LAKE STEVENS — School district officials here have been looking at how to deal with middle and high school overcrowding for nearly two years.
They think they might be on to something: Two high schools and a middle school on the same campus, serving 450 students each.
The concept is part of a growing — or, perhaps, "shrinking" — trend in education of breaking large, comprehensive high school campuses down into smaller, more manageable places where teachers and students can make more solid connections.
Research and some early looks at so-called small learning communities suggest that with more individual attention students do better in school.
"I see, every day, evidence of kids falling through the cracks," said Kristen Hendricks-Fonseca, a Lake Stevens High School librarian who is on a committee that is putting together a proposal for the school board.
The committee is looking at four options — with the small-schools option being the newest — to handle the district’s need to house more students. The high school has topped 2,000 students and continues to grow.
The school board will hear the committee’s recommendation Feb. 25 and could make a decision on which route to take in late March.
Either way, the district will be asking voters either in the spring or fall to approve a bond measure to pay for construction. The cost hasn’t been determined, but likely would be from $25 million to $40 million, depending on the option chosen.
The first three options were presented to the school board in March 2003. Those include:
Those plans range from $30.5 million to $45 million. The small-schools plan would cost about $32 million. The local contribution, what voters would need to approve, would be about $25 million.
There are a couple of places where the new school complex could go — one at the north end of town and the other near the south end.
About 70 schools in Washington have been converted into small learning communities in the past three years as part of the Small Schools Project, driven mostly by contributions from the Bill &Melinda Gates Foundation.
"What’s wrong with large, comprehensive high schools is that they’re large and comprehensive," said Jan Reeder, who runs the Tacoma-based Coalition of Essential Schools’ Northwest Center. It helps schools make the shift into using new strategies.
"I’m more optimistic all the time about small schools because we’re seeing better (results) every year," she said.
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
The Lake Stevens School District Web site has detailed information about what each plan for dealing with overcrowding involves. There is also an online survey that district officials are using to gather opinions from the community.
Check the Web site at:
People can also contact Arlene Hulten, the district’s communications and community services manager, at 425-335-1500.
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