“We own the land. If the county wants to condemn it then they can pay us and we’ll go find something else,” said Board Member Brian Deagle.

The board got the bad news at its April 26 meeting where it received an update about the recent recommendations of the School Siting Task Force.

In his presentation to the board, Steve Crawford, director of capital projects for the Issaquah School District, explained that one of the recommendations is for Issaquah is to basically give up the nearly 80 acres of land it owns on May Valley Road.

The $1.4 million property, which sits between Squak Mountain to the north and Cedar Hills Landfill to the south, is outside of King County’s Urban Growth Boundary.

The Urban Growth Boundary is a state-mandated area put in place by the county. In an effort to reduce sprawl and preserve open areas, growth is supposed to be concentrated inside the boundary. The Issaquah district straddles the boundary, with students living both inside and outside of it.

Following the logic that suburban sprawl follows new schools, the county last year decided to begin enforcing a 20-year-old regulation forbidding students who live inside the boundary from being served by a school outside the boundary.

For the Issaquah School District, that means the May Valley Road property would be off-limits to many of its students. If the district needs to build a new school, it will have to somehow find the money to buy new urban property to build on, instead of developing the land it bought years ago.

“I am worried about the finances of the crescent districts 20 years from now,” said School Board President Chad Magendanz. Issaquah along with Northshore, Lake Washington, Snoqualmie, Kent and Tahoma school districts are in similar situations, with students inside the boundary and school sites outside. Collectively, they own 18 properties outside of the urban growth boundary.

Magendanz’s worries were echoed at the meeting by the other members of the board. He suggested that the district fight the decision now, and might schedule a closed session on the topic since there may be a lawsuit.

Crawford pointed out the decision doesn’t make the property totally useless. Students from outside the boundary could still go to a school built on the property.

“Attendance population doesn’t stop at the urban growth boundary,” said Crawford. “I think this is realistically a better position than what was headed down the tracks last year.”

Crawford was one of the seven people representing school districts on the 29-person siting task force, which met periodically between December, 2011 and March. The group was formed last fall by the King County Growth Management Planning Council to look for possible compromises to the council’s original proposal, which was even more restrictive.

The group concluded its work March 29. Its recommendations included allowing for the use of sites with an identified immediate need, a chance for some districts to be compensated for properties that don’t have an identified need and flexible redevelopment options for schools that already exist on rural sites.

“Flexible redevelopment options for existing school sites (such as Endeavor, Pacific Cascade, Apollo and Maple Hills) is a key consideration,” Issaquah school district’s CFO Jacob Kuper told the school board in an April 25th email.

This is important, he explained, because normal land use policies say that those sites would be limited to a one-time expansion of only 10 percent.

“In my opinion, it’s not much better,” said Magendanz.

Next, King County Executive Dow Constantine’s office is expected to use the recommendations to propose new county-wide planning policies.

From there the proposal will need to be considered and approved by the Growth Management Planning Council before going to the King County Council for final adoption. All this, according to Kuper’s email, is likely to happen before the end of 2012.

During its April 25 worksession, the school board took the first step of looking at changes to graduation requirements. Any changes the board adopts would first take effect on this year’s seventh graders once they reach high school.

Soon after the discussion started, whether or not to require more science classes became the most pressing issue.

“I think science is very important for our kids,” said Board Member Brian Deagle. In 2011, after state education officials moved back the date when all high school students would be required to pass a biology proficiency exam, Deagle said he was not willing to just drop the requirement that Issaquah school students prove some baseline scientific knowledge prior to graduation.

“I think I have all the information I need to make my decision,” he said at the April 25 work session.

While the state sets the minimum for graduation requirements, individual school systems may set a higher standard.

Board Member Suzanne Weaver said that if changes are made the decision process should include input from parents and suggested that perhaps the board could lean on PTAs to broadcast the conversation. However, the board’s president, Chad Magendanz, warned that he didn’t want it to become an open forum.

