand other perspectives. As a PTSA leader, I’m hearing lots and was trying not to get siloed into their perspective. I want to hear your perspectives. For my children, middle school is the most important. It has been a place where they can grow and explore who they are. As parents sometimes we focus too much on academics. In my family, we like middle school because of social, academics, and personal growth. My concerns are the severance of a community, the loss of a community identity and the impact that can have on mental health and academics. Middle School is so short. Adding the consolidation mid-journey for our kids is so hard. 60% of families have free-reduced lunch at Highland. They tell me that this school (Highland) is our support and point of contact. We don’t have anything else. I come from a place of privilege, and I look at these families in my community and I know a school consolidation might be a tipping point. I’m also concerned about meeting student needs. The feedback I had is that it takes a special kind of training to work with kids who experience poverty. Larger schools might have a struggle to meet needs if there are more kids and less teachers. Let’s come up with other solutions. This is not the solution.
• 6th grade AL mom, 2nd grade AL (was affected by the Spiritridge-Woodridge move) – We did the consolidation last year. Now my kids have 30 kids in their class. 30! Not 20 as before. They (teachers, elementary schools) are not in a state that they can manage. We don’t really even support the teachers with large classes now. They (students) need nurturing and attention. What has the consolidation helped? My son was at Puesta before. Now this is the third school in three years. He told me ‘I have no friends.’ He is a first generation American. We are immigrants and that is hard for me to hear from my son. For my middle school daughter, we chose to be here in Bellevue for the AL community – the peers. They are her support system. We are 3 months into middle school and now she is crying every night with uncertainty. The aspect of the AL cohort is huge benefit for her. If AL cohorts disappear, we will leave. Odle is so successful and to disrupt a working system that doesn’t make sense. We want the AL program at Odle. Let’s wait to see the results of the consolidation from elementary. Then let’s see the results from elementary and the budget savings, and then see if we still need to consolidate. This feels like a charade. Like decisions are already made. My son’s class has 30 kids. Breaking existing schools is not the way to go. If the cohort that my daughter desires is not here, we will not live in Bellevue anymore. It’s like-minded cohorts that make the AL program. The AL community has given her that opportunity. She’s into the orchestra program which is high quality. Breaking all of that up at Odle is not the answer. This is one of the best middle schools in the nation. Look at other set of stats than what the demographers say. Chesnut Hill Academy doubled in size this year. If I could afford private school as an option like CHA, I would go there. Also important is safety. If we are really truly listening to the community, then this consolidation is not the right move.
• Couple with two daughter 5th & 7th AL program – the teacher is most important, second is students around them. The AL curriculum is unique. The kids prefer to stay in a stable school. They want to know where they are going. They enjoy the connections. We will lose the connections with students. I agree with other comments. We can attract people and great teachers to come. We want to have high quality teacher experiences and have more kids. (group agreeing)
• Many are coming back to the Seattle area and looking to move to Bellevue. Amazon is now mandating back to office policies for us. It is driving all of us back to the area from pandemic moves out of the area. It is too early to consolidate middle schools without seeing how the elementary school consolidation turns out. We are not letting this play out. There is distrust.
• Let’s wait 1-3 years to allow pandemic anomalies to play out. Then, we can see how it plays. We cannot make a decision in 6 months. We have time to wait, and we should. Next year, if we cannot afford any of the schools and the enrollment mis low, then we start this process (proposing to wait one more year).
• What is the actual deficit? Are there other options? When a teacher is laid off, then it is hard to hire them back.
• I’m the Odle student parent. The Odle school is the good school and the largest in BSD. It is the first to have the AL program. Odle is a quite good school and tradition. Odle is successful. We cannot afford to shut this school down. AL learning is the best program in the district, and it is the reason that the rankings are so high in the whole Washington State.
• I am amazed to see how k, 1 families go private, then they come back to BSD for AL program in 2nd Deciding factors are teachers. We have the best quality teachers. (We did BCA for kinder, 1st) . The program is so good. We must keep it.
