BREAKING NEWS :

A community group pulled together to pick up the task of raising the $60,000 needed to keep the Lindbergh Pool open for the 2010-2011 school year.
The Save the Pool group is planning a meeting 7 p.m. tonight, March 31, at the Vantage Glen Clubhouse on 108th, near the Benson Hill Fred Meyer.
Organizers are asking everyone who regularly uses the pool to give $100-$200 each to keep it open.
They have until June 30 to raise the money.
So far the district has identified about $75,000 in cuts and the City of Renton has pledged $40,000.
The district has made it clear that it’s up to the community to raise the remaining money.
For those interested in helping the cause, checks should be made payable to “Renton School District Lindbergh Pool.”
The group isn’t going to be handling cash donations, but you can give cash donations at the district’s business office.
Mail your donations to Rich Moore, Business Office, 300 S.W. 7th St., Renton, WA 98057.

A second meeting about the Lindbergh Pool potentially closing drew about 200 people and reports of angry community members verbally unleashing their frustration on administrators.

However, in a press release about the meeting, the district changed to a more hopeful tone.

“Although there’s more work to do,” said superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel, in the release, “I’m hopeful that by cutting operating costs, increasing fees and continued work with our community, we can raise the needed funding to be able to keep the pool open.”

The purpose of the second meeting was to work toward solutions for the pool. While the ideas brought to the table were about the same as before — increase rates, community fundraisers and cutting costs — the district appears more hopeful in community help.

“The pool at Lindbergh High is truly a community asset,” said Lynn Desmarais, Renton School Board president, “I’m excited about the opportunity to find a community-based solution for keeping it open.”

Right now administrators are working on short-term solutions to find the additional $175,000 it will cost to keep the pool open. There are only a few more months until budget plans are slowly solidified and then accepted in a Board of Directors vote August 25.

However, administrators are also seeking long-term solutions, according to the release.

The district plans to continue to discuss the solutions through April’s second budget meetings. A budget proposal will be made available to the public before the meetings.

The sessions are planned for 7 p.m. April 20, at Hazen High School; 7 p.m., April 21, at Renton High School; and 7 p.m. April 22, at Lindbergh High School.

Community Ideas to Save LHS Pool-3!17!10

The district plans to ask for more ideas on how to save the Lindbergh Pool in tonight’s meeting.

In a budget meeting last month, about a hundred community and school members asked administrators to spare the pool from being cut. Administrators are hoping tonight that there will be concrete solutions.

“This is a working meeting to have the community tell us what it is they’d do to find funding to place the pool in our budget for the coming year,” said spokesperson Randy Matheson. “The thing we need to be clear about is that we’re not coming with solutions.”

One idea from the district was to privatize the pool. A request for offers stands until March 31. The district has received a few, but hasn’t examined them to see if they are legitimate, Matheson said.

Another idea was to raise pool fees, which pay for about $300,000 of the pool’s about $476,000 budget.

The pool, built on school district property by King County, was released to the district after the area annexed to the City of Renton. Money from the county has kept the pool open for the past two years, but it’s since run dry.

Facing a multi-million-dollar budget cut, which could mean up to 35 teacher layoffs, the district doesn’t plan to take the money from its budget.

Lindbergh and Kentridge high school swimmers would be affected by the closure, but even more so community members care about swim lessons and exercise time, which fills he pool’s schedule 6 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. at Lindbergh High School.

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

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.”

Closing of the Lindbergh pool would also mean that Kentridge High School’s swim team won’t have a place to practice next year.
As pools are closing left and right, swim teams (private and public) are left wondering if they’ll have a place to swim next year.
Meanwhile the Renton School District is left deciding if it should take on the financial burden of a second pool, when it’s looking at laying off teachers.
Kentridge students addressed the Kent School District board asking to help the Renton School District keep its pool open, according to Brian Beckley, from the Kent Reporter.
However, Kent is facing larger budget cuts than Renton, which has a $6.1 million budget gap.
Next year will be the first the school district will have to pay for the county-build pool. It annexed two years ago, but was being operated with money from the county, about $175,000