“We don’t know that there is no need for community input until we have community input,” said Weaver.

According to district staff, 13 percent of Issaquah students don’t take three credits of science and 8 to10 percent of the total student population takes part in special education classes.

These two sections of the population had several of the school board members concerned over how those teenagers would be affected by additional demands.

The more rigorous we make the graduation requirements, the more support we need to have to help kids that are struggling, said Board Member Marnie Maraldo.

Weaver expressed concern for the amount of pressure that is piled on special education students.

Just like everyone else who wants to go to college they have to take three years of science, four years of English and other requirements, she said. On top of that they also have to take added special education classes.

“You technically don’t have an elective class until senior year,” said Weaver, “and that’s spent on fulfilling Fine Arts.”

“I want to know more about the 13 percent,” said Patrick Murphy, executive director of secondary education.

Weaver said that she forced her son onto the pre-college track and if she could do it all over again, she would have left his schedule more open to electives to see if anything sparked his interest.

“We could have a very production graduate who fulfills the minimum and chooses to focus on other stuff,” said Superintendent Steve Rasmussen. He suggested the board discuss the matter again at the summer retreat.

One thing they did agree on is that if any changes to the graduation requirements are made then they need to preferably be settled by October or November to allow schools time to make the appropriate adjustments to course offerings and class catalogues.

Reporter Lillian Tucker can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242 or ltucker@sammamishreview.com.

Voting by mail in the weeks leading up to April 17, roughly 58,000 registered voters in the Issaquah School District will have the chance to decide whether the schools can sell $219 million in bonds to pay for major renovation and maintenance projects throughout the district.

The capital improvement plan presented by district officials includes a wide variety of projects, including replacing several schools, and installing new roofs and carpet at other facilities. The plan was created by a long process that started in early 2011 with meetings of a bond feasibility and development committee. That group made recommendations to Superintendent Steve Rasmussen and the package eventually had to earn the approval of the school board.

The board had the final say on whether to put a bond before voters and what projects would be proposed. In dollars, the largest projects include the replacement of Clark and Sunny Hills elementary schools and Issaquah Middle School, and major renovations to Liberty High School.

The oldest schools in the district

In talking about the bond projects, district officials are quick to point out that Issaquah Middle School (built in 1955) Sunny Hills (built in 1962) and Clark (built in 1950) are among the most aged schools in the district. In his recommendation to the school board, Rasmussen said it was no coincidence that replacing those schools accounted for nearly half of the cost of the overall capital proposal.

In the board-approved package that cut Rasmussen’s proposal by $8.5 million, the price of the three schools totals $109.1 million of the overall package of $219 million. Rebuilding Issaquah Middle School will cost $62.5 million. The price tag for Clark is $19.5 million; for Sunny Hills, $27.1 million.

Officials said there are numerous efficiencies that can be achieved in new buildings.

For example, it costs 27.4 percent more to heat Issaquah Middle School than Pacific Cascade Middle School, Rasmussen said.

In regard to its oldest schools, the district reached the point where a decision had to be made whether to keep spending substantial dollars on maintenance of older buildings or ask voters to allow an investment in newer structures, said Associate Superintendent Ron Thiele, who also mentioned safety issues at the older schools.

For example, the layout of doors at Issaquah Middle School makes it difficult to lock the building down in cases of emergency, he said. Moving central offices would provide better, direct views of parking lots, and students coming and going.

“I don’t want to give the impression those schools are unsafe,” Thiele said. “They are adequate … It goes to the overall improvement of the learning and teaching environments at those schools.”

As the schools are rebuilt, some will be relocated. Clark and Issaquah Middle would change places, putting Issaquah Middle closer to Issaquah High School. Tiger Mountain Community High School also would move to part of the existing Issaquah Middle School location.

