Federal Way parents call on more access to special choice schools

Published 10:03 am Thursday, July 2, 2015

As Tonya Pane took her 15-year-old son to his driver’s ed class, she asked him what he liked about his school.

“What is it that you like about the Federal Way Public Academy? And what do you think of this idea of maybe possibly considering increasing enrollment there?” Pane recalled at a recent school board meeting. “And he said, ‘No, no. What makes Federal Way Public Academy special is that it’s small. Instead of being in a class with 300 kids, I’m in a class of 60.’”

But like the seven other community members, parents and educators who spoke at the school board meeting, Pane pleaded for other options, other programs — something — to alleviate the dreaded wait list some parents are placed on when trying to get into Federal Way Public Schools special choice programs.

These programs include the Federal Way Public Academy and Technology Access Foundation Academy, among others such as Cambridge Academy for Lakota Middle School, Sacajawea Middle School and Federal Way High School students, STEM programs at Saghalie and Sequoyah middle schools, International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program for Totem and Kilo middle schools and a high school version for Thomas Jefferson and Todd Beamer.

Organized by Don Hyun, also a parent of students in the school district, testimony after testimony echoed during the public comment period at the June 23 school board meeting.

“In Federal Way, there are a number of stellar programs,” he said. “There are two programs that are noteworthy because of the extremely high demand — Federal Way Public Academy and [Technology Access Foundation] Academy. This year, Federal Way Public Academy wait-listed 75 percent of applicants — that’s 150 families. Families outside of the Totem boundaries don’t even bother signing up for the [Technology Access Foundation] lottery because there’s no hope of getting in.”

According to the school district, capacity at Federal Way Public Academy and Technology Access Foundation Academy is limited to 50 students per grade level. The mid-March lottery is only the first opportunity for choice enrollment into these schools.

This year, 77 percent of incoming sixth grade students entered in the lottery were accepted to Technology Access Foundation Academy, and 37 percent of incoming sixth grade students entered in the lottery were accepted to Federal Way Public Academy on the day of the lottery.

Hyun’s two sons attend Nautilus Elementary and he said that parents need to know there will be room in “the programs that they think are the best for their children. Not second best, or third best or if they don’t make the lottery ‘best.’”

Parents Randy Nicholls, Hyun’s wife Tenille Hyun and Lauren Tomlinson all stated that having great, accessible programs, such as the two academies, in Federal Way will rear smart, successful students and adults. This in turn will attract good businesses, stimulating the economy.

“I think right now Federal Way could attract strong families and could become a wonderful bedroom community to Seattle and Tacoma and could have all kinds of economic growth,” Nicholls said. “Or it could, if we don’t do things right, have increased incidences of crime and drugs and gang activity and things that we don’t want that would make this a less lovable city.”

Charles Hoff, a former school board member, also spoke on behalf of expanding the programs for more students.

He said when the board voted 3-2 on the choice programs in 1998, “it was decided then that this was going to be a model and if it worked, more of this would happen.”

“So, I think the time has come for more of this to happen,” Hoff said. “Why do we have to have a lottery for good education? That doesn’t sound like public school to me. Why don’t we have choices for all parents to do something like this?”

After everyone at the meeting spoke, school board president Geoffery McAnalloy said the board would take the issue to the district’s leadership team and the superintendent. However, he noted the district is “on the verge” of launching the strategic plan process that will set the priorities for the district.

After Superintendent Tammy Campbell completes her 100-day entry plan, the strategic plan process will begin in this winter.

“So, I wholeheartedly welcome any of you to participate in that to start to determine what the priorities are and the next steps we’ll take,” McAnalloy said at the meeting.

In a phone interview the next day, McAnalloy said he’s informally heard the concerns of access before.

“We’re at capacity at that building [Federal Way Public Academy],” he said. “It’s either enlarge or replicate the program and is that a priority? Where does it fit within the priority? I have a strong belief in meeting students’ needs but we have to make sure we take care of all of our students.”

Speaking from his own perspective, McAnalloy added that it’s important that demographics are reflective of the district.

“The demographic is not a reflective environment to what our overall school district is,” he said. “Part of it is choice, it’s the lottery — is the lottery the right way to do it? If not, that can be part of the evaluation, too. Do we expand it? Don’t we expand it? Do we change things? There are lots of unknowns but it’s definitely something to evaluate and look at.”

Noting that he desires his own middle-school aged children to attend Technology Access Foundation Academy but they can’t because of district boundaries, he said he believes 16 years is a long enough time to wait to evaluate the process. But ensuring the district is covering opportunity gaps and achievement for all is one of his concerns.

School district spokeswoman Ann Cook said the number of choice applicants each year can vary and funding both academies is modeled to operate within the state basic eduction allocation.

Hyun said Campbell spoke with Hoff after the school board meeting and “committed to forming a committee on this issue” and even invited Hoff to be on that committee.

When asked if a committee was in the books, Cook clarified that Campbell invited Hoff to be on a budget committee.

“Incoming Superintendent Dr. Tammy Campbell’s 100-day Listening and Learning Tour is designed to help her gain an understanding of the district’s strengths and assets. As part of the new superintendent’s entry plan, Dr. Campbell will engage various stakeholder groups across the district, including some of the families expressing the need to examine the expansion of Federal Way Public Academy and [Technology Access Foundation] Academy.”

For more information on parents’ concerns, visit the Facebook group “Great Schools FW,” www.facebook.com/groups/greatschoolsfw