The Observation Deck

Kristine Pagsuyoin wrote: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.

Meg Ostrowski wrote: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.

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