Liberty High School

Renovation plans for Liberty total $44.5 million. That includes $4.8 million for rebuilding the athletic fields and stadium. Still, the biggest portion of the dollars aimed at Liberty would go toward what’s been labeled “Phase B” of its reconstruction and modernization.

Future plans for Liberty include reconfiguring and expanding the so-called commons area; relocating and remodeling administration and counseling offices; modernizing a large number of classrooms; completing a video/TV lab and production and editing studio; modernizing the school library; and adding a new auxiliary gym. The roof would be replaced outside of the new or remodeled areas.

The existing football bleachers would be converted to the visitor’s side. New home bleachers would seat 2,000. Plans call for a press box on the west side of the field.

Tiger Mountain Community High School

The district’s alternative high school is aimed squarely at students who have struggled in a more typical classroom environment or students who simply prefer, and do better in, an alternative-learning environment. If the bond package wins approval, the school would be relocated to the current location of Issaquah Middle School. Total cost: $3.9 million.

A renovated and modernized Tiger Mountain would allow the expansion of career and technical training for district students, not necessarily just those who attend Tiger. In the past, school board members and administrators have discussed making new Tiger Mountain programs available to all district students as much as possible.

The revamped Tiger Mountain would have added hours of operation in order to give students more classroom time. Officials envision new science-, technology-, engineering- and math-related programs. A culinary arts program would be expanded. At one point, administrators said they had not fully programmed the new Tiger, as that seemed a bit of a wasted exercise if voters do not approve the bond.

Tiger also could serve as home base to expanded online educational offerings.

Stadiums and artificial turf

As preparation of the bond package moved forward, administrators and school board members admitted this part of the package might be a tough sell with voters. The proposal calls for a major revamping of stadiums at all three mainstream district high schools. Additionally, artificial turf would replace existing natural fields at all district middle schools. Rubberized running tracks would replace existing cinder tracks. Total cost of athletic field work at all schools, not including Issaquah Middle School, is $18.3 million.

Of the high schools, Skyline would receive the most attention with a $6.4 million project. Covered, home-side stands seating 2,500 would be built at Skyline’s stadium, along with a bigger press box, more restroom space and additional concession areas.

Maintenance and

other projects

The project list includes specific work at roughly 21 of the district’s 24 schools. Besides those projects already listed, the program would include $7.2 million in expansion and improvements at Apollo Elementary School. Issaquah Valley Elementary School also would receive an addition and other improvements at a cost of $8.5 million. The additions would create room for 120 more students at each school.

Other schools would receive greatly varying degrees of attention. For example, Challenger Elementary School is slated for new flooring, an upgraded intercom system and a new fire alarm system. Total cost is $455,000.

The program list also includes numerous districtwide projects. Electronic locks and a card-key access system would be installed at all schools. The district would spend $2.6 million to install security cameras and closed circuit TV systems in each building.

On the web

See a complete list of all projects that could be funded by the 2012 bond issue at www.issaquah.wednet.edu. Click on “April 2012 bond.”

What will it cost

“How much will it raise taxes?”

That’s the first question that comes to mind when a money issue of any kind is put before voters. So, how will the $219 million bond package being floated by the Issaquah School District affect local property taxes?

Bond supporters are quick to point out that local property tax bills will fall even if the bond issue passes. That’s because a bond package voters approved in 2006 is about to be retired.

According to the district, the retirement of the earlier bond will drop the local tax rate from $4.85 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $4.05. Passage of the new bond would put the rate at $4.42.

Compared to present rates, for a person with a home valued at $500,000, even with the new bond, property taxes will drop by $215 annually, said Jake Kuper, district chief of finance and operations. He was quick to add taxes would drop by an additional $215 if the new bond does not pass.

The 2012 bond would be on the books for eight years.

The current economic slump actually could work in the district’s favor, according to Associate Superintendent Ron Thiele and others. Issaquah schools can take advantage of low interest on the bonds sold to fund capital improvements. At the same time, contractors are hungry for work, meaning bids should be lower than they might be otherwise. On projects under way with funding from the 2006 bond, local schools have been able to attract big-name, quality contractors who might have ignored Issaquah under other circumstances, Steve Crawford, district director of capital projects, said.

