Phase III Steering Committee to Present to BOE Tonight

[Kristine Pagsuyoin]

Tonight the Phase III Steering Committee will present to the Board of Education its report regarding Phase III. The meeting starts at 7pm at Harding Middle School Cafeteria. According to the Agenda, the Committee is scheduled right after the Superintendent's report. I hope that members of the Deck will consider attending the meeting since it has been an issue discussed in length on the Deck as well as in many articles featured in the LO. Everyone is welcome and I know that many of the members of the Phase III Steering Committee would appreciate citizens attending the meeting tonight.

[Meg Ostrowski]

Many in the community are under the impression that the school board has already made a decision about the fate of the remaining elementary schools.

Tonight's presentation is the hand-off of the committee's work to the board in the form of a report. My understanding is that the board will begin their decision making process using this report as a reference and announce a decision in the coming months.

If you have thoughts, opinions or concerns that you would like considered in this process, I encourage you to contact board members directly. Their contact information can be found at;

http://lakewoodcityschools.org/districtBoardEd.aspx

[marklingm]

I hope that members of the Deck will consider attending the meeting since it has been an issue discussed in length on the Deck as well as in many articles featured in the LO.

Kristine,

I agree with you in hoping that fellow Observers attend tonight's meeting and/or watch it on Channel 74. Thank you for your leadership role in the Phase III Committee.

Matt

[marklingm]

Many in the community are under the impression that the school board has already made a decision about the fate of the remaining elementary schools.

Meg,

The school board has not already made a decision about the fate of the remaining elementary schools.

Matt

[sharon kinsella]

Just got my internet installed or I would have been there tonight.

What happened?

[marklingm]

From http://www.lakewoodcityschools.org/districtNewsArticle.aspx?artID=592:

BOARD RECEIVES PHASE IIII REPORT

The Phase III Committee submitted its report to the Board of Education at its meeting Oct. 19.

The report was contained in two large binders and covered the Committee’s 10-month-long process of researching and gathering data through its subcommittees, meeting bimonthly and conducting two Community Forums.

The work boiled down to answering two questions: Whether the district should move ahead with six or seven elementary schools, knowing that the seventh school would be at taxpayers’ expense; and if the six-elementary school configuration is chosen, which school should close? Following the first Community Forum in April, the consensus was clear that the district should move to six elementary schools.

The Oct. 19 presenters for the Committee noted that the process was a difficult one and that after many months of work and two Community Forums, no clear choice stood out. Thus, the decision was to offer the Board two options:

Option A: Complete Lakewood High School, renovate or rebuild Roosevelt and Grant elementaries and decommission Lincoln Elementary

Option B: Complete Lakewood High School, rebuild or renovate Roosevelt and Lincoln elementaries and decommission Grant Elementary

The decision is now in the hands of the five Board members, who will deliberate and decide what is in the best interest of our students, our schools and our community. The Board was reminded that although the data in the report is extensive, the Committee expects that the Board will need to do more digging and research to reach a final decision.

The presenters also noted that although the Forums were important in gauging what the community valued, they were never meant to be a deciding factor in the recommendation to the Board. The Board was also asked by the Committee to do its best to minimize any transition impact on students by keeping any school that would close open until construction on the other two schools is finished. The hope also is to keep those students that will have to be moved temporarily while their schools are under construction together as much as possible.

The Committee asked the Board to work “in a thoughtful yet expedient matter” as the community is “anxious to move forward, receive the State funding, and finish the Lakewood City Schools Facilities Plan.” The Board is scheduled to discuss plans for its timeline regarding this important decision at its Nov. 2 meeting.

The Oct. 19 meeting should be available on Cox Cable Channel 74 later this week

[sharon kinsella]

Hmmm - wonder what they're going to do.

Didn't let the President of our country speak to the kids, will they close the school they can make big money on or will they close the school closest to the Gold Coast?

Hope they remember they are accountable to all of us.