Meany School Renovations: updates and a public meeting on Thursday 1/23/14: UPDATED with letter

See previous blog posts for some background:

• Here's the original post, with background and lots of links to other information
• And here's Miller neighbor Debrah Walker's report on the first planning meeting

Debrah (and Miller neighbors Anne Schwab and Tami Broadhead), have now attended four meetings. Debrah and project supervisor Vincent Gonzales forwarded all the official meeting reports:

• The first (11/14/13) meeting
• Report on the 12/17/13 visits to other schools
• Report in the 1/7/14 meeting and visioning exercise
• Report on the 1/14/14 meeting and design charette

The official school website ( http://bex.seattleschools.org/bex-iv/meany-middle-school/school-design-advisory-team/ ) also posts the meeting reports and other information.

From: Debrah Walker 

Date: January 21, 2014 1:10:32 PM PST

To: Vincent R Gonzales <vrgonzales@seattleschools.org>

Subject: Miller Neighborhood Group Meeting

Vincent,
We would like to request that you, the architects, and whoever will actually manage the Meany property, set up a separate meeting with the Miller Neighborhood Group to discuss the proposed changes at Meany and the impacts on the neighborhood caused by those changes. We  are concerned that if the first public meeting  with the community is  design oriented and doesn't address concerns (and proposed mitigations) then it will be something of a repeat of the SDOT/ Greenway meeting.  No one needs that.


The proposed changes at Meany will undeniably have huge impacts of this neighborhood, and the quality of living here. We strongly encourage you to address head on with the neighbors the following issues;

1. Can you show from where the 850 students will come from? In the last meeting a slide was shown of the feeder schools which included Montlake, Stevens, Lowell, McGilvra, Madrona, and Bailey-Gatzer. It has been our understanding that Bailey-Gatzer will be a feeder into Washington M.S. Last we heard both Leschi and Van Asselt would be included as feeder schools into Meany. Can you update this, and give the projected student population numbers coming from each of the feeder elementary schools?

2. How will the existing building house 850 students? Use the floor plans to demonstrate the numbers and how classes will accommodate those numbers. The last time Meany supported numbers anywhere close to 800 (and, btw, we think 700 has been the largest number of students at Meany in the last 35 years) there were 10 to 12 portable classrooms where the Miller Park lawn and parking lot now exist.  Portables in the park will not be allowed here again so can you show how the building will be able to support 850 students?

3. How did the district come up with the number of 5 buses that are the expected number to be needed for students outside the "no bus radius"? Is it correct that Bailey-Gatzer should not be included as a feeder to Meany, but Leschi and Van Asselt would, and they would  require buses?

4. What will the district do to manage and mitigate traffic and parking impacts on the neighborhood?  If there are reduced buses, there will be an increase in parent pick up and drop off.  How will the school manage parent pick up and drop off?

5. Will the district sign and record with the county covenants between the school and the neighborhood restrictions and management of parking and traffic, similar to those developed between TOPS and the Eastlake neighborhood?  (Can you get a copy of that agreement for all of us to look at, or do we need to do that?)

Sincerely,
Debrah Walker
Tami Broadhead
Anne Schwab

From Capitol Hill Blog 

While Middle School seems a long way off to many of us, it is high time to start gathering input and collaborating on the development of Meany Middle School. Meany, our neighborhood public middle school, is scheduled to reopen in 2017. The Meany School Design Advisory Committee (SDAT) has had four meetings and the project is in the pre-design phase. As parents, we’d like to start organizing members of the feeder schools to ensure that we gather community input regarding the programs, activities and any other opportunities you’d like to see offered to our neighborhood’s 6-8th graders. 
To join the first of these discussions, please come to a meeting in the Stevens Elementary School Library on Thursday, January 23rd at 7pm.

Don’t miss this opportunity to make your voice heard!

Stevens Elementary
1242 18th Ave E
Seattle, WA 98112
Enter on 18th Avenue E and take the stairs (located either to the right or the left) or elevator (to the left of the office) to the second level. The library is on the south side of the building.