Online registration deadline looms

Unregistered voters looking to cast a ballot in the April 17 special election need to register online or by mail by March 19.

Ballots for the all-mail election are expected to go out March 28.

You must have a valid Washington driver’s license in order to register online. Go to www.kingcounty.gov/elections/registration.aspx. From there, you can find a form to use for mail-in voter registration. Forms are also available at King County elections offices and branches of the King County Library System.

March 19 is also the deadline for previously registered voters to change information such as name or address. That can also be done on the county website.

Voters who have never registered or voted in Washington previously have until April 9 to register, but all registrations after March 19 must be done in person. Visit the above website for details.

While appointments need legislative approval, Gregoire directly names seven members of the 16-member board.

Fletcher first began serving on the state board in 2009. Her seat expired in December and she lost a bid for re-election to Mukilteo’s Kevin Laverty.

In total, five members of the state board are elected by public school board members from Washington.

For the immediate future, Fletcher said she hopes to continue what she called the state board’s amping up of high school graduation requirements. The economy is dependent, she added, on well-prepared high school graduates.

And as more future jobs are going to require some college or technical school training, Fletcher said it is the job of public schools to ensure high school graduates are ready for some form of higher education.

“It means we must increase the rigor of the courses offered,” she said.

In that vein, the state board last year made changes in the number of credits students need to graduate from high school. Required English and social studies credits were increased by one and a half credits, while the number of elective credits needed was dropped.

Looking toward the future, the perceived achievement gap between students of different backgrounds needs to be closed, Fletcher said. Regulating or setting standards for Internet-based education also is on her mind.

“That’s a huge, burgeoning part of the education system right now,” Fletcher said.

School funding is obviously a huge question in Washington, but Fletcher said the state school board has no direct control over state funding of education.

Fletcher served on the Issaquah school board for 16 years until 2009, when she announced she would not run for another term. She also served for three years as president and officer of the Washington State School Directors’ Association, according to a state board press release.

Magendanz, a Tiger Mountain resident in Issaquah, launched the local campaign season days after state leaders offered a re-contoured legislative district and a little more than a week after the longtime incumbent, GOP state Rep. Glenn Anderson, opted against running for the seat in 2012.

“Much of the policy that affects our kids is not made in the district, it’s made down in Olympia. That’s where the funding for the most part is, and that’s where the major decisions are made as far as the future of education,” Magendanz said to business and education leaders gathered at the King County Library System headquarters in Issaquah.

“If we’re going to enact meaningful education reform, we need to have a voice down there in Olympia,” he added.

As a result of the newly drawn maps, if elected, Magendanz will not represent Sammamish in the Legislature. Although the vast majority of the city is now in the 5th District, once the new boundaries take effect, none of the city will be within the 5th.

The Issaquah School District will ask district residents to do so this April. At its last meeting of 2011 on Dec. 14, the Issaquah School Board unanimously passed a resolution supporting a more than $219 million capital bond issue. If passed, the bond money will provide funding for various building projects and school upgrades around the district for the next eight years.

Other bonds are expiring, so district taxpayers are in for a tax cut. Without the bond, residents will see their tax rate drop to $4.05 per thousand dollars of assessed value. If the bond is approved, tax rates will go to $4.42 — meaning the bond represents essentially a 37 cent tax increase.

Besides major projects proposed for Sunny Hills, Skyline, Issaquah Valley Elementary School, Issaquah Middle School and Liberty High School, the bond measure will fund district-wide improvements on carpet ($1.5 million) and security systems ($4.8 million), among other projects.

If passed, the district will spend $27.11 million to rebuild Sunny Hills Elementary School, which currently has 11 of 31 classrooms meeting in portables, according to the board’s approved bond proposal. The Skyline stadium upgrade will receive nearly $6.5 million, among other smaller improvements to the school facility.

