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).

Students are already impacted at Rosa Parks and Wilder elementaries by multiple shifts and scheduling of common spaces, not being able to run on sections of the playground due to crowds, and eating lunch in a noisy cafeteria or in classrooms since the cafeteria cannot accommodate all of the student body. Kids who are interested in participating in extracurricular activities are frequently unable to do so because of limited program space. The student population would also need to be split for student assemblies and after-school events at Rosa Parks with the new proposed numbers, which is divisive to the school.

We’re asking the boundary committee to take a harder look at utilizing existing permanent classroom space at middle schools in adjacent learning communities, including Finn Hill Middle School to the west where growth and development are more stabilized and fewer young families reside. The bus ride to Finn Hill would only be about two to three miles farther than busing those same students east to Evergreen. This would result in a less crowded experience for all students involved, and also limit millions of dollars being spent on portables at a time when district funds are tight or unavailable due to failed bonds.

Overcrowding has adversely impacted our community for too many years already. We hope the school board and boundary committee won’t miss this important opportunity to address the situation with a true district-wide effort, rather than significantly adding to the problem.

Vinod Sharma, Redmond