CV unveils comments from survey
Based on comments collected by the Central Valley School District, parents do not want their children bused away from their neighborhood schools as a way to cope with crowding.
But some would support boundary changes, or temporary portable classrooms to deal with the problem.
Those were just some of the issues addressed in a report summarizing the comments solicited from more than 1,000 Central Valley patrons concerning a facilities concept currently being proposed by the district.
The concept includes building two new schools, remodeling and updating six others, and transitioning some buildings for other uses. That would include busing some kids to schools with empty classrooms.
“We have to figure out some solution that solves everybody’s issues,” said board member Tom Dingus. “If we are going to look at new schools, it has to be a solution for the whole district.”
In November, the board voted to take the concept out to the community for comments before making a decision. A nine-member Community Facilities Review Committee was put in charge of gathering the input from Central Valley patrons.
On Monday, the committee unveiled the community comments to a packed house inside the cafeteria at Evergreen Middle School.
In the report, some Central Valley patrons said they would agree to portable classrooms for overcrowded schools; fewer said they would favor boundary changes within the district.
The majority also supported building new schools to deal with growth, and modernizing old schools.
“It wasn’t a vote, it was input,” said Ann Long, school board director. “The information will help, but it has to be combined with what the state requires, and budgetary concerns.”
The district is faced with staggering growth in its eastern reaches, while schools in the western half go largely underutilized.
Liberty Lake Elementary School is expected to have nearly 800 students in the fall, 200 more than capacity. Greenacres will also be over capacity with 676 students. University High School is currently over its 1,800 capacity.
Because of low enrollment, Chester may be “transitioned” to temporarily house overflow from nearby U-Hi. Parents at the school have vehemently opposed the idea.
Of the 605 written comments collected, more parents commented on busing than on any other matter. They said they didn’t want their children bused away from neighborhood schools.
Others said they didn’t want Chester to be a transition school.
The board will continue to gather more input from district staff, and will likely make a decision on how to move forward with the plan at the next board meeting scheduled for April 11.
“Whatever we do, we, I recognize, will not please everyone,” said Superintendent Mike Pearson. “They (board members) want to be deliberate; they’ve been very clear on that. They want to spend as much time as possible with the data” before making a decision.