Renton Education Blog

Left: seventh-grader David Grieve. Right: Wife Shami and David Grieve now live in Marion Indiana.

A Midwest pastor sent the Renton School District a letter of confession and a $100 check of contrition for stealing food from a student store when he was a seventh-grader at Nelsen Middle School.

In 1988, David Grieve was navigating life as a bespectacled preteen and trying to fit in with the cool kids.
That year Grieve got his big chance: he was assigned to the student store, selling food and school supplies to students during the school day.
The big-selling items at the store were beef jerky and pepperoni sticks. His adviser instructed him and others that if any food items fell on the floor, they were to be tossed out.
The boys soon began to crave the pepperoni sticks and eventually succumbed to the allure of meaty goods. They began eating the food, claiming that the jerky and pepperoni would mysteriously and without help unwrap and fall to the ground. The boys also started to pocket some of the money from sales.
Now, fast-forward more than 20 years. Grieve has moved to the Midwest and become a pastor at New Life
Community Church in Marion, Indiana.
Recently, while talking to fellow church members about having a clear conscience with God, Grieve remembered his time in the student store at Nelsen Middle School and all of the food he and the cool kids consumed, along with the change they pocketed.
Guided by faith, he wrote a letter of contrition to the staff at Nelsen, confessing his transgressions. To make amends, he also included a check for $100 to replace the lost income.
Grieve told the district he now feels better after confessing his antics. Even more though, he says, it was the right thing to do. He learned to practice what he preaches.

The Renton School District announced Friday that it’s planning a special meeting to discuss the Lindbergh Pool closing at 6:30 p.m., March 16.
Last week swimmers, parents and community members swamped a budget meeting at Lindbergh to show their support for the pool.
The district is facing an about $6.1 million budget cut, and county funding for the district-run pool dries up this year.

Below is a district press release.

Second LHS Pool Meeting Planed-3!4!2010

I was working my way through different presentations from a missed school board meeting when I came across this crazy flow chart.
My best guess is that the presenter was trying to explain the district’s intranet was complex, which I think they probably succeeded at.
It was at the end of a 54-page technology presentation — talk about detail oriented.

031210 CrazyComputerFlowChart

Dimmit Middle School will be getting new fields, landscaping and asphalt in a $2.7 million project to keep the grounds updated.
The money comes from the 2008 bond, which must be used to improve school facilities.
Work would begin in June and end September 2010.
The Renton area is known for its generosity toward the school district, in particular for the beautiful buildings its paid for through levies.
Outside the school’s cafeteria the district plans to install a new play court, tether-ball poles and outdoor seating.
The grounds will see new hardscape and trees for indirect cooling.
Building modifications should be limited to new wardrobes and storage cabinets.
The document below has a nice color diagram on page 3.

Permission to Bid DMS Site Improvements

Although most schools are at or above ideal capacity, thoughts of reopening Honey Dew Elementary could be stymied by next year’s inevitable teacher layoffs.

About 35 Renton teachers could lose their jobs next year, about 2-3 from each elementary school.

Although children may be able to fill another elementary school, staff cannot, said spokesperson Randy Matheson.

It could mean the $1 million the district is expected to pay to reopen the school may be saved to keep more teachers on staff.

Last year the district looked at opening the elementary school, but held off to spare further budget cuts.

In February the Enrollment Review Committee recommended that the school district open Honeydew, but the final decision is up to the Board of Directors.

Below is the power point. The boundary review committee would decide the final lines on how the neighborhoods would be divided.

However, take a look out how each school is over capacity on page 11. On paper it looks pretty tight.

PP ERC 2-10-10 R

After folks in the state schools rejoiced at the McCleary Lawsuit, which could force state lawmakers to provide more education money, they were slapped in the face last week with the reality of the economy.

At best, the Renton School District would face a $3.5 million budget gap next year, at worst a $6.1 million gap — that’s 2-3 teacher layoffs per elementary school.

Last year, I was at a public meeting with state Sen. Karen Keiser (D-47) last spring who pointed out boldly that the state spends such a large percentage of its budget on education, there is no where else to cut. (Although many might disagree, pointing to social services.)

Yet no one disagrees that Washington state has grossly underfunded its education, and few can afford more taxes.

At public meetings last week, concerned parents and community members told the district what programs not to cut. However, ideas for how to save money or areas that could be cut were far and few between.

While Lindbergh and Kentridge swimmers are fighting alongside the community for their pool, parents knew that the only way to keep it open was to find a new source of revenue.

I think what many don’t understand is how doubtful it is that the “source” will be a government organization.

For years the state has been hacking away at the education budget. It’s just now that we’re starting to wood chips begin to fly.

Washington state superintendent Randy Dorn explained it well in a press release last week:

“If I ask myself if today’s students have the same quality of education as their counterparts of three years ago, I would definitely say no. We are moving backward with education funding and putting more of a burden on local school districts. That’s just not right.”

About 200 people attended the Lindbergh budget discussion Thursday, many to save the pool.

About 200 people attended the Lindbergh budget discussion last night, and about half were there pretty much to save their pool.
Read about it on RentonReporter.com.
There seemed to be a lot of great discussion going on, a little anger and a lot of passionate parents.
The Renton School District is facing a $6.1 million budget gap this year, based on the governor’s budget. It could mean about 35 teachers could be laid off.
The other half of the group spent time at the other 8 round tables asking questions about specific programs.
Several administrators were at the the meeting, including all of the board members.
“This for us a terrific opportunity for us to be visible,” said board president Lynn Desmarais. “We’re an extremely active board as far as boards go.”

Georgia Lawrence

Kennydale Elementary School fifth-grader Georgia Lawrence has been selected to sing in this year’s All State Honor Chorus at the Washington Music Educator’s Conference taking place this weekend.

Only 150 fifth- and sixth-graders are chosen from the about 500 applications for the honor.

The Hazelwood Elementary School PTSA was able to raise an additional $1,300 for Haiti during its normal fundraiser.
At the pancake breakfast, the group added a twist, asking students to crack open their piggy banks and help provide funds for the relief effort.
All of the Haiti money will being going to the Red Cross for Haiti.

At 7 p.m. tonight I’m going to the Lindbergh High School budget input meeting. I’d encourage parents and locals to come.

My hope is that Rich Moore will be there to give an update on the budget situation. The House and Senate proposed their budgets this week.

This meeting is one of three budget discussions being held at district high schools. I picked this one, because of how upset parents are about talk of the Lindbergh pool closing next year.

There will also be a meeting at Renton High School March 1 at 7 p.m. Below is the Lindbergh map.

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