School crowding decision late July

MOSES LAKE - A decision on fixing secondary-level overcrowding in the Moses Lake School District probably won't come until after July 21, when the school board holds a retreat.

"They have a lot to consider with this," said district superintendent Michelle Price. The next board meeting after the retreat will be July 25.

If it takes a while for the board to make its decision and that means some changes have to be phased in over time, district officials will deal with that, Price said.

District officials held four community meetings, conducted surveys and solicited comments from district patrons on the issue of overcrowding, especially at Moses Lake High School. The nine months of discussions resulted in four options given to the school board.

The first was to do nothing, leaving the high school's four-period schedule intact and making no changes at the district's two middle schools. The second option was to convert Columbia Basin Secondary School to a middle school serving a designated geographical area. Currently CBSS is the district's alternative high school, serving seventh graders through high school seniors.

The other part of that option would be to abolish the four-period schedule and expand the school day.

The third option would move sixth graders back to the district's 10 elementary schools and redistrict the two middle schools. That would require no changes at CBSS or the high school, but it could postpone plans to institute all-day kindergarten at all district elementary schools.

The fourth option was year-round school, which would have to be instituted throughout the district, elementary as well as grade schools.

Price, director of business and operations Mark Johnson, and secondary director Dave Balcom were asked by board members for their opinions at a May board meeting. All three said they did not support the idea of postponing all-day kindergarten, and Price said she didn't think Moses Lake needed to switch to year-round school just yet.

The three said that of the four options, they would support converting CBSS and expanding the high school schedule.