Locally owned 50 cents
October 29, 2014
Review sammamish
City bans marijuanarelated businesses
Weather disruption
By Christina Corrales-Toy
A powerful windstorm swept through the region Oct. 25, causing damage in many areas. In Sammamish, crews had to repair fallen power lines along 244th Avenue Northeast near Carson Elementary School.
School board pushes back Tiger Mountain closure to 2016 By Neil Pierson npierson@ sammamishreview.com
Tiger Mountain Community High School will close after the 2015-16 school year, a plan that deviates slightly from the one proposed by the Issaquah School District’s superintendent. Superintendent Ron Thiele had recommended the closure of Tiger Mountain at the end of the current year, but the Issaquah School Board voted 5-0 at its Oct. 22 meeting to delay the closure by a year and remove a gap in alternative education for district students. The vote capped an eightmonth process surrounding Tiger Mountain, which has served as the district’s alternative high school since 1991. Thiele’s plan, announced in February, would have closed the school at the end of the 201415 year and created a gap year before a new alternative school, under a different educational model, opens for the 2016-17 year. Board members said the feedback they’ve received from
Tiger Mountain staff, students and parents over the past several months was influential in their decision-making process. “I’m not comfortable with the district not having an alternative option,” board member Suzanne Weaver said, adding that Tiger Mountain is “obviously is an option that’s working well for some kids.” Several people spoke last week in favor of keeping the school open, including Mitchell Reed, whose daughter, Erica, attends Tiger Mountain. He argued the district’s plan to close the school was a deceitful — and possibly illegal — repurposing of a $3.9 million bond measure approved by voters in 2012. The bond was designed to pay for the relocation of Tiger Mountain to the current Issaquah Middle School campus, and to expand the district’s career and technical education efforts. The measure was overseen by Thiele’s predecessor, Steve Rasmussen, and while it didn’t specify closing Tiger Mountain in favor of a new educational model, Thiele said he came to
that conclusion because of data like the school’s low graduation rates, test scores and attendance figures. “I could not live with the results that I was seeing,” Thiele said. Fewer than 100 students are currently enrolled at Tiger Mountain, but its close-knit environment has proven to be a safe haven for many students, several people stated. “If we close the school, not only will fewer kids graduate, but in my opinion, there’s a real chance that the suicide rate in our community may increase,” Reed said. Tiger Mountain senior Ivy Catlin, who has spoken to the board on several occasions, said last week the school has helped her in ways a comprehensiveschool environment could not have. “At Tiger, through the efforts of these teachers, I can tell you I’m engaged in my education,” Catlin said. “I’m not going to stop when they hand me that degree.” See TIGER, Page 2
The Sammamish City Council adopted an ordinance Oct. 21 that will prohibit businesses from growing, processing or selling marijuana in the city limits. The council approved the new law by a 6-1 vote, with Councilman Don Gerend providing the lone opposition. Since last December, the city had passed two temporary moratoriums to keep recreational marijuana businesses away. More than 30 cities around the state have adopted permanent laws around the issue, which resulted from the passage of Initiative 502 in 2012. Fifty-five percent of Sammamish voters approved
I-502, which legalized recreational marijuana use statewide. While there have been no laws passed to uphold permanent bans from cities and counties, the state attorney general’s office said earlier this year that it believes I-502 “includes no clear indication that it was intended to pre-empt local authority to regulate such businesses.” Municipalities that prohibit marijuana-related businesses will likely not receive any of their tax revenues, under state legislation that is currently being crafted. Sammamish’s law only affects businesses, not recreational marijuana users who possess an ounce or less.
Lake Washington schools to get more classroom space The Lake Washington School Board voted unanimously Oct. 20 to repurpose leftover money from a 2006 bond measure and add classrooms to several school buildings. District officials estimated having about $12 million left from a $436 million bond sale voters authorized eight years ago. That money will be combined with another $30 million in state construction assistance funds, giving the district $42 million to build additional classroom space. Kathryn Reith, the district’s communications director, said the district plans to spend $20 mil-
lion this year to meet short-term needs, and the remaining $22 million will be saved for long-term growth plans. The school board resolution allows the district to use the $42 million for various tasks, including new portable classrooms; remodeling and upgrading current classrooms to improve instruction; new permanent classroom space at Redmond Elementary School; and acquiring property for future expansions. Lake Washington schools have added nearly 2,000 new students in the past three years, bringing enrollment to 26,708.
City passes annual state audit The city of Sammamish was given a clean bill of health in a recently released report from the Washington State Auditor’s Office. The audit, which comprised all of 2013, found city officials complied with state laws, as well as its own policies and procedures, in safeguarding finances and public resources. The auditor’s office noted that it does not review every transaction in the city, but focuses on
areas with the highest risk of fraud, loss, abuse or noncompliance. Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER
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