Northshore also faces question of expansion

NORTH CREEK — Everett isn’t the only local school district considering building a high school in Snohomish County.

If all goes according to plan, voters in the Northshore School District will decide in February whether they’re willing to pay for a new $130 million campus in the North Creek area east of Lynnwood and north of Bothell. If the bond measure passes, the four-year high school could open in the fall of 2017.

Northshore already has three large King County high schools: Bothell, Inglemoor and Woodinville. A fourth high school would be part of a larger overall strategy to find enough classroom space for students in a district where the bulk of growth has been in the north end, primarily in Snohomish County.

The plan includes moving sixth-grade students into middle schools and ninth-graders into the high schools. Northshore is one of the state’s last large districts with high schools that do not include 9th grade.

The Northshore district straddles the King-Snohomish county line. It has 20,080 students, up more than 740 from 2010. Roughly a third of the district’s students — 7,300 in all — live in south Snohomish County.

Enrollment in the northern portion of the district has been on a “steady upward trend” for more than a decade, according to a district report. “This is due to the availability of land for new housing and the greater affordability of housing within the area,” the report said.

The district has a 61-acre parcel set aside for a new high school that could accommodate 1,600 students. The site north of Maltby Road is in the 3700 block of 188th Street SE and is known as the Goemaere property. The land is near Fernwood Elementary School.

The Northshore School Board is expected in October to vote on whether to place the new high school on the February ballot.

That is the recommendation of a task force that examined enrollment issues in the district.

Parents in south Snohomish County have felt the consequences of growth first-hand. Some kindergarten students from Canyon Creek, Crystal Springs and Kokanee elementary schools have had to be bused to other schools because there isn’t enough room.

“That’s always painful,” Northshore School District spokeswoman Leanna Albrecht said.

With roughly 750 students, Canyon Creek Elementary now has a larger enrollment than three of the district’s six junior highs.

At Fernwood Elementary, next to the site of the proposed high school, two large developments being built are expected to add 450 homes.

The task force also looked at instructional issues before making the recommendation to move freshmen into its high schools, Albrecht said.

As it stands, 450 freshmen — more than a third of its ninth-graders — are bused from their junior high schools to high schools so they can take advanced math and world language classes. For now, that’s all the district can offer.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.