The district will spend $1.3 million to install an artificial turf football field and rubber track at Pine Lake Middle School and will also put $95,000 toward converting the school’s photography darkroom into a video lab, according to the bond document. Pacific Cascade Middle School will also get $1.3 million for a new football field and track.

The district would also spend $2.1 million at Beaver Lake Middle School to install a new football field and track, add a covered play area ($350,000) and replace the current vinyl wall covering ($165,000).

The bond will also help replace roofing, skylights and flooring at Endeavour Elementary School. Discovery Elementary School will get about $443,000 to replace skylights and flooring.

The board voted in October to put the question on the ballot. At that point, board member Chad Magendanz voted against the issue.

Magendanz, elected board president Dec. 14, said despite his earlier vote, the bond issue has his total support. Magendanz said his earlier “no” vote was the result of a procedural issue, that he felt the board should have put off the final vote on floating the bond until a later meeting.

Replacing departing board member Jan Colbrese, board member Anne Moore had been sworn into office just a short time before the vote on a resolution supporting the bond. But Moore noted she served on the bond committee that came up with the original bond proposal. With that in mind, she said she is very familiar with the bond issue and, despite her newness to the board, was very comfortable voting to support the bond.

Kelly Munn, of Sammamish, is a co-chairwoman of Volunteers for Issaquah Schools, which will run the bond campaign. The school board initially planned to put the bond issue on a February ballot. Munn said her committee began to meet weekly in August to discuss the bond measure.

Still, those running the bond campaign are starting to put the groundwork for it in place.

In the meantime, the Issaquah School Board approved the ballot language for the measure at its regular meeting Nov. 9.

The question asks voters to approve the sale of bonds to support various capital improvement projects in the district. The projects listed in the actual ballot include the rebuilding of Clark Elementary and Issaquah Middle schools. The language also addresses the relocation and expansion of Tiger Mountain Community High School.

Those projects are the largest, and possibly most controversial, included in the bond package. In the original bond program proposed by Superintendent Steve Rasmussen, the total cost of the interrelated projects was given as $86 million.

The ballot language also mentions improving “districtwide heating/ventilation, space and security; make usability improvements to curricular/athletic fields and stadiums; and make other improvements.”

Athletic field improvements proposed for Skyline, Issaquah and Liberty high schools, along with artificial turf and new rubberized running tracks for district middle schools, is another plan likely to draw some criticism.

Kelly Munn is a co-chair of Volunteers for Issaquah Schools, which will run the bond campaign. The school board initially planned to put the bond issue on a February ballot; VIS asked them to postpone the public vote until April, allowing the committee more time to sell the issue.

Munn said her committee began to meet weekly in August.

“Right now, we are still in the building mode,” she said.

They are looking for volunteers to take on various tasks, such as organizing the printing and distribution of yard signs or campaign buttons. Munn said an important need is for someone to identify a teacher and a PTA representative from every building in the district, representatives willing to help promote the bond.

Munn said the committee also is trying to set a budget for the coming campaign. Planners have decided on their basic strategy, a decision that increased the price of the campaign.

The committee first considered what’s known as a “stealth campaign,” one aimed at people who promoters are certain will vote in favor of the issue and making sure those people cast their ballots, Munn said. An alternative approach attempts to sell the issue to the public as a whole. Despite the fact it is the more expensive — and probably the more difficult — of the two options, planners decided to go with the broad-based approach.

While the district cannot directly take sides in the campaign, school officials can provide information. Executive director of communications for the district, Sara Niegowski said she would place a link to bond information on the district’s website by the end of the month.

Reach reporter Tom Corrigan at 392-6434, ext. 241, or tcorrigan@isspress.com.

Brian Deagle and Suzanne Weaver, both incumbents, are still the best choices. Both have been board members through the tough economic times. While the budget for schools has fallen, student performance has not.

