Middle school boundary options presented

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake School District patrons will have about two weeks to scrutinize four options for the boundaries of a new middle school. District patrons got their first look at the proposals at a community meeting Tuesday.

The new Endeavor Middle School, converted from Columbia Basin Secondary School, will open in the fall. Endeavor will have a focus on science and math in its elective classes (called STEM), but will be a neighborhood school.

A neighborhood school needs a neighborhood, so district officials came up with four options.

Endeavor is located on Patton Boulevard and has a capacity of about 300 students. Three of the options would send students from Larson Heights and North elementary schools to Endeavor. The remaining option would send kids from North to Endeavor, while kids from Larson Heights would go to Chief Moses Middle School.

In that option, the Endeavor neighborhood would include most, but not all, of the Longview Elementary district. It would not include the neighborhoods within walking distance of Longview. All of Block 40 would attend Endeavor, district transportation supervisor John Eschenbacher said, who was on the administration team that came up with the options.

Two options include the area around McConihie in the Endeavor district, and two would include the Gateway area in Endeavor.

One option would move kids from Black's Addition to Chief Moses from Frontier, another would send kids from Black's Addition and Longview to Chief Moses.

Eschenbacher said district officials considered demographics when deciding where to assign kids, including income data. In all four options, Endeavor MS has the highest rate of kids qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. The third option had the smallest disparity between the schools.

The meeting came nine days after the murder of 16-year-old Brandon Mende, whose body was found in the front yard of a home on Turnkey Road off Patton Boulevard. Mende had been the victim in a shooting Jan. 20 as well.

Michael Meier, 17, was arrested Feb. 20 and arraigned Tuesday on charges of murder, witness tampering and unlawful possession of a firearm. He pled not guilty. In a press conference Feb. 21, Grant County Sheriff Tom Jones said the shooting was gang-related.

District patrons attending the meeting broke up into three groups and were asked to evaluate the options.

All but a couple of streets off Patton Boulevard are within walking distance of the new middle school, as determined by the state, Eschenbacher said. Walking distance is considered within one mile of the school for elementary students, 1.5 miles for middle school students and two miles for high school students.

The school district would not be compensated by the state for any bus routes within that official walking distance of the building, Eschenbacher said.

People in all three groups recommended busing kids anyway, citing tension along Arlington Avenue, the dividing line between North and Larson Heights service areas. Parents in all three groups also expressed concern about Patton Boulevard. There is a sidewalk all the way to SR 17, but it's on

the opposite side of the road from Endeavor, with two crosswalks, but no stoplight, close to the school.

In answer to a question about students from outside the neighborhood going to Endeavor because of its STEM curriculum, James Yonko said neighborhood kids will almost fill it to capacity without any students from other middle schools opting for Endeavor. Currently Yonko is CBSS principal. In another session, board member Vicki Groff said all middle schools have classes and activities with the STEM focus, and those will continue. Core classes at all middle schools are identical, and all three will have art and music options also, she said.

The boundary decision could come as early as the March 27 board meeting. The board can go back and review the boundaries if they don't seem to be working, board chair Allan Burritt said.

People can comment on the options and the process on the district's website, www.moseslakeschools.org. District officials will recommend an option at a community meeting March 17. That community meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. in the Moses Lake High School theater.