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Combined Notes

Question 1: What aspects of the middle school experience are most important to you/your student?

• Community and supports for students and families (students/families not felling othered but rather celebrated in the school)
• Support for students in Spanish and the dual language ������Ƶ�ٷ� as well as English language development support
• Caring teachers who look like our kids
• Easy access to transportation
• Family connection center
• Safe schools (no gangs/fights)
• Communication with principal(s) and teacher(s)

Question 2: If we were to consolidate one middle school, what priorities or factors are important that you think we should consider?

• Bring students together as a cohort
• Bring some of the same teachers along with the students
• Provide transportation
• Provide socioemotional support for students who need to move and the ones receiving them
• Create a sense of belonging/community
• Keep the dual language ������Ƶ�ٷ�

Question 3: What questions do you have?

• When will this decision be made?
• How will the community be informed about what is happening?
• Does our voice really count?
• Will classes become larger if we close schools?

Summary

Responses to Question 1: What aspects of the middle school experience are most important to you/your student?

Not applicable

Responses to Question 2: If we were to consolidate one middle school, what priorities or factors do you think we should consider?

The participants in this forum were agreed on a handful of themes that included:

• A lack of confidence in the data
  • A local hospital’s website says birthrates went up, not down.
  • Closing schools causes decreased enrollment.
• ������Ƶ�ٷ�’s competitiveness
  • Closing down Advanced Learning will cause parents to leave the district.
  • Closing our schools reduces our competitiveness.
• Student focus
  • Concern that consolidating will hurt student’s social emotional well-being.
  • Students should be invited to the school board meeting to tell their stories.

Responses to Question 3: What questions do you have?

• The enrollment for Tyee is up, yet the data says the utilization is down. Why?
• Can more information about the budget – and how it affects this decision – be shared?
• How will we manage student/teacher ratios if we lose teachers?

Combined Notes

Question 1: To best utilize district resources, should we consider consolidating a school or continue to operate five schools with reduced resources and ������Ƶ�ٷ�ming?

• In the data, are we including only ������Ƶ�ٷ�-resident students or is this data including open enrollment students? A lot of families outside ������Ƶ�ٷ� chose to come to Tyee and Sammamish – there was a big population movement from Issaquah district to ������Ƶ�ٷ�. I am concerned with consolidation; it will increase school size in some schools and Issaquah residents already enrolled in ������Ƶ�ٷ� will be forced to disenroll in the future.
• We have concerns about consolidation because we have seen the impacts from the elementary school consolidation. Impacted students and families feel not heard, not adjusting to new school because they feel far away (not in their neighborhood anymore), reduced bus service is really hard on the students and families. Also, ������Ƶ�ٷ� announced that there will be emotional supports and counselors, but for many students, they have not felt supported or accessible. What is the district’s real plan?
• This year, a lot of students came from outside ������Ƶ�ٷ�. My neighborhood falls very closely between Issaquah and ������Ƶ�ٷ� district, and as ������Ƶ�ٷ� opened up spots, there was big population movement from Issaquah district to ������Ƶ�ٷ� (Tyee middle school and Sammamish). If consolidation happens, will the Issaquah district students will be kicked out ? Can we actively enroll more students from outside of ������Ƶ�ٷ� and continue having 5 schools open without having to reduce resources?
• I want to know the purpose of this consolidation study. Are we finalizing to decide to think student number issue is a fact and making this consolidation study? Even the data seems too soon to determine. We could need to consolidate in many years later, but we cannot do that now because it will be too chaotic! Can we approach this as a long-term project? The enrolled students already form good bond with their friends, and it is hard to break that based on the data and 7-10 years futures’ projection.

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Question 2: What aspects of the middle school experience are most important to you/your student?

