LIDGERWOOD HOUSING

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Student Housing During Construction

Construction on Lidgerwood, Lincoln Heights and Ridgeview Elementary Schools is scheduled to start in June and continue throughout the 2005-2006 school year. So, next school year, all students and teachers from these three schools will be hosted by other schools in the district. Whole grade levels of students (for instance, all the first graders) will be transported by district bus to another school. They will keep their same teachers at the host school.

Registration Information for New Students

Where will my Lidgerwood student(s) go to school next year?

• Kindergarten, Fifth, Fifth/Sixth and Sixth grade to Whitman
• First and Second grade to Regal
• Third and Fourth grade to Bemiss

Why were those sites chosen for my student?
The district has done extensive research of available classroom space throughout the entire district for this process. Our choices were made primarily on available classroom space at the schools nearest to your child’s current school.

Why are we doing this?
The primary reason is for student safety and learning. Lidgerwood, Lincoln Heights and Ridgeview are the district’s three smallest sites. To build the new schools, the current schools will need to be demolished first. To have students attend school while construction is happening all around them would be both dangerous and disruptive. Trying to study with a steady whirl of drills and blasts of nail guns in the background is not a challenge we want our students to have to face.

The host schools plan will also save taxpayer money and avoid further cuts in student programs, due to the recent state funding reductions for education. By using available classrooms at other district schools, the district will save money by not having to pay for utilities or lease portable learning spaces. In addition, support staff will be reassigned to vacancies at other schools for the year to save personnel costs. All of this will help save money for student programs.

Who is making the decisions on the plan?
A task force comprised of staff and parents representing both the new schools and the host schools, and members from various departments in the district – like transportation, safety and nutrition services – have been meeting approximately once a month to ensure development of an effective plan and a smooth transition for students and their families into next school year.

How is this going to work?
Entire grade levels from Lidgerwood, Lincoln Heights and Ridgeview will be assigned to host schools, depending on where there are available classrooms. District buses will pick up students from specific bus stops in their home school attendance area and transport them to their host school on time for the start of the school day – and return students to their neighborhood bus stops after school is out.

Any and all input on the host school process is welcome. Contact your building’s principal, or Mike McGuire, principal on special assignment for construction planning, at 354-5771 or at mikemcg@spokaneschools.org. We appreciate your input, patience and cooperation with the host school process. As we learn more throughout the year, we’ll keep you updated and also post new information on our website.