LAKE STEVENS — A proposal to combine two alternative high schools has some students wondering if they or their classmates will drop out.
Lake Stevens and Granite Falls have been mulling a merger. It would mean students from Lake Stevens Prove High School would attend Crossroads Alternative High School in Granite Falls beginning next fall.
Kaylee Lengkeek, 17, a junior, said she doesn’t want Prove to close. It’s the same school her mom, sisters, uncle and cousins attended.
Lengkeek fell behind in high school her freshman year and transferred to Prove three years ago.
“From the first day, I loved it,” she said.
District leaders said the goal is to reach more students than are now served.
“We are struggling to keep a viable program going,” said Dave Burgess, the Lake Stevens School District superintendent. “I don’t view it as closing a program down. I view it as providing a better option for our students. How do we serve kids better and make it appealing for kids to go there?”
The districts would form a cooperative similar to the agreement they have to share bus transportation maintenance services. Another example, Burgess said, is the Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center, which provides vocational training to students across Snohomish and Island counties.
The proposal is not driven by trying to save money in tight economic times, Burgess said. It would cost each district about the same to be part of a cooperative.
Burgess said enrollment at Prove has declined in recent years, causing the district to rethink its approach to alternative high school education. Enrollment during the 2004-05 school year was 128 students with more on a waiting list; today, there are fewer than 50 students, he said.
Crossroads, on the other hand, has grown to 120 students in the six years it has been around.
Bridgette Perrigoue, program director at Crossroads, said there could be benefits for both groups of students if the districts create a cooperative.
“I’m excited about the possibilities,” Perrigoue said. “I think combining with Prove would allow us to expand our options to students.”
Prove students say their school is meeting their needs and they worry some students simply will drop out.
Brianna Injinmej is in her second year at Prove and credits the staff with molding her into a better student.
“They have all helped me so much,” she said. “They are just like a family to me.”
Lourdes Carbajal, 17, is a junior at Prove and mom with two daughters who have been in the school’s day care while she attends class.
Carbajal dropped out after learning she was pregnant her freshman year. A friend later told her about Prove.
“I didn’t want to go but she said I should just try it out,” she said. “That week just completely changed my life. I just kept coming back.”
Now, she thinks she might have to quit school with the long distance and travel time to Granite Falls, along with the fact it doesn’t have an in-school day care. Crossroads hopes to add a day care.
Several Prove students last week urged the Lake Stevens School Board to keep their school open. The board could make a decision in June.
Board member Paul Lund said he students’ comments are important.
“It gives us things to think about,” he said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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