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Elkhorn parents protest lack of community input in Measure Z renovation plans
Summary
Parents of Elkhorn Village Elementary told the Washington Unified board that revised modernization plans reduce multipurpose spaces and classroom counts; they said community feedback from the Measure Z planning process was not reflected and asked the board to schedule formal outreach before finalizing designs.
Dozens of Elkhorn Village Elementary parents and teachers told the Washington Unified School District board on Feb. 13 that the draft modernization plans funded by Measure Z leave out key spaces the community requested years earlier.
"I'm here to express my concern over the recent lack of community input and transparency in the Elkhorn campus 'modernization' project," parent Lisa Meneses told trustees. Meneses said she and other parents had helped produce the school's facility master plan in 2019 and campaigned for Measure Z in 2020; they expected the bond-funded rebuild to address common-space shortages identified then.
Multiple commenters said the most recent concept plans — first shown to parents in fall 2023 — appeared to reduce the size of Elkhorn's multipurpose room (MUR) and cafeteria, cut permanent classroom counts, and remove green space. Parent Betsy Cialino said the changes came without formal solicitation of parent or teacher feedback and asked the board to create a "formal plan to solicit input from parents and teachers," including multiple in-person meetings with facilitated dialogue and interpretation.
Teacher and parent Dr. Molly Kerzer described the cafeteria as "objectively small," with a fire-code seated capacity of about 160 — roughly two grades — and said the MUR is used for assemblies, indoor recess, after-school activities and community events. Kerzer said staff were told the cafeteria would not be expanded because of cost and because another school did not get an upgrade. "Please work to try to find another solution other than just sacrificing our MUR," she said.
Speakers asked the district to be transparent about budget changes and to show how parent input is weighted in final decisions. Several said delays and inflation had shrunk earlier proposals: Kerzer told the board that portables would be removed but not fully replaced by new classrooms, and that the MUR would be significantly smaller.
District leaders did not adopt any binding change at the meeting. Trustees asked staff to take the parents' request to facilities staff and consult with site administrators about scheduling public meetings and explaining tradeoffs driven by cost, site constraints and timeline. The board indicated it would ask facilities staff to report back with a public outreach plan and an updated explanation of programmatic trade-offs before final design sign-off.
Ending: Parents asked that community schools, teachers and families be included in design decisions for Elkhorn; the board asked staff to develop formal community engagement steps and return with a plan and timeline.
