Mukilteo School District is revising boundaries to accommodate a new elementary school.
Great news for all of us in the district, but not all of the changes are welcome. They are proposing to move the “Hilltop” area to the new Lake Stickney School. The schools are equally distant from the Hilltop area, and a brand new school certainly has some allure. That is, until you consider that to remove this area from Discovery Elementary will: remove essentially all of the active P.T.O. members, leave Discovery at approximately 90 precent poverty, and remove almost all of the “white” population from the school (diversity goes both ways).
They claim that they want to eliminate “pocket borders” (which would apply to the Hilltop area, as it currently is arranged), yet they left a pocket that is in the neighborhood of the new school AND across two major streets from its assigned school. And their reasoning for leaving that pocket? They didn’t want to disrupt too many students.
Yet they are willing to take away diversity and community stability from Discovery. It is a great school with dedicated teachers who go the extra mile for the kids. I know that the excellent staff and teachers will continue, but I worry for all of the things that will NOT continue if Hilltop is moved from Discovery.
At this stage the changes are just a proposal I am hopeful that Superintendent Marci Larsen and the boundary committee will make the right choice for the good of the children.
Paige Johnson, Hilltop parent
Everett
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