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Tacoma votes to close McKinley, Wainwright schools next year

by KING 5 News

KING5.com

Posted on May 12, 2011 at 5:37 PM

Updated Thursday, May 12 at 10:36 PM

TACOMA, Wash. -- Tacoma Public Schools will close two elementary schools next year in order to help make up a budget deficit.

At a meeting Thursday, board members voted to close Wainwright Elementary and McKinley Elementary schools.

Tacoma Public Schools is facing a $23 million budget shortfall heading into next year.

"How can you close a school with such an amazing reputation that works so hard to make their kids succeed?" Stephanie Middleton asked, who has two children who attend Wainwright. "When I think of these kids who are crying at the idea of their school not being there anymore or having to explain to them tomorrow why they are all going to be separated, it just breaks my heart."

Teachers and administrators were just as shocked to hear the news.

"This is a fabulous community," said McKinley Principal Anita Roth. "If I could do anything to dispell the myth that parents of high poverty schools don't care about their children, this is it."

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Comments: Displaying 1 - 10 of 10

freedomfrank said on May 13, 2011 at 7:03 PM

Oh and the building doesn't make a great school the people inside of it do.

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freedomfrank said on May 13, 2011 at 6:05 PM

Not even Skippy,,, the inefficient schools are closing "aint" they? Bwaaaaahahahahha enjoy your, or is it you're,, no its your,, your Newt skool!!!!

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skippy99 said on May 13, 2011 at 4:18 PM

Shut down. Right. I stilll know the facts, can and have proved them. Budgets and enrollment. Pure and simple. Those were my points. You made neither of them, so I reaffirmed nothing of yours. You did however focus on America. Fine. But you also demeaned immigrants in the process and inferred there should be some "law" forcing all to learn English. I would LOVE for everyone to assimilate and learn English but it's not reality and unless we force it at the end of a gun barrel it won't happen so deal with it. Keep deflecting, keep rolling on the floor and keep laughing. Adjust your minuteman hat and get back on guard duty. Not bitter? You seem a little uptight. Kids realize we lose sometimes, give them some credit. Oh, and I merely pointed out a pet peeve of mine but really couldn't care less about your grammer. Game, Set and Match.

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freedomfrank said on May 13, 2011 at 3:48 PM

ROTFLMBO,,,, Why is it when someone gets shut down they turn to spelling and grammatical errors? Too funny,,,want to live in America habla English,,, its not the tax payers problem to communicate with every ethnicity that wants to live here. Oh and Syephie,, you should never start a sentence with the word and,, just bad grammar. Let the kids grow up realizing that sometimes we lose and it makes us stronger, we don't always get our way. For the record,, I am a great dad thank you.I am by no means bitter or angry, I live in a beautiful place with great neighbors. Have a great job and I'm healthy and have an awesome family. You are the one that sounds bitter and angry, ever thought about dating?

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stephE0069 said on May 13, 2011 at 1:36 PM

Freedom Frank, I feel sorry for you. You obviously went to a terrible school, or just didn't care. The kids at Wainwright DO CARE about their school being taken from them, i hear it everyday. They ARE scared. They ARE sad. And to spite what you may think, they are important and their feelings should be validated. And if you don't want to hear children and parents crying on tv about their schools being shut down TURN YOUR FREAKING TV OFF! We have a right to stand up for what we think is right just like you have the option to push the button on your remote and stop listening. Stop being a bitter, and angry jerk and get a life.

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skippy99 said on May 13, 2011 at 1:27 PM

Well I set one thing straight. Some people aren't smart enough to know when to admit when they're wrong. When emphasizing your lack of interest; It's "I couldN'T have cared less"... not could have cared less, Einstein. What point of YOURS did I reaffirm? I do however agree that one should speak English while living in America, but after we come back to reality and deal with the fact that we have Spanish speaking PARENTS of English speaking students who MUST be informed abouth their childrns schools, I think it's the school boards responsibilty to address that communication barrier. But I guess you'd rather just say tough. Who cares if their parents know anything. Might as well keep 'em in the dark. Learn English or remain ignorant. Not our problem. You must have been a great Dad!

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freedomfrank said on May 13, 2011 at 9:31 AM

"what kids care about," I was a kid and I could have cared less where I went to school. ********"They have low enrollment " Thank you for reaffirming my point.******* "communicate with the spanish speaking parents " they should be speaking ENGLISH if they CHOOSE to live in AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!! You have failed to set anything straight.

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skippy99 said on May 13, 2011 at 8:41 AM

As someone married to an employee of an affected school I feel I can comment on this subject and set the record straight on a few issues. FIRST: tootoo>> A 'school bond' had no affect on this and that's not why these schools were closed. State budget shortfall was the reason. SECOND: freedonfrank>> nice clarvoyancy powers about what kids care about, wish I could do it. These schools are not inefficient, I don't know where you got that "fact". They have low enrollment and if some schools HAD to close these were the logical choices. Finally, regarding McKinley, the school board DID NOTdo its job in working well to communicate with the spanish speaking parents in the months prior to the final decision. They'll tell you they did on the televised meetings and on camera but the facts are different. Poor communication, meetings at the wrong feeder schools, missing interpreters. P.S. To Joyce Taylor>>> Re. The Voice on NBC, Vicci Martinez is from TACOMA, not Seattle!

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freedomfrank said on May 13, 2011 at 7:34 AM

I get so tired of these sniveling parents getting on the news about how traumatic it is to close a school,,, guess what parents,, kids don't care. They are only traumatized because of your little hissy fits. If we can streamline these schools then lets do it. Why are we spending millions of dollars on inefficient schools????

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tootoo said on May 13, 2011 at 6:41 AM

Let's see. Tacoma voters reject a school bond. School district must close two schools. This is an open and shut case.

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