Deagle regularly makes his presence felt on the school board, asking the tough questions before casting a vote. In recent months, his probing of the proposed school bond over the course of three months led to some revisions and reduced costs. It’s the kind of challenge that citizens want to see in a representative.

Weaver has creative ideas for schools and is passionate about changes that will promote better education of our students. Her business background has been valuable to the board. She is an articulate, no-nonsense board member.

Challengers Pat Sansing and Brian Neville hold promise for future leadership roles in the school district, whether on the board or in another capacity. Their commitment seems genuine and we hope to see their involvement continue.

Bellevue resident Anne Moore is running unopposed for the District 1 seat being vacated by current board president Jan Colbrese.

“I will always be deeply invested in the Issaquah School District,” Colbrese said.

But after 12 years on the board, and after discussions with her husband, she decided it was time to move on. She further noted that all of her children have now graduated from district schools.

Colbrese announced her decision not to run in June, prior to the election filing deadline. Since then she was diagnosed with a serious illness.

Colbrese said she is well on the way to recovery, but that is another reason she is glad she decided to step aside.

District 1 covers an area of the district to the west of Issaquah and south to Coalfield and north to Lake Sammamish.

While board candidates run for specific geographic seats, voters from across the district cast ballots for all board members. Issaquah School Board members each serve four-year terms.

Moore described herself as no stranger to the district having served with the PTA and on various district committees for 14 years. Among other activities, Moore has served on various bond and levy committees, including the committee that made initial recommendations for the bond question that will be in front of voters in April. She said joining the school board feels like a natural progression of her past involvement with the schools.

Talking about the bond issue, Moore said she does not believe the schools have been lavish in their recent capital improvements or with the projects now under consideration. For example, Issaquah High as a whole was rebuilt in time for this school year.

“It was time to rebuild Issaquah High School,” Moore said. Talking about the school’s drama program, she said that in previous years Issaquah High productions were done on an inadequate stage in the student commons. Because they hoped groups from outside the schools might be able to use the facility, Moore said some community members lobbied for the new performing arts center to be larger than it is.

In general, Moore said her goals on the board will remain the same as they were when she served on various committees or in the PTA. In short, she wants to ensure that when students leave Issaquah schools, they are ready for whatever comes next, be that college or entering the job market.

“I think there is more we need to be doing in the area of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math,)” Moore said.

As for the never-ending questions revolving around state funding of schools, Moore said she has worked in the past and will continue to work to adjust the levy lids that in her opinion hurt the property tax collections of the district especially when compared with surrounding districts.

In another vein, Moore said she knows of at least one issue every district in the state eventually will need to deal with. At present, Washington education officials are running pilot programs in several districts across the state, looking at new and different ways to evaluate teachers and principals, Moore said.

At 49, Moore still has children in district schools. Now a stay-at-home parent, she previously spent 12 years as an electrical engineer for IBM.

Tom Corrigan: 392-6434, ext. 241, or tcorrigan@isspress.com.

Organized by The Issaquah Press, sister publication to the Sammamish Review, and moderated by Publisher Debbie Berto, the forum attracted candidates for the Issaquah School Board and Port of Seattle Commission.

The candidates, gathered at the King County Library System headquarters in Issaquah, answered questions in 40-minute sections organized by race.

The forum occurred days before King County Elections mails ballots, and as many voters start to pay attention to the off-year election. Election Day is Nov. 8.

In the school board election, incumbents Brian Deagle and Suzanne Weaver face challengers in the nonpartisan races.

Deagle, a Sammamish resident, faces challenger Patrick Sansing, a Sammamish resident, for the Director District No. 3 seat. Weaver, a Sammamish resident, faces Issaquah resident Brian Neville to retain the Director District No. 5 seat.

Bellevue resident Anne Moore is running unopposed for outgoing board member Jan Colbrese’s post.

