Overcrowding in the schools of the Lake Washington School District is a part of the many repercussions of a twice failed 2014 bond proposal. Solutions agreed upon by the Lake Washington School Board (LWSB) at the Jan. 26 meeting have furthered the folly.
I was inspired by the fervor we all applied to the Seahawks. Our entire region collectively joined hands in unity for a single cause. The amounts of time, energy and money spent was prodigious, and grew to a loud roar by Sunday afternoon.
Puget Sound Energy’s Energize Eastside project primarily satisfies federal energy requirements, and as such it should qualify for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review.
In my 12 years growing up in the Lake Washington School District, I never attended a school that had a school garden program. This is not uncommon: of the nine high schools, nine middle schools and 13 elementary schools I contacted in the district, only about a third of them have school gardens which students have the opportunity to participate in directly.
Let me start by saying I really enjoy football. My two favorite teams are playing this weekend, Seattle and Green Bay. Here is my take. Sports fans have complained for years that we should review plays when in doubt. Now it is done way too much.
In response to Puget Sound Energy’s Jan. 2 op-ed, “Energize Eastside, the only way,” the debate about the need for the Energize Eastside Project is not whether the Eastside will need more electricity in the future. Instead it is about:
Statement issued by Executive Dow Constantine regarding the Governor’s proposed statewide transportation plan:
“I want to thank the Governor for continuing to seek a comprehensive, statewide transportation plan that improves mobility across the Central Puget Sound region and throughout the state.
I find it disturbing that we vote for tougher gun laws and then drop the gun-related charges in a plea deal.
I, for one, appreciate the police, fire department and aid units. They are the backbone of our city.
William E. Lindstrom Sr., Redmond
Over the last few years, the U.S. Border Patrol was subject to federally-mandated budget cuts, sequestration, and a ruling by the Office of Inspector General stating that the current agency overtime pay system was being used illegally.
I reference an article from the July 27-Aug. 9, 2005 Redmond Reporter about a city forum on homelessness. Per this article and the county representative, Jeff Natter, from the Committee to End Homelessness in King County, there should be no homelessness in 10 years.
I am a concerned parent of Rosa Parks Elementary School and Evergreen Middle School students. It is now at least four years in a row that Rosa Parks is overcrowded, and yet it is on the radar of the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) to make it even more overcrowded. A generation of students are facing lower-quality school experiences in such basic daily activities as enjoying play time, having lunch with friends in the commons area (rather than sitting in the classroom) and even going to the bathroom.
Members of the Redmond Learning Community are concerned about the district’s last-minute plan to allow Evergreen Middle School to become the next “Rosa Parks,” with its recent proposal to add four more portables to the nine already on site. Evergreen is already 200 students over original building capacity. (Editor’s note: This figure does not include the added capacity from portables.) It is now slated to nearly double that capacity to 1,120 seats with four more portables (including restroom portables) and space reconfigurations. As the community has testified to the school board many times before, adding classroom capacity does not translate to increased capacity in a school’s many shared spaces (cafeteria, gym, library, small-group learning areas, restrooms and playground as examples).
We are writing to express our concern with the impact of the proposed reboundary plans, which will add students to Rosa Parks Elementary School and Evergreen Middle School. Rosa Parks is already stretched to the limit, presently at 126 percent of capacity, and with the proposed reboundary plans will reach 146 percent to 157 percent of capacity. (Editor’s note: These figures do not include the school’s 10 portables.) Our clear impression is that the district does not have the students’ best interests at heart, and it only attempts to add a patch over a previous patch.
Pro football has been in the news with Ray Rice, as well as other football players, with their domestic violence episodes.
Why is it important to have purpose in early childhood development? This was the question I asked myself. What is the relevance? Why is it important? I’m a student at Lake Washington Institute of Technology, where I am studying the pedagogy of early childhood education and development. Not only in the experiences I’ve been through in this study and that of practical child care experience, I have seen the benefits of having a purpose to motivate and cultivate our young children.
As a Washington State Council on Aging member, I send this letter because November is National Family Caregivers Month. Each year, more of us are caring for a loved one with a chronic condition, disability or simply the frailties of old age.
While I voted against Initiative 594, I don’t believe its passage is the end of the world. Policing the provision concerning loaning your gun to another seems problematic. Is there going to be a policeman in every gravel pit and range in the state? What I do see as a downside is that there most likely will be an increase in illegal sales, and there is no doubt in my mind that its passage will have absolutely no effect on crime.
American citizens must wonder if Congress will introduce bills to nullify harmful and unconstitutional executive orders.
Along with the falling leaves of autumn, the fallen yard signs of the 2014 election litter Redmond. Their messages have cluttered our streets since August.