• Proximity to school is important for different reasons:
• We don’t have time to take/bring our children.
• Our children can walk to school, and we feel safe.
• We are happy with the teachers since they are very good professionals and the communication with them is very friendly and fluid with both students and parents.
• The school environment is calm and there is no abuse. The children go to school calmly. Some students were in other schools and changed to Odle to avoid the bad atmosphere that existed in the previous schools.
• The tutoring offered by Odle is one of the most valued aspects.
• The children are happy with the subjects of engineering, robotics, video production, carpentry workshop.
• At Odle school they have the option of going to the advanced Spanish course in Sammamish and the bus brings them.
• Community with other children, teachers, and counselors is already established at school. Knowledge about the student that teachers and other school staff already have would be lost in the consolidation process.

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

• Important to minimize transitions, they are teenagers.
• Most important is the quality of education and program, remember that people move here for the quality, so, if we consolidate, we cannot lose quality.
• Share experience of my son, impacted by last year at Spiritridge in AL program, impact of bus driver shortage, canceled routes, and now Woodridge is overcrowded, using all of the portables, some classes are big, don’t feel it has been a positive experience so far at Woodridge, there is an uneven impact, that does not feel equitable, some schools were not impacted at all, and some students were not impacted. I don’t think consolidation is a good idea, but if we do, Odle should not be.
• Commute – has an impact for parents, how people get to and from school and work, how many people live close by to the school, traffic in Bellevue is a major factor.
• How do you pick which teachers to let go if you consolidate?
• What happens to the facility?
• How about we used a different question: what do we need to do to NOT close schools? Start with a different premise? What happens if the demographic trends change? Is this a money problem? If it is at school problem, are we addressing it?
• Don’t want anything to be rushed, can it wait in future?
• Want process to be transparent, equity-driven, what are the feedback loops for students, parents, others? Teachers are talking about this in the classroom.
• Message says there is already a plan.
• Life schedules will be impacted because of this consolidation…important to be able to maintain and continue in place…worried about having not enough time after school when now having to travel further for school.
• Fears about fitting in to the new school, culture and environment…how can this be better supported?
• Location, how far the new school would be from Odle.
• Bus service to the new location.
• How big is the shortage of the budget, what efforts did you make to. Would like to see the details.
• AL program teachers and resources to support the program.
• Odle set up of the AL and gen-ed combination; would like a middle school that is diverse.
• AL program stay intact.
• Self-contained AL program is a factor; happy to have students to be in the program. Not lose momentum.
• Maintain same quality and resources for the AL program, teacher quality and resources.
• How will open enrolment be handled? Enrollment changes will be more spread out at other schools. How will those decisions be made?
• Teachers at Odle have the experience working at Odle with AL students. Spreading out the AL teachers.
• Question that AL program will be watered down.
• There is a perception that Odle has a lock on AL, since they have had it for so long.
• Quality is the most important.
• For core subjects, not social emotional.
• Just switched from private school
• Only here for AL
• Don’t want it diluted.
• Kids need more depth, pace, and intensity.
• All about learning at school, moral values can happen at home.
• Want kids to be excited.
• 3rd grader does not feel he’s learning very much and wants to skip grades. 21 kids in his class, it’s too big.
• Maintaining AL program.
• Maintaining high quality program.
• The number of students impacted.
• Drive time to get to school.
• Maintain strong programs like the Odle band, orchestra, math club, robotics, etc. Driven by students.
• Minimize splitting up groups of students, especially the extra-curricular.
• Preserve the good qualities that people appreciate. WEB leaders leading the younger ones.
• Unique in that they have so many quality teachers. So fortunate to have experienced teachers here who can provide what they need. With that critical mass of faculty that can concentrate. If teachers and students are dispersed the teachers can’t focus.
• Need a critical mass to keep a culture sustained. Need the same mindset.
• Make sure programs are available for students who need them. Languages, etc.
