Reprieve for Marysville schools

Published 11:32 pm Tuesday, February 17, 2009

MARYSVILLE — After weeks of heated meetings and emotional pleas from parents, the Marysville School Board voted 3-2 on Tuesday night to delay deciding whether to close schools until June 2010.

“We need to take the time before making a rash decision that’s going to impact a lot of our students and their families,” school board president Michael Kundu said.

Under the new timeline, administrators will continue studying the possibility of school closures, but the school board won’t make any big decisions until next year.

The board has been thinking of closing Liberty, Cascade or Tulalip elementaries as soon as 2010 to save money and deal with falling enrollment. Also on the chopping block was the Marysville Cooperative Education Program, a parent-teacher cooperative housed at Quil Ceda Elementary School.

The board’s decision on Tuesday leaves open the possibility of shutting the popular swimming pool at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, which is used by students and community groups.

Board members Don Hatch Jr. and Darci Becker voted against the measure.

Hatch said he feared voters wouldn’t pass a bond that may pay to rebuild Liberty or Cascade elementaries if the board hasn’t yet decided whether those schools will stay open.

“We have to find the money somewhere, and where the somewhere is, I don’t know,” Hatch said. “Hopefully the finance staff and the superintendent can find some money and not have to close schools, but it doesn’t look good.”

More than 100 people gathered at the meeting to protest the possible closures. They applauded when Kundu proposed delaying school closures.

Many had come with speeches prepared. However, the board voted to delay closing schools before allowing public comments.

“I’m relieved,” said Kirsten Green, a teacher and parent at the Marysville Cooperative Education Program. “I think it will give them more time to research more about the decisions.”

Before the meeting, scores of supporters from the parent-teacher co-op gathered outside. Teachers, parents and students wore white T-shirts with “SOS” printed in red on the back.

“The thought is that if we can be identified, then the school board has a better picture of who we are and how many we are,” said Sue Johnston, a fifth-grade teacher at the school.

Liberty first-grade teacher Corina Hansen said many students walk to Liberty, and losing the school would be a major blow to the entire community.

“For me personally, I’d feel that there’s a hole — a hole in Marysville, and it would sadden me,” said Hansen, who also has a son attending Liberty. “I’d be saddened to see such a good school be broken up and just left empty.”

The district needs to cut around $3 million — or 3 percent of its budget.

Closing an elementary school would save around $400,000 a year in administrative and utility costs, according to district estimates. Closing the pool would save less than $100,000 annually.

Superintendent Larry Nyland urged the board to postpone the decision to give administrators more time to gather information and community input. Closing schools too quickly may hurt morale and tie up a ton of time, he said. The controversy could also make voters less likely to pass a proposed bond in February 2010, Nyland wrote in a report to the board.

That bond may allow the district to renovate or replace Marysville-Pilchuck High School, replace Cascade and Liberty elementaries and build a new middle school, most likely to replace Marysville Middle School.

Even if voters approve a bond, state law requires bond money to be spent on construction, not operating expenses.

The district’s problems stem from a souring economy and an enrollment decline that caught school officials by surprise. After decades of steady growth, enrollment in Marysville schools has declined by 1 percent each of the last two years.

Since school funding is based on enrollment numbers, the dip is hurting the district’s bottom line.

In 2006, voters approved a bond to build a new high school and Grove Elementary School, which opened last fall.

The district’s enrollment is now about 12,000. The schools being considered for closure each have roughly 200 to 600 students.

While Tuesday’s vote prevents the school board from deciding to close schools until June 2010, it doesn’t prevent the board from discussing closures earlier or shuttering the pool and slashing programs.

“I hope we do not need to close a pool,” school board member Sherri Crenshaw said. “However, in order to look at the complete picture, we should not rule that out as a possibility.”