Everett, Wash.
Published: Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Edmonds School District puts Evergreen Elementary on chopping block

By Kaitlin Manry
Herald Writer

 LYNNWOOD -- In a few months, Evergreen Elementary School's hallways will be quiet. There will be no more bouncing balls in the gym, singing in the music room or laughter in classrooms.

The Edmonds School Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to close Evergreen Elementary in June, at the end of this school year.

"It's with real sincere regret that we have to move to this stage," board member Patrick Shields said before voting to close the school.

The board decided to close Evergreen to save money in a tight budget. In December, the board voted to close Woodway Elementary School.

Woodway and Evergreen are the smallest of the district's 24 elementary schools and have faced declining enrollment for years.

Closing the schools is expected to save the Edmonds School District around $1.4 million a year. While most teachers will follow students to new schools, the district expects to save money on administrators, custodians, heating and other school-specific costs.

"It's heartbreaking, but I understand," Evergreen Elementary School Principal Susan Ardissono said, minutes after learning her school would close.

She's known for months that the school board was considering closing Evergreen and said she's been focused all along on making sure her students have a positive year.

Superintendent Nick Brossoit said deciding to close the school has been difficult for everyone involved.

"In my 15 years as a superintendent, I never wanted to be in front of a group of people talking about closing their school -- as anguishing as that is," he said.

The school board also decided Tuesday to begin the process of declaring Evergreen and Woodway surplus property. Listing the schools as surplus would allow the district to rent them out, but maintain ownership of the schools in case they're needed by the district in the future.

No one protested the closure at Tuesday's meeting.

Andy Simonsen, an Evergreen PTA vice president, said he's shared his opinions with the school board in the past and didn't want to repeat himself.

He would love to see Evergreen stay open so his kindergarten daughter and third-grade son could continue there, but he understands why the board decided to close the school.

"It's unfortunate, but I think that this really is just a sign of a lack of support at the state level for funding of our schools," he said.

Simonsen and his wife have already told their children that they may have to go to a new school next year.

"There's always a sense of uneasiness when it comes to change like that, but we're doing the best we can as parents and they seem to be doing OK right now," he said.

Evergreen Elementary School is about 40 years old and has 276 students. The district has slightly more than 20,000 students.

Starting this fall, most Evergreen students will attend either Mountlake Terrace Elementary or Terrace Park school. Both schools are within two miles of Evergreen.



Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292, kmanry@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA