GRANITE FALLS – Officials from the Boys &Girls Club of Snohomish County met Wednesday with the Granite Falls School Board, part of an effort to find a new home for the Granite Falls club.
Club officials hope to lease space in the Granite Falls Middle School parking lot for a portable structure as a temporary, if not permanent, location for the club.
No deal was reached Wednesday, but school officials promised an answer soon.
It’s unclear whether the school board will give the OK. Some board members offered support while others raised issues of licensing and child safety.
If the school district plan fails, there is no immediate backup plan in place, and children could be without a club when school starts.
“You beat your head against the wall only so many times,” said Bill Tsoukalas, Snohomish County Boys &Girls Club executive director.
Over the last few years, the club has fought City Hall to keep a lease for the city-run community center. The lease was revoked, but city officials agreed to allow the club to stay in the building through October.
An accidental fire in the community center on June 20 hastened the club’s departure.
Summer camp activities were moved to the Lake Stevens club.
Now, it’s up to the community to offer solutions, club spokesman Paul Seely said.
Few alternative options to the school district property have come forward.
Part of the resistance may stem from concerns about the club.
At the meeting, some school board members raised questions about the way the Granite Falls club has been operated.
“This club’s not always been run as a Boys &Girls club should,” said school board member Becky Brown, who operates a home day-care center in Granite Falls.
Brown asked club officials to explain how a 14-year-old was once apparently left in charge of a group of younger children. School board member Ross Londerville questioned why some of the club’s 30 Snohomish County locations have day-care licenses, while others, including Granite Falls, do not.
The club’s No. 1 mission is child safety, Tsoukalas said.
Despite operating 30 centers in the county serving 17,000 members, the club has never had a safety problem, he said.
With limited, unplanned exceptions, an adult is always in charge, he said.
And some clubs offer parents the option of full, licensed, day-care services, he said. Only state licensed day-care centers allow parents to receive state benefits to pay for child care.
Other clubs, such as Granite Falls, offer drop-in care but not day-care services.
The State Department of Early Learning opened an investigation into the Granite Falls club in 2005, Snohomish County licensing supervisor Barbara Myers said.
That investigation was closed as inconclusive, she said.
Club officials said they are exempt from state law because they have been in operation since before 1957, she said.
Department of Early Learning lawyers in Olympia still are reviewing the case, Myers said.
Brown said she’ll support the club only if it becomes licensed.
Seely said the club would consider becoming licensed if the school board insists.
Board member Bob Quarterman said the community needs the club.
“Everybody wants one,” he said. “How do we get from here to there? That’s the question.”
Tsoukalas said he left the meeting feeling crestfallen and upset.
He said a community typically comes to the Boy &Girls Club to ask for its help caring for children.
But in Granite Falls, the club has found itself on the defensive.
“We’re not sure who we can have a meaningful conversation with,” Tsoukalas said Thursday. “It appears we can’t have a meaningful conversation with the city. And it appears we can’t have a fair and meaningful conversation with the school board.”
* School district officials are reviewing a plan to allow the club to put up a portable structure in the Granite Falls Middle School parking lot.
* County Council member John Koster and others in the community are exploring other locations within the city. None appears to be an immediate solution.
* The club could continue to share facilities with the Lake Stevens club, which officials say is not a preferred option due to the distance members would have to travel to participate.
A benefit for the club is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Red Apple Markets eighth annual Texas BBQ, 115 N. Granite Ave.
The event will include food, a silent auction and rides and games for children.
For more information, call the Lake Stevens club at 425-377-0250.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
