Pratt apparently only school proposed for ax

Pratt Elementary stands alone as a singular school solution to a multischool problem.

Brian Benzel, superintendent of Spokane School District 81, asked the school board in January to start the process of closing Pratt Elementary School. The reasons given were low enrollment and the opportunity to move in a Disabilities Assessment Center that is currently in a leased building out of the school district.

The children of Pratt Elementary cried at their desks when they were told of the proposed closure of their school. The children were asking their parents if they could give their piggy-bank earnings to save their school.

No other possible schools were proposed for cutting costs in order to balance the $10.5 million shortfall in the budget; this makes it appear that Pratt Elementary is shouldering the whole burden for District 81.

It was stated that closing Pratt Elementary School and moving the Tate Disabilities Assessment Center to Pratt would save $500,000. The Army Reserve Center on Market Street was given as a possible alternative location for the Disabilities Assessment Center, since it is closing in 2009.

District 81 board member Barb Richardson mentioned during the January board meeting that the District 81 board is required to be fiscally responsible, but she didn’t ask the superintendent where the rest of the cuts for the $10.5 million shortfall would come.

The federal government, state Legislature and Gov. Chris Gregoire refuse to fully fund Spokane schools. District 81 programs are not fully funded and our local levies only partially help with the shortfalls. Without full government funding we just don’t have enough money to run our schools anymore.

The shortfalls include $3.7 million in expenditures that are not provided by current revenue and $6.8 million in accumulated funding gaps that have no renewable resource.

Currently the district has 100 empty instructional classrooms, just three at Pratt. If the school boundaries were extended to Havana, it would add more children to Pratt Elementary, relieving low enrollment at the school.

The school board was informed that a large multihome development (350 to 700 homes) is proposed within the Pratt Elementary boundaries, which would increase attendance.

In 2003, $30.2 million of proposed cuts named Adams, Finch, Franklin, Hutton, Indian Trail, Jefferson, Libby, Madison and Westview schools as potential candidates for closure. None was closed, and no 90-day proposals were mentioned.

Through careful examination of the map and phone calls to different schools in the area, we have discovered that they could save an estimated $3.5 million by redistricting and by using Pratt for some of their portable classes (children who can be taught anywhere) for special education and/or bilingual education or even K-8 education.

In contemplating closing Pratt Elementary School, District 81 breaks the agreement to support the federally funded Edgecliff Weed and Seed strategy (“weeding out” violent crime and drug abuse and “seeding in” programs including youth services, school programs, and community and social programs designed to develop positive community attitudes).

Pratt Elementary Safe Haven programs include classes on parenting, evening access to a computer lab for students and community members, a homework and tutoring center for students, and Family Night activities. Closing Pratt Elementary removes the only practical place for a community oriented multiservice center.

While they are contemplating the possibility of busing children from Pratt to other schools there is no reason to think that the road runs only one way. Busing children from portable classes to Pratt would be just as cost-effective.

We were once three schools strong in our neighborhood: Pratt, Alcott and Libby. Now the Edgecliff community is down to its last school.

Why should we be closed and lose our last vestige of community?

Through investigation we have found there are several other possibilities that have not been mentioned by any other member of the school board. We have 90 days prior to the school board’s final decision to close Pratt Elementary.

The 90 days end on April 25, and Pratt stands alone as a singular school solution to a multischool problem. Write your legislators and help save our schools.