2007 Capital Facilities Plan

Standard of Service

In order to determine the capacity of the District's facilities, the King County Code Title 21A.43 refers to a "standard of service" that each school district must establish in order to ascertain its overall capacity. The standard of service identifies the program year, the class size, the number of classrooms, students and programs of special need, and other factors determined by the District, which would in the District's judgment, best serve its student population.

For the purpose of this plan, the standard of service of the Snoqualmie Valley School District is 23 students per classroom for kindergarten through grade 5, 25 students per classroom for grades 6 through 8, and 27 students per classroom for grades 9 through 12. The passage of Initiative 728 has provided some of the monies needed on the way to reaching this goal. The ultimate goal of I-728 is to have 18 students per classroom for kindergarten through grade 4. It would take the District several years to achieve this class size goal in terms of staffing and the impact on facilities would be the need for an additional Elementary School just to handle the smaller classes. The District will gradually move to lower class sizes each year as long as I-728 remains in place. Finally, the standard of service described above determines the Program Capacity at each school listed later in this plan.

Currently, rooms designed for special use are not counted as classrooms. Students may be provided music instruction and physical education in a separate classroom or facility. Students may have scheduled time in a special computer lab and special education programs for students with disabilities may be provided in a self-contained classroom. There is a pull-out program at some elementary schools for reading and for highly capable programs. Portable classrooms are considered interim housing for student programs.

Historically, a new school has been constructed in the District when funding became available through locally approved bonds, state construction match funds, and developer Impact Fees. A third middle school is currently being constructed (see page 12), with the remaining proceeds of bonds approved by voters in May 2003 and it is expected to be occupied by students in September 2008. In May 2007, the District’s voters will be asked to approve bonds for construction projects totaling $209.2 million. If approved, those new bonds would fund: temporary classrooms for high school students, land for a new high school, construction of a second high school, construction of a sixth elementary school, upgrades to various school system, and upgrades to the district’s transportation facility.

The enrollment projections included in this plan confirm the need for additional housing for elementary students and additional housing for high school students, most of which are necessary to accommodate students generated from new residential development. In addition to the bond proposal being considered by voters in May 2007, other bond proposals will be needed to accommodate the projected growth in student enrollment in the District.

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