MARYSVILLE — Acting Superintendent Jason Thompson expects by the end of May to present the Marysville School Board with a recommendation on whether to reconfigure local high schools.
The district also plans to publish online a report with public input gathered on a variety of other topics.
School board President Tom Albright said the decision on whether to leave the high schools choice-based or change to a boundary system should be considered alongside other important issues.
A public meeting Saturday marked the end of a months-long process to round up feedback on the future of Marysville schools.
The event drew well over 100 people. There were teachers, parents, students and elected officials.
Along with secondary education, they talked about safety, parent involvement, respect for different cultures and backgrounds, and how best to prepare young people for college or careers.
“It’s not an easy task … to steer a ship this large with this many interests,” Albright said.
The school board realized a couple of years ago that changes were needed, he said.
In recent years, the district has faced declining enrollment and shifts in state standards and funding.
Most who attended Saturday’s meeting, when asked to disperse by topic, opted to join the conversation about middle and high schools.
Students choose to attend Marysville Pilchuck, a comprehensive high school, or Marysville Getchell, which has four schools on its campus: the Academy of Construction and Engineering, Bio Med Academy, International School of Communications and School for the Entrepreneur.
The change being considered is to have two comprehensive high schools where enrollment is based on where students live. Each school’s enrollment would be more predictable and transportation costs would decrease, district officials said Saturday. However, the change also would eliminate small learning communities at Getchell that supporters say have been a boon, with classes geared toward students’ interests and more close-knit learning environments than at a traditional high school.
Some want to keep the status quo; others question whether a system with two very different high schools provides equal opportunity for all students.
John Natterstad is a social studies teacher at Getchell, a graduate of Pilchuck and a parent of two high school students. He’s advocated for Getchell to be a hybrid campus, where students participate in small learning communities but can cross over for electives.
High schools aren’t his main concern, though.
“I think a lot of focus has been on the high schools and it should be on the middle schools because that’s what will make Getchell and Pilchuck better,” he said.
Middle schools need to engage students and prepare them for high school, he said.
Marysville middle schools are crowded and there have been complaints of behavioral issues, Thompson said. He would like to see better buildings and school resource officers on every campus.
As for the high schools, some feel a decision already has been made. Previous changes at Getchell moved it toward a more comprehensive campus and took away from the small learning communities, they said. The school had a principal and administrative staff for each of the four academies, but the district cut positions. There’s one principal now. The district this year also put the four schools on the same bell schedule to make crossover classes easier.
“I get why people see that and why they think a decision has been made,” Thompson said. “We had to make some staffing decisions that may make it look like we’re going in a certain direction.”
If the high schools are changed so enrollment is by boundaries, current students would be allowed to finish at their choice school, Thompson said. It’s possible they would have to provide their own transportation.
Boundaries would be set through a process that would include public comment, Thompson said. Those are “the types of meetings you book an auditorium for,” he said.
“We see that as a challenging discussion, but one we’re not going to back down from on principle,” Albright said.
Kona, Zach and Braeden Farry attended Saturday’s meeting. Kona graduated from Getchell in 2016, Zach is a senior there and Braeden is in seventh grade. The older Farry brothers support small learning communities.
“The ones that are working work really well,” Zach Farry said.
Kona Farry believes they can be examples of student-centered education, where students rather than state standards guide learning, he said.
Consultants hired by the district shared what they’ve learned over the last few months, through a telephone poll, online survey, interviews and focus groups. People want schools they can be proud of and crave ways to measure progress, not just talk about it, they said.
“People really want this to be a place where you grow up and you stay, not where you grow up and you go,” said Garrison Kurtz, with consulting firm Dovetailing.
Changes at the high school level weren’t the only concerns, Kurtz said. Parents, teachers and students worry about cultural divides and bullying. They want every student to have an adult at school who has high expectations for them, regardless of their background.
People also have said they want better maintenance and improved schools and athletic fields. Some say they would support a bond, while others want to see progress before they’d get behind a tax measure.
One common sentiment at Saturday’s meeting was that there’s been enough talk.
“I had several people come up to me today and say, ‘Make some decisions,’“ Thompson said.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com
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