• Education and activity opportunities are important. My oldest child went to Chinook and had enriched club, after school activities, and field trips. This year, my youngest one is not having much of that enriched experience due to shortages. This has reduced the quality of experience for the child. Also, students are worried that clubs they are actively involved will be gone next year. They put a lot of effort and love doing it and it will be very unfortunate to lose those opportunities.
• Diverse experience is important. Students in my child’s school is already having rumors that their school is at risk of closing. Our children and their friends are worrying a lot. The ������Ƶ�ٷ�s they are worried that their ������Ƶ�ٷ�s they are involved will be closing, and their clubs will no longer be available. For example, since Olde and Tyee both has Advance Learning ������Ƶ�ٷ�, and if district decides to close one of those schools, would that mean that the opportunity for their Advance Learning will be gone? Enriched social interaction they have now will be gone if schools are consolidated. For middle schoolers, friendship is most important and if students will be located to different schools, it will be impacting their middle school experience negatively.
• There are teacher dependent clubs. If the resources are reduced, how will it affect all these clubs??
• Transparency of decision making!!! Last year, Enatai was one of the elementary schools to be closed but they did not. Rumors are because they are in rich neighborhood. There was not much transparency or announcement from ������Ƶ�ٷ�. Nowhere on the website says the logistics behind decision making. To avoid rumors, we want to know CLEARLY the decision points.

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Question 3: If we were to consolidate one middle school, what priorities or factors are important that you think we should consider?

• OUR STUDENTS!!!! They are in their sensitive time of life where social and emotional support is important. They would not want to be separated from their friends and teachers that they have already created a bond with.
• Geographically, Highland and Odle are very close, and these two seem like to be the most affected school from this consolidation result if it will happen. Does that mean these two schools will combine?
• If so, what will be the boundary of school? Will it be combining these two schools? Or will the boundary be affected?
• Will the transportation issue be covered? We are struggling this year already with School bus service. We don’t have transportation available every day and it is already an added struggle to families. Currently, after the consolidation, elementary school students take more than an hour to get to school which is too long.
• This year, a lot of students came from outside ������Ƶ�ٷ�. My neighborhood falls very closely between Issaquah and ������Ƶ�ٷ� district, and as ������Ƶ�ٷ� opened up spots, there was big population movement from Issaquah district to ������Ƶ�ٷ� (Tyee middle school and Sammamish). If consolidation happens, will the Issaquah district students be kicked out?
• Once we are consolidated, will we have the transportation issues covered? My child was affected by the elementary school consolidation last year, and because of the shortage of drivers it has become very uncomfortable to commute to school.
• What are the factors in choosing which school to close?

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Question 4: What questions do you have?

• Is the reduced student population issue an overall reduction or is this happening in specific location or school? What is the reduction rate of each school?
• If we keep 5 schools, are we going to have more limited learning opportunities? Can you explain what kinds of services will be impacted?
• Will the change happen right away starting next school year? It would be nice to make the gradual change so that it would be an easier transition.
• For last year’s elementary school consolidation, there was not a clear explanation behind the logistics why certain schools closed. There are rumors that schools in rich neighborhood (Enatai) was one of the candidates but it did not close. Without clear
• If we do the open enrollment, wouldn’t it only help the popular schools remain and non-preferred school to get consolidated?
• If the schools get consolidated, will the specific features of those schools be gone as well? Each school seems to have clubs that has significant importance to each school. Will this be also gone? It will be so negatively impactful to students.
• Are we absolutely not thinking about consolidating the choice schools? Are these schools out of discussion?
• My child’s school does not have room to accommodate all students and uses multiple portable classrooms. If the school utility rate shows it is low already, can we use those spaces instead of the portables? Or is this overall usage? I would appreciate to know the utility rate of individual schools.
• Will we be talking about high school consolidation in the next few years??
• I live in the neighborhood which school gotten closed down last year (Eastgate). I have seen a lot of sad elementary students then and still unable to cope with their loss.
• Friends are separated, teachers are no longer there. Passing over I-90 feels too far and they do not feel connected to the new school. They were told there would be social emotional support, but it does not seem to be very supportive, nor do students find it helpful. It is already a sad loss and i am very concerned we are having this conversation again for the middle schoolers. Middle school is the time friendship is more firm and bonding gets strong. The district says there will be social emotional support. But can you tell us what kind of support you are planning?
• When Wilburton closed down, they let the 5th graders remain so that they could finish as 5th grade cohort together. I think that was helpful to that grade. Can such transition be supported if consolidation has to happen??

Combined Notes

Question 1: What aspects of the middle school experience are most important to you/your student?

