Letter From Seattle Schools Superintendent To City of Seattle Re: Fort Lawton Land Use

August 7, 2017
SEATTLE
Steve Walker PUBLIC
City of Seattle, Office of Housing SCHOOLS
P.O. Box 94725
Seattle, WA 98124-4725
Dear Steve:
Thank you for: allowing Seattle Public Schools to provide input in regard to the potential for school usage
at Fort Lawton. Thank you for clarifying that the City intends to move forward with affordable housing
as a high priority for the City and for the Federal Government.
As requested, Dr. Flip Kerndon and his staff have been working hard over the past 30 days to answer the
basic threshold questions that you sent to us. Here are our responses:
1. Has SPS confirmed wit!, our contact at the Department ofEducation t!tat it can meetfederal
requirementsfor educational conveyances? These include, bitt are hot limited to:
Response: No, our repeated phone calls and ernails to the US Department of Edutcation have not been
responded to.
a) Having tite necessaryfunds, or ability to obtain titosefunds immediately upon transfer or

lease, to carry out the proposed program;
Response: No, we do not have those funds immediately available. We do have a capital levy
planned for February of 2019 and if approved could have funds available.
b) Having an immediate need and ability to use all of tite property SPS would apply for; and
Response: With current projects scheduled, we could not demonstrate an immediate need. We
just added middle school capacity and have elementary and high school projects underway.
However, at the rate of growth of SPS enrollment we could see a need in the vety near future.
c) Having tile ability to complete construction of a school within the required tinteline.
Response: Yes, we have a good track record on completing construction within the three-year
timeline.
2. Does SPS have the immediate funding and staff capacity needed to become a partner in the
redevelopment planning process? This would include:
a) Assuming a proportionate share of carrying costs for tile property (currently the costs of
leasing tite property are shared between the Office ofHousing and Seattle Parks and
Recreation),
Response: Yes, we could identify funding to be a partner.
b) Providing additionalfunds to expand the scope of environn,ental review, and
Response: Yes, we would have funds to expand the scope.
c) Providing staff or consultant time to co-develop a revised proposal aitdprovide relevant
environmental information for the ElS inclttding site planning, building massing,
geotechnical study, zoning analysis, etc.).
Response: Yes, we could provide funding and/or staff or consultant time to assist.
3. In addition to these threshold questions, the City would also need to know the following infonriation
to further assess how the school opportunity fits into the overall vision for the property:
Superintendents John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence * 2445 3rd Avenue South * 98134 *www.seattleschools.org
Office Mailing Address: MS 32 150 * PC BOX 34165 * SeattLe. WA * 98124 1165 * 206-252-0167
a) What are SPSs requirementsfor the property to successftctly build an etemeittary? At a
minimum, we would need to know:
Size and tocatio,t of the required conveyance

Response: Ideally, the size of an elernentaiy would be 4+ acres for a 90,000 sq. ft. building
that would be able to educate 660 students.
Wit ether tite scitoot would be new construction or a reuse of existing structures,
Response: Our staff have determined that the existing building would not meet seismic code
and would necessitate demolition so new construction would be in order.
General description of requirements relating to vehicular access and parking,
Response: We would review existing codes with the city on parking and bus pick up and
drop off. Generally, our parking requirements have been mainly for staff parking and some
additional visitor parking.
Potential adverse environmental impacts that could be created by the development.
Response: Based on our previous school siting work, impervious sctrfaces seem to be the
most likely impact. It would depend on the footprint of the building and parking.
b) How does the needfor new elementary capacity in Magnolia compare to other needs within the
district? This relates to the above Department of Ed requirements regarding immediate need,
and includes providing the following types of information:
Projected enrollmentfor elementary schools within the McCtttre service area, compared to
other elementary schools.
Response: We have 2 projects funded and the possibility of additional expansion at I or 2
other elementary schools on Queen Anne.
Projected capacity for elementary students within those schools, including capacity that
will be added through capital improvements that already havefunding through levies or
other revenue. (For example, this would include the re-opening ofMagnolia Elementary,
and addition at Queen Anne Elementary).
Response: Magnolia Elementaiy is projected to be a 500 seat elementary school; those would
be new seats. The addition at Queen Anne is for 8 classrooms, which would equate to roughly
200 seats. However, some of those seats are replacing current portables so the net add of seats
at Queen Anne would be approximately 100-150.
In summation, SPS is desperately seeking additional land for future school sites. We recognize the once
in a Lifetime opportunity obtaining some of the ft. Lawton property provides.
However, it appears that we must prove immediate need have funds in hand. Since we already have
projects underway we cannot prove immediate need. And, we do not have immediate funds in hand for
added projects.
Thus and unfortunately, we cannot meet the criteria you have asked us to respond to. If you know of any
other way that we might partner with the city in future usage of this property, please do give consideration
to the continuing need for school sites in Seattle.
Thank you!

Letter From Seattle Schools Superintendent To City of Seattle Re: Fort Lawton Land Use

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Letter From Seattle Schools Superintendent To City of Seattle Re: Fort Lawton Land Use

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Letter From Seattle Schools Superintendent To City of Seattle Re: Fort Lawton Land Use

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

August 7, 2017

a) Having tite necessaryfunds, or ability to obtain titosefunds immediately upon transfer or

Size and tocatio,t of the required conveyance

You might also like