• Academic achievement. Odle 21-22 school year received a blue ribbon, highest award any K-12 school can receive for closing achievement gaps.
• Distance to travel to school matters. Bus riding/transportation for early/late start schools. Busses are late every day. Not beneficial for students to get to school late.
• Make sure we are digging deeper for solutions, not just the easiest ways to solve something.
• Maintain reputation of school so that it will continue to draw out of district families if the right decision is made.
• Worry that we will rush to make a decision.
• If there is a closure, make sure that there is support for students who are making the shift. Reduce the level of stress.
• Blend communities together to reduce stress. Little people with big emotions at this age. Can be sensitive.
• No long bus rides. It’s too hard on students. Need better communications with parents. We don’t understand why we are doing this?
• The consolidation might cause the AL community to break apart and then not be as strong. Peers are so important to middle school students. It’s important for AL students to stay together. The AL program has student leaders, and this will help our future.
• This question starts with an assumption and is flawed. My property taxes have gone up significantly and I’ve paid a lot to live here. If we do these things at the expense of self-contained AL, that is very concerning. People who sent their kids to private schools, their kids didn’t do well in gen pop – spent their time on iPad, and it doesn’t work for you.
• Much agreement around the table.
• When you ask which school should be closed – this question should not be answered without the AL solution. Everyone wants to know; how do we not hide the AL behind? So many AL students, even divided in various schools, this problem won’t go away. If you can’t solve the AL problem, you can’t determine which school will be closed. For me the most important, we have to make sure what the AL strategy for BSD is, now and in the future. I moved from MISD to BSD for the schools – 2 years ago. I live in Enatai now. Based on my understanding and my friends understanding, that AL programming here is very strong compared to other districts. If you make this strength diluted by distributing to other schools – parents won’t have confidence, and you’ll lose students to private schools. We are facing this choice in 4th Bellevue schools are quite good, and this makes families feel comfortable – they can get the school bus, save money, be with friends – how can we maintain these strengths for the district?
• Outside of this room, there may not be much appetite to keep AL – but I would point out, some of these kids are different – they are in it because they need a different learning environment – they are very academic. There are benefits for both gen- ed having their own learning spaces.
• If we had one class per school for AL – teachers would have to stretch to teach both gen ed and AL. And that would probably increase the student to teacher ratio. The concern is not that AL is going away.
• There is a subset of students who take accelerated math, and these students wouldn’t be able to benefit from this if they are spread out. There are certain areas where kids are really passionate about things – robotics, chess, soccer – Having a robotics team of 12 is an experience kids will remember for the rest of their lives and could propel them to do amazing things. That can do away if the team of 12 is divided across 4 schools. You start having critical mass around topics and enrichment opportunities if you only have 2-3 kids who want to do a thing, but you are spread out.
• Students who are AL in non-AL schools, they don’t get the enrichment and extensions that they should have.
• If you have fluctuations year to year between schools – if you have 35 kids in a school that need AL math, do you have one class of 35, or do you have 2 classes of 17? I’m guessing you would not have 2 classes. The learning becomes diluted and inconsistent.
• Kids need a stable environment. How often are they going to be closing schools based on study models? Are they closing a high school next? Parents will be panicking if we keep saying we are closing schools based on demographer projections. This will make the Bellevue reputation go down. This will send students to private schools.
• Impact the least amount of families.
• Compare the cost of running schools.
• Consider gradually consolidating a school (no 6th grade, one year; no 7th the next)
• Continue to work to attract students through various methods.
• Emphasize the uniqueness of Bellevue.
• Will all the AL students go to with their teachers? What will happen to them (the teachers)?
• The smallest school will have the least impact on students.
• Consider the school with the lowest number of students enrolled. Keep the school with the highest reputation for the district.
• For the impacted school- consider open enrollment and timeline for kids that may want to go to another school.
