1.      District bond refinancing of Aug 10 brings tax savings of the last ten years to $10.5 million.  Also, Issaquah School District among only four in state with highest credit rating from Moody’s.  

 

2.      City of Sammamish and the District form a cost-saving partnership to create community ball field.

 

3.      The dates and times for Superintendent Coffees are set for this year.  Visit face to face with Superintendent Janet Barry.

 

4.      District buys the first of this year’s student art for Kateri Brow Memorial Art collection.

 

5.      Bond and Levy Scope Committee begins a second round of work.

 

6.      The Boundary Advisory Committee meetings started in August.

 

7.      Those wanting to see Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus before students enter are invited to a Community Open House the day before school starts.  On Tuesday, September 6, PCFC principal Dana Bailey invites residents to car pool to the school on Issaquah Fall City Road for a look at where more than 950 ninth graders will learn and grow. "We are beginning the tours at 4 pm," said Bailey, "but we won't be able to be gracious hosts if everyone arrives right at 4 pm. We're asking people to stagger their arrivals between 4 and 6 pm and we definitely recommend carpooling to lessen the impact on our neighbors."   Overflow parking is available at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church across the street.

 

8.      Watch for two publications coming your way in August: 1.) the Back-to-School issue of the Issaquah Press on August 24, and 2.) fall issue of FOCUS, the District newsletter at the end of the month.

 

9.      Recently, some have asked questions about a perceived relationship between the fees students pay to park in high school parking lots and Associated Student Body (ASB) funds. 

 

The district charges students an annual parking fee to offset three general fund parking lot expenses: 1.) security staff who monitor the lots, 2.) lot maintenance (sweeping, repairing, painting, and signage), 3.) School Resource Officers (SRO’s) who are city and county police officers assigned part time to maintain safety and security inside and outside of school buildings.

 

During school year 03-04 (final costs for 04-05 are not yet available) students at Issaquah High, Liberty, and Skyline paid a total of $101,440 to park in those high school parking lots.  Parking lot security alone for the three schools that year cost $97,383.  The balance of $4,057 offsets, but does not cover, cleaning and basic maintenance of three high school parking lots.  Additionally, it cost $90,750 to have three school SRO’s. 

 

Student parking lot fees “offset” but do not pay for all of what it costs to maintain and secure three separate parking lots for more than 1,600 cars. 

 

Associated Student Body (ASB) money comes from event gate-receipts, student-led fundraising efforts, from the sale of school ASB cards, magazine or candy sales, vending machine revenue – money raising efforts initiated and controlled by students.  Each school ASB creates a budget and spends its funds according to its philosophy and goals.  The District can be involved ONLY in an oversight capacity – to ensure that students are spending their money legally.  ASB spending decisions are determined each spring by students on the basis of requests they receive from their school community and based upon what an ASB wants to achieve each year.  By state law, ASB funds and district funds are kept in separate accounts and are audited each year by the Washington State Auditor to ensure that segregation is maintained and that the district is not influencing ASB spending decisions. 

 

Once-upon-a-time this district’s school board authorized high school ASB’s to collect parking fees as a student fundraiser.  In return, each school’s ASB administered parking spot designations, managed the fee collection, paid for a security guard, numbered the parking stalls, helped monitor their own parking lots, and picked up parking lot litter.  Under this system, parent volunteers also patrolled the parking lots. 

 

Over time came greater need for adult security, including police officers; high schools got larger, the cost of maintenance and security continued to increase, revenue outpaced income, and the logistics and liability of parking lot management continued to be more complex.  The change to district-levied parking fees came during the very public budget-setting process of 2003-2004.  At that time, a district citizen budget committee analyzed district costs and recognized that school SRO’s were at risk of being lost through budget cuts.  The committee recommended that parking lot fees be used by the district directly to offset parking lot maintenance costs, to pay for staff parking monitors, and thereby maintain SRO’s at each school.

 

Please do not reply to this E-News message as it comes from an unattended email address used to distribute information to the community.  To contact someone about topics in E-News, please call (425) 837-7000.  Thank you.

 

To join or unsubscribe from this list, go to www.issaquah.wednet.edu/list.

 

Please share this information and E-News subscription link with others who might want regular District updates and messages.