• Advanced learning ������Ƶ�ٷ�s to support students.
• Quality of education to prepare for college (math, English.)
• Opportunities for electives (robotics and rocketry).
• 7^th grader starting at Odle last year, the adjustment from elementary to middle was hard. If there is a consolidation, I want him to be minimally impacted by school changes. Middle school are tough years for a lot of kids. How do we make sure he is supported, and all students are supported in a
• First year in ������Ƶ�ٷ�, daughter at Tyee and in 5^th – came from Seattle – saw problems with declining enrollment and problems when that wasn’t addressed. Our previous middle school lost a lot of teachers and ������Ƶ�ٷ�s.
• Like his teachers a lot, some exceptional teachers, passionate about students and enjoy teaching.
• Prefer to attend Odle because of the AL ������Ƶ�ٷ�, administrative staff is friendly and welcoming to students. Wanting to maintain the friend.
• Nonresident group; just moved this year and a choice transfer, but was a prior a ������Ƶ�ٷ� student. The choice transfer is a great option, closer than home school. Just started about 2 months ago. Will this impact them as a transfer back to home school; being unstable is a concern?
• Environment and best academic environment. Feel like they are settled; especially for middle school; very important to stable environment during this move from childhood to teenagers.
• Odle is a top-ranking school across of the nation; might impact.

Question 2: If we were to consolidate one middle school, what priorities or factors are important that you think we should consider?

• Student to teacher ratio.
• What is best for the future students? Distance to school.
• My child spends 40 minutes on the bus per trip, we are happy with that ������Ƶ�ٷ� – I think that will be longer if we consolidate – that should be considered.
• First year in ������Ƶ�ٷ�, just moved into the area, my son is a 5^th grader – he is in AL ������Ƶ�ٷ� now at Somerset. Transportation is an issue for us too – right now he doesn’t have a bus – I drop him off and pick him up.
• My kids are in AL – this was our number one reason for choosing ������Ƶ�ٷ� when we moved. We’ve been happy with the level of education for our middle schooler. We also chose ������Ƶ�ٷ� for the 7-period day – not offered everywhere – we value this a lot. My kids like to do foreign language and music – you need a 7-period day to fit this and other things in. Gives you the space for exploration without sacrificing what you want to do in the long term.
• Make sure kids can get to school – we don’t have enough buses now – how can we make sure all kids can get to school if we consolidate?
• Course continuity – in Seattle, they cut French from 8^th grade after she’d taken it in 6^th and 7^th, and that was really frustrating for my child – would want to make sure there is continuity of course work for students.
• My child is at Odle – to have the least impact on the most number of students, don’t close Odle.
• Advanced learning is least the same number who have like-minded students; they are humbler when
• Continue non-resident through the middle
• Keep neighborhood school.
• Does the standards of each school the same if our school is closed.
• Can the choice schools be considered along with comprehensive middle schools?

Question 3: What questions do you have?

• What other considerations have been made other than consolidating a middle school?
• How are property taxes used to fund the school district? They keep increasing.
• Be more transparent: What is the cost per student, what amount do we receive per student from the state, what is the cost per school?
• What is the alternative to consolidating the school?
• What studies have been done to eliminate this consolidation factor? To reduce the impact on the students.
• What assumptions are being made in the enrollment data about housing? How does this align with the city’s active process to increase housing? (Question from city council member)
• Are there other ������Ƶ�ٷ�s that can be added that would bring new students into the school system and increase enrollment? How can we increase the revenue (we are only focusing on the expense).
• Who is making this decision? What led to this option?
• What would the transportation to the gifted ������Ƶ�ٷ� look like if we consolidated a middle school?
• Are you going to cancel the gifted ������Ƶ�ٷ� if we consolidate?
• How soon do we anticipate there will be a consolidation?
• When looking at the chart of the 8^th grade class and projected 9^th grade class – the 8^th grade class is a lot smaller than the 9^th grade class – where are we projecting that students are coming from? Are they non-resident students?
• How would this happen?
• What would this look like?
• What are the top factors that would be considered?
• Why was the information not shared earlier shared with the community about the declining environment?
• Why does them so sudden for such a large impact?
• What is the impact on the choice schools?
• How did the pandemic impact the drop of enrollment?
• Did the district overspend during the pandemic that impacted our budget?