• Consider not closing down all at one time – a phase out approach year-over-year (don’t accept new students for subsequent years until they are all gone). Don’t shut down one school immediately – especially since we don’t know (trust) the data and in the past the numbers have always risen again.
• This information is not convincing enough.
• I want Bellevue to figure out how to increase trust. Is what we are doing eroding trust?
• Let’s work to keep the best teachers here. Teachers are not going to come back if we do this again.
• Invest in what we do best. If AL program works well, let’s have BSD invest in that. Ex. Highland language program. Starting to cut programs is not the right action. Sometimes the numbers are not the whole picture.
• This is not building trust with existing families. New families may not be coming in because of the uncertainty.
• Seattle is unsafe. Bellevue is the next city for us to come to. We can easily commute to Seattle. Project numbers together with Amazon and other big companies who are recruiting employees.
• We can do better. We are not a traditional city. We are urban and suburban. We can solve this problem in another way.
• Is it necessary to close this year? 100% no. Let’s play to our programmatic strengths.
• Is there a benefit to adding AL at other schools? (question posed by a parent to group) Parent response: only if we keep cohort of kids and teachers.
• Housing and birthrate are not the only data. Market rates – young couples will bring more kids over the years. Immigrants must also be a factor.
• Primary reason we are upset is that the school district has let the parents down. You see the distrust in the room.
• AL cohort is very important – especially the friendships and similar interests kids share. This is the place where they can build their identity. They are free to be themselves in their own skin; they can thrive here. Same with IB at Interlake. Breaking apart will hamper their identity. It’s a cohort that is so important.
• It’s not easy to maintain the social circle moving to another school.
• We like being a community in a safe space. The nerds are together. These kids have comfort in these ways. Don’t put them in a situation where they are threatened or not thriving.
• DS AL services did not work for us.
• From the metrics we saw, it is increasing and then there was the pandemic. Can we look at this data without pandemic effects? I know many moving to other places and now companies are asking people to come back and are being asked to relocate to Seattle and Bellevue. This will bring people back. What will it truly look like in 5 years?
• Commuting to school would be a problem.
• It would be necessary to offer emotional support and adaptation to change. Change is difficult for children, parents, and teachers alike.
• It would be very important to have after-school programs and buses to transport children.

Question 3: What questions do you have?

• What does an optimal middle school size look like?
• How are we increasing revenue?
• Are we tracking private schools?
• What does trend data look like in other districts? Like Lake Washington, or others?
• Declining data included covid time and a period when housing prices grew unusually fast, … question:
  • Has the district considered the fact that many companies/tech companies are requiring people to work in person, just started this summer and not reflected in the demographer’s data?
  • Did the population projections consider the rise in public transit and the various new housing developments that have been built recently along the new light rail corridor?
  • Earlier projection (Wilburton build era) showed long-term population growth in Bellevue, but this did not occur. Did BSD learn from that history with the inaccurate prediction around Wilburton.
• When will these additional questions be answered?
• Is there another, or different forum for families to have more detailed questions addressed?
• How will our students’ curriculum be affected…specifically AL if Odle is consolidated?
• If a middle school is consolidated what will happen to the teacher-student ratio in middle schools and all levels?
• Can BSD show a comparison with other school districts that show a clear reason for why BSD feels it needs to close schools while other school districts do not?
• What other options is BSD considering instead of school consolidation?
• Can BSD provide the financial documentation to prove/demonstrate the true cost needs and what consolidation will actually do to mitigate this?
  • What is the cost of adding students to other schools…what will that cost compared to not consolidating?
  • What are the costs of other measures, those that are not consolidating schools?
• Why do we need to consider consolidating schools this year and not wait until next year?
  • Can the BSD justify WHY now? Vs. next year?
  • Will delaying consolidation another year or two allow us to have more reliable data as we continue to recover from covid enrollment impacts?
  • Similarly, why not wait for light rail to be completed and re-examine enrollment as Light rail is completed and the new housing units are filled?
• What will happen to the physical building when a Middle school is consolidated?