In addition to proposals, school board candidates offered a veritable alphabet soup to describe involvement in local education efforts. PTSA and VIS, or Volunteers for Issaquah Schools, factored into candidates’ statements at the forum.

The questions during the forum’s school board portion focused on improving school experiences for students and maintaining a high-achieving school district despite near constant cuts from Olympia.

The incumbents, Deagle and Weaver, said Issaquah School District officials trimmed unnecessary expenses, or “low-hanging fruit” in Weaver’s description. Future cuts could impact students more acutely in the classroom.

“What it comes down to in the short term, it’s staff,” Deagle said. “The largest expense for the district is teachers. In the short term, unfortunately, that’s the only lever we can pull. In the long term, it will be a different approach to serving the kids.”

Sansing said district leaders should instead consider trimming administrative costs if state legislators hand down additional cuts in the months ahead.

“That’s got to be the place that we continue to look first,” he said. “I don’t want to look first toward the schoolroom.”

How to better serve students inside and outside of the classroom dominated the school board candidates’ discussion.

Neville said the district could do a better job to serve students uninterested in a traditional college education after high school. The proposal came in response to a prompt from the moderator: “Complete this sentence: The one area of our schools that should receive more attention is…”

“Issaquah School District certainly place a lot of focus on college prep, which is understandable,” he said. “I think most parents, probably, in the Issaquah district probably expect their kids to go to college. However, an area that I feel is somewhat lacking is the vocational side as well as on the arts, potential viable alternatives to the college prep track.”

Neville’s opponent, Weaver, said district schools should focus more on “the students who don’t fit the mold in high school.”

“I think we have a greater number of kids who, I guess you could say they underachieve,” she said. “They’re not achieving at their potential. They kind of fit in the traditional high school, but they need something more. They need more hands-on opportunities. They need more things that will give them exposure to careers and other types of paths that they might take.”

In September, school board members delayed sending a proposed bond — a $219 million package to fund construction and upgrades at schools across the district — to the electorate from February to April. Questions arose about using bond dollars to fund improvements to stadiums at Issaquah, Liberty and Skyline high schools.

“I would say these are not Cadillac stadiums, but I’d say they’re also not Pintos,” Weaver said. “It’s important to spend a certain amount of money to build things well.”

Sansing said the stadiums at the high schools serve a key component in surrounding communities, because the facilities serve more than sports teams.

“I think that they are not only a school resource but a community resource,” he said. “There are many groups that use our stadiums, and I think that it’s important for them to be able to do so. I also think that the education that you receive outside of the classroom is just as important as the education you receive inside of the classroom.”

Questions for the Port of Seattle Commission candidates closed the forum.

In the nonpartisan commissioner race, Democrat Dean Willard, a Sammamish resident and onetime state House of Representatives candidate, faces Republican incumbent Bill Bryant.

Richard Pope is challenging incumbent Commissioner Gael Tarleton. (Pope did not attend the forum.)

The discussion focused on the economy and the environment — major issues at the agency responsible for the Port of Seattle and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

“At the Port of Seattle, we’re proving that we can rise to what I think is the challenge of time — to generate jobs while protecting the environment,” Bryant said.

Despite a recent turnaround for a once scandal-plagued agency, Willard said more progress is needed to create jobs and clean up damage to the environment related to trade.

“There are too many people that work at the port that don’t have family-wage jobs,” he said. “Far too frequently, the environmental damage that’s caused by economic activities are borne by those who are least able to bear them.”

Tarleton, regarded as the commission’s expert on security, tackled a question about the balance between security and convenience at the airport.

“Our job is to make sure that people can move through that airport safely and securely, with minimum hassle,” she said. “Now, we all want to get rid of pat downs. We all want to get rid of the hassle of walking through a security system that feels like you’re a salmon swimming upstream. Then, suddenly you reach that choke point and you’ve got to climb that ladder and you hope you get to the other side. I’m working on that.”