Bigger district means more sprawl

My family has lived and worked in these river valleys since 1899. My wife and I have lived in the Snohomish school district for 38 years. We raised our children here.

We are considering constructing a second high school. We have thoughts of losing tradition and our history.

This area was careful to control our cities’ growth as well as our rural county growth by mandating 5-acre and 2-acre minimum densities.

But we overlooked the southwest corner of our school district. In fact, we did not seem to connect the school district planning area with the southwest Snohomish postal area. The county has allowed very high density in this area and a tremendous population explosion is under way. Our school leaders are trying to accommodate and educate our children.

Many years ago I suggested a new district be formed south of the valley.

At this date I believe a realignment of our district will make the most sense.

Should schools be built near the Clearview land-fill area, we must insist on proper testing of these sites to not place our children’s health at risk. When you look for 40-acre options to build a new high school, the landfill area may be the only option.

I believe that a very high percentage of the school growth has come from south of the valley in the last five years and possibly a good share for the next 10 years, causing the move for a second high school.

I would suggest to postpone any further high density development in all areas of our district while we find a solution.

Secondly, I would halt all purchase of school properties anywhere in the district while we study our options.

I would suggest we study and implement where it may be possible to shrink our school district – especially where the areas do not relate to our district geographically and economically.

We have worked so hard to create a feeling of a traditional, historic city with a rural area of low density. An alternative to splitting the district into two high schools would be to assist the area south of the valley to create a new school district in combination with some other areas that relate to the Clearview area. Clearview’s future will probably be quite a large town as soon as sewer and incorporation takes place. We should, of course, assist the new district to have a full complement of adequate schools.

Why should we be involved in such a project? Do we wish our Snohomish area to mirror the image of other bordering communities with high density sprawl?

I hope my proposed solutions will encourage others to come forth with constructive ideas.

Snohomish