• What will happen to the staff at all levels of employment at the consolidated school? Will they continue to be employed by BSD?
• Why is Odle being considered for consolidation when its enrollment and achievement is so high?
• International and Big Picture: will those two schools increase enrollment if consolidating? Will International or BP be increased enrollment?
• How will open enrollment be handled? Enrollment changes will be more spread out at other schools? How will those decisions be made?
• Student populations and projections. Odle will have highest student population? What are the criteria for closing? What kind of transparency will we get? For elementary parents felt like the decision was already made.
• What is the process going to look like?
• If school closed would this disperse the AL program out to the neighborhood schools? Worry about students being spread amongst other buildings and students will lose their cohort.
• What will happen to all of the special programs that Odle has?
• Why isn’t disbanding choice schools a discussion for consolidation?
• How will student voices be heard about this topic?
• If there were not a self-contained AL program would parents then choose to go to private school instead?
• How will the decision for consolidation be made?
• Will we be privy to data and selection criteria to make the decision?
• How does this affect catchment for middle school?
• How will consolidation impact high school choices for kids?
• Can we explore more options to break out of the downtrend?
• Should the final recommendation be voted on by the parents? Not just the Board.
• Can questions be shared in advance?
• Is there any possibility of shutting down the AL program?
• Is consolidation the answer?
• Why are students/families choosing to go to private schools?
• Will students and families leave if schools are consolidated?
• Is there data on private school enrollment? Is there a trend?
• What is unique about BSD? What about other local school districts?
• What will the impact of the City’s plan to build additional housing in Bellevue have in the future?
• Are these the same demographers? What changed?
• Why is the district moving from building new schools to consolidating schools?
• If there is staff reduction, are the teachers’ qualifications considered?
• What is the decision-making process and timeline?
• What are the possible recommendations? Is no consolidation a possibility?
• Are there other considerations? Is it possible that a choice school might be moved to middle school campus? Is that driving force?
• What does the utilization school by school?
• What will the impacts be on transportation? Bus routes have been cancelled this year.
• If one of the AL programs is closed, will they all go to one school?
• What is the target class size? Will class sizes?
• Is it possible that a high school will be consolidated in the future?
• Can we avoid the same students having their schools changed multiple times over time?
• Is there a deadline for the decision?
• If a middle school is consolidated, can AL be offered at all four of the remaining schools?
• Will the district consider having a voting and/or ranking process for the criteria for the decision?
• What are the specific possible negative impacts of not consolidating a school?
• Has the district considered raising funds in other ways?
• How much was saved by consolidating the two elementary schools? What is the impact on student performance?
• What are other options to balance the budget other than consolidating schools?
• Can we gather more input from families about other options?
• Is consolidating the choice schools an option?
• What percentage of the district is from the State and what is the local funding amount?
• What are the course offerings including electives that are offered at all middle schools? What are the unique offerings including electives at each school?
• What possible reason would lead the consolidated school to be the smallest school?
• We make mistakes with data so how do we know we have the best/right data now?
• Can we find better alternatives? Consult with community.
• Can we increase the budget to get rid of transportation issues?
• What can help increase student enrollment in the short and long term?
• Could we offer choice programs in every school? Could it help balance numbers between schools, and would it be attractive for non-resident students?
• Will the district consider academic performance of the schools in the decision?
• Has there been a study or feedback done after the elementary consolidation – what do parents think? What is the fallout from this? I recommend waiting to get feedback from the last consolidation before we do a new one. If something is not working, why are we pushing for it again?
• How can we say schools are not being utilized if students are in portables and cottages?
• When we talk about teachers – if we consolidate – If AL is concentrated in certain schools, does this have to do with the ability and skills of the AL teachers – are they AL teachers because they have expertise and knowledge specific to teaching these students.
• What money is coming in, what is going out? Are we in deficit? What solutions to save money or raise money have we considered? Increase rental prices of facilities? Adding afterschool programs that pay to come here? Parents would be interested in enrolling their children in these. There is much more willingness to fund schools properly, rather than just causing a degradation in the quality of education of kids.
