Broadhurst petitions to enter LWSD schools
July 30, 2008
By Laura Geggel
Redmond resident Blythe Manson has begun a petition drive that could end up sending new students to Sammamish area schools, specifically Alcott Elementary and Eastlake High School.
Manson’s neighborhood, Broadhurst, currently sends its children to the Snoqualmie Valley School District. The boundaries for that district were drawn in 1944, long before there were at least 11 Lake Washington schools closer to her neighborhood than any Snoqualmie Valley school, she said.
So, Manson and about 185 other Broadhurst residents have signed a petition to change school districts.
Distance is their main concern: traveling on Highway 202 to get to Snoqualmie Valley schools can turn any parent’s stomach queasy. They say there are few streetlights and too many speeding vehicles and accidents.
Jason Brown won’t even let his children ride the bus.
“It’s a ridiculously long ride for a 5- and 8-year-old,” Brown said of the 45-minute afternoon route from Fall City Elementary to his house.
Brown’s wife drives their children to school. This year, his wife will drive to and from Fall City Elementary three times a day – in the morning to drop off her children, at noon to pick-up her half-day kindergartner, and in the afternoon to collect her third-grader.
“We’re going to have to sell our home, unless we can change where we can go to school,” Brown said.
Carl Brandt, whose daughter will attend kindergarten next year, said the distance will make it hard for him to participate in school activities with his child. Normally schools help build a stronger community culture, but the commute to Snoqualmie Valley schools is tearing Broadhurst apart, he said.
“We lose two to three families every year in our community because of the distance from the school district,” Brandt said. “They try it for a year or two, and then they move.”
Broadhurst has a history of wanting to transfer. In 1997, the majority of the neighborhood petitioned to transfer to the Lake Washington School District – a request that was denied. With a stronger tax base growing the Snoqualmie Valley School District, Broadhurst resident Myles Kahn predicted the district will no longer need Broadhurst.
This time, Broadhurst filed its petition to change school districts from Snoqualmie Valley to Lake Washington June 20.
The petition, however, contained some mistakes.
The legal description the petitioners submitted didn’t match a map of the area, said Jane Murray, assistant fiscal officer with the Puget Sound Educational Service District, the overarching, regional school district.
Manson, who submitted the petition, will have to rewrite the legal description and resubmit the entire petition, which includes obtaining the signatures of 50 percent plus 1 of the neighborhood’s residents.
The Puget Sound Educational Service District is also requiring Manson to obtain the signatures of about five homes located on Northeast 40th Street.
“Leaving them out would cause them to be in ‘no man’s land,’” Manson wrote in an e-mail. “So, we are adding them to our petition and will be re-filing shortly.”
After the petition is correctly filed, the school districts will have 90 days to negotiate an agreement concerning Broadhurst.
In the event one school district approves the transfer and the other one rejects it, the petitioners can appeal the decision and send it to a committee of the educational service district.
But the residents of Broadhurst hope Snoqualmie Valley will honor their request to transfer and allow them to avoid the appeal process.
“To me, it’s a no-brainer,” Kahn said.
Of the 107 houses in Broadhurst, there are 56 students – 30 of them are projected to attend Snoqualmie schools.
“Until we see the official notification, we can’t comment,” said Kathryn Reith, communications director for the Lake Washington School District. Once the district receives the transfer request, Reith said they would look at the capacity of the schools closest to Broadhurst.
Broadhurst parents said they would like their children to attend Alcott Elementary, Evergreen Middle School, and Eastlake High School.
Snoqualmie Valley Superintendent Joel Aune said he and the school board would “honor and respect the process” for the transfer petition.
Reporter Laura Geggel can be reached at 392-6434 x221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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Dear Ms Geggel,
Thank you for your coverage of Broadhurst’s efforts to move to the Lake Washington School District. We believe this move is in the best interest of our children and is a winning proposition for both districts.
Thank you again for your coverage.
Regards, Petra Hoy