Wenatchee School District officials project $3 million in annual savings from closing the school at the end of the year, and another $2.3 from schedule changes
The details and the interview transcript in this article were very informative. Interesting that it was somehow framed that students at Columbia were "more expensive" when the interview response said that "they qualify for more state/federal support" which would indicate the opposite. I wouldn't think the local district would be on the hook for those subsidies.
The perception that Columbia students are "more expensive" may be my fault. I provided the cost per student per school per year in my article covering the emergency PTO meeting yesterday, which shows Columbia students cost the most per year. But I should have explained I suspect that's because those students qualify for state and federal programs aimed at alleviating poverty and child hunger. The district hasn't been responsible for many of those costs (like the federal free lunch and breakfast program) but as state and federal funding changes the district might have to cover some of them. It's one of the main questions I have for the district, and I think I'll be able to provide more clarity on that soon.
Thanks for being receptive to your audience. I'll be glad to see the result of your investigations. And thank you for your engagement in this troubling time for the community.
I would also appreciate if you could ask him about the rumors that they plan to move the Valley Academy of Learning (predominately white higher income kids) into Columbia’s building after they kick the Elementary out. I have heard this from multiple people in the valley.
Dominick Bonny - please ask or investiagate the CHOICE policies of the school district. I tried to choice my child into Washington and Sunnyslope for all 2022 but I was told they were both OVER CAPACITY. Yet the article by Dominick Bonny shows that neither Sunnyslope or Washington are over capacity. Because we could not choice into those schools AND the school district we live in was not meeting our child's educational needs we did move to an alternative education option for our child adding to the exodus of students from the Wenatchee public school district. There should be an auditing of CHOICE requests, because I am probably not the only person who did not get to choice my student and chose a different educational option (adding to low enrollment numbers)
Will any of the Columbia students get bussed up to Sunnyslope the highest performing school? If not that is an equity issue. Will Sunnyslope see ANY changes to their school population following the closing of Columbia? If not that is an equity issue. If Columbia does close, then the Columbia school district should not be the ONLY one to be re-evaluated RATHER the entire Wenatchee map should be re-evaluated/redistricted to increase the number of students to each of the remaining schools to ensure all schools have a proportionate increase in students from he Columbia school.
And per the Wenatchee rumor mill the district plans to more the Valley Academy of Learning into Columbia after they relocate the elementary students. The Valley Academy is predominantly white and middle to upper class families.
The details and the interview transcript in this article were very informative. Interesting that it was somehow framed that students at Columbia were "more expensive" when the interview response said that "they qualify for more state/federal support" which would indicate the opposite. I wouldn't think the local district would be on the hook for those subsidies.
The perception that Columbia students are "more expensive" may be my fault. I provided the cost per student per school per year in my article covering the emergency PTO meeting yesterday, which shows Columbia students cost the most per year. But I should have explained I suspect that's because those students qualify for state and federal programs aimed at alleviating poverty and child hunger. The district hasn't been responsible for many of those costs (like the federal free lunch and breakfast program) but as state and federal funding changes the district might have to cover some of them. It's one of the main questions I have for the district, and I think I'll be able to provide more clarity on that soon.
Thanks for being receptive to your audience. I'll be glad to see the result of your investigations. And thank you for your engagement in this troubling time for the community.
I for one would like to hear more about the accounting error fro June 2022.
I got an interview with Sup. Kalahar tomorrow and I am going to ask about that.
I would also appreciate if you could ask him about the rumors that they plan to move the Valley Academy of Learning (predominately white higher income kids) into Columbia’s building after they kick the Elementary out. I have heard this from multiple people in the valley.
Dominick Bonny - please ask or investiagate the CHOICE policies of the school district. I tried to choice my child into Washington and Sunnyslope for all 2022 but I was told they were both OVER CAPACITY. Yet the article by Dominick Bonny shows that neither Sunnyslope or Washington are over capacity. Because we could not choice into those schools AND the school district we live in was not meeting our child's educational needs we did move to an alternative education option for our child adding to the exodus of students from the Wenatchee public school district. There should be an auditing of CHOICE requests, because I am probably not the only person who did not get to choice my student and chose a different educational option (adding to low enrollment numbers)
Will any of the Columbia students get bussed up to Sunnyslope the highest performing school? If not that is an equity issue. Will Sunnyslope see ANY changes to their school population following the closing of Columbia? If not that is an equity issue. If Columbia does close, then the Columbia school district should not be the ONLY one to be re-evaluated RATHER the entire Wenatchee map should be re-evaluated/redistricted to increase the number of students to each of the remaining schools to ensure all schools have a proportionate increase in students from he Columbia school.
And per the Wenatchee rumor mill the district plans to more the Valley Academy of Learning into Columbia after they relocate the elementary students. The Valley Academy is predominantly white and middle to upper class families.