• People outside don’t know that they can open-enroll their students – how are we publicizing this? Why would we consolidate the schools if we can encourage people to come into the district from outside?
• I have friends who chose to live elsewhere because they can’t afford Bellevue, but they would love their kids to come here.
• Do we have the capacity for students coming in from outside the district to get into the AL program? Can we increase the capacity of the AL program to attract more people from outside the district? AL is one of the star programs in the district. Keep it, run it better, and not consolidate it and send it to smaller locations.
• How are schools funded? If our taxes go up, why don’t we get more money for the schools?
• Is this funding problem a capital expense problem or an operations expense problem?
• Who is having these conversations? Who is making these decisions? When can parents provide input on the actual decision-making bodies?
• Parents are not aware of the levy lid, that bonds can’t be used for teacher salaries. Who can families contact to advocate for Bellevue School District? The legislature? The City of Bellevue? Can the PTSA sponsor some of the needs? Bellevue Schools Foundation? We see property taxes going up, but now have to fight to keep our kids’ schools. We need guidance on who to talk with.
• What will disbursement of students look like? (redistricting)
• What happens to specific programs?
• Are there other options being explored? If so, please communicate?
• Have you considered putting Big Picture and International School together?
• Can you share more of the methodology for the forecasting on the district website?
• Do we actually listen to the parents?
• How can we help?
• Why are we rushing to close?
• Want the budget reports (shared that they are on the BSD website and any additional information requested can be made available with a public records request).
• If the school closes, when will the closure happen?
• Are there alternatives? Can we get the information sooner than later about the actual budget deficit the loss of enrollment represents?
• What are the drawbacks if we don’t do this? We cannot make an informed decision without understanding all sides. This cannot be a shot-gun decision. It must be looking at ten years, not just one.
• Is consolidation the only option that we have? Can we please consider other options first?
• What is the actual deficit? Are there other options?
• How many children per classroom are there in each school?
• What ratio of children per classroom will there be when the consolidation is done?
• How many teachers will there be per classroom?
• Why are Big Picture and International schools not considered within the process?
• Are these changes planned for 2030?
• What reasons are there for this decrease in children in the area?
• What do children think of consolidation? Have they also been asked?
• What do the teachers think?
• Is the SCAT a school-level group or is it a district level?
• Are any high schools planned to close in the future?
• Was it contemplated in previous years that the number of students was going to decrease? Why were schools built recently?
• Will teachers be fired if consolidation is carried out? If teachers have to be fired, how is the selection made?
• Do nearby districts have the same population loss problem?
• If Odle were closed, would the Advance Learning service be maintained at another school?
• Which middle school has the fewest students?
• If Odle Middle School were to stay open, does it have space to admit more students?
• Will there be a bus for the children currently at Odle if they are moved to another school?
• How will the district manage children’s emotional changes? How did it affect primary school students?
• Could a gradual closure by grade be proposed? Once it is decided which school is closed, no new students will enter in 6 the first year, 7 the next, and 8 the last.
• Could children impacted by consolidation have direct access to Choice Schools?
• Can students from other districts come to this district?
• Are children studying remotely included in the total count of children?
• Is the City of Bellevue aware that this is happening? Priority is being given to large companies and that impacts the population of the district. How do the city of Bellevue and the district support each other? Is the city of Bellevue aware that the increase in taxes and prices causes the community to move out of Bellevue and lose population?
• How does the city of Bellevue propose that there be housing available for people to stay in this area?
• Does Odle Middle School have empty classrooms?
• Which schools have the emptiest classrooms and the fewest children?
• Does the involvement/number of parents in these types of meetings influence the decision of which school to close?
• Does the district take into consideration that there are parents in the community who cannot read and/or do not have email and cannot access emails and this information?
• Can a more personalized response be given to the people who have participated in the meetings in the schools?

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