Dear Mr. Bowerman,

My name is Dick Cvitanich, and I have the privilege of serving as
Superintendent of the Olympia School District. The role is filled with
many joys and challenges. One of those challenges is the current state of
Madison Elementary School. I am sure you are aware of the problems we have
encountered through the accounts in the media. If not, I would like to
briefly explain the issues.

Due to water intrusion underneath the stucco exterior, the plywood
sheeting and many structural components have rotted, making the building
unsafe for students, staff, and families. We first noted the issue earlier
in the summer and believed the scope of work could be completed prior to
the opening of school. After further investigation we have determined the
problem is more extensive than originally thought. As a result, we will
not be able to open school on time at Madison Elementary.

Our desire is to keep Madison Elementary children in their eastside
neighborhood rather than spread them throughout the school district.
Fortunately, New Bridge Church, formerly district property, accepted our
request to use their facility. This was a gracious gesture and we are
currently making plans to move some of Madison’s students to that site.
Since Madison is a relatively small school, we will be able to accommodate
grades K-3 at New Bridge. Grades 4 and 5 will be transported to Roosevelt
Elementary where they will be able to better access a full library,
orchestra, band, etc. In addition, our pre-school will relocate to ORLA
which is housed in the old John Rogers Elementary School. It is
anticipated that this temporary arrangement will last through December. We
hope to have students return to Madison Elementary on January 6th, 2014.

I wanted you to be aware of our plans for several reasons. First, I know
that schools are anchors to a successful community. It is a gathering
place for families during the day and evening. As the leader of your
community, I wanted you to be aware of our commitment to retaining that
sense of community that is so important. Secondly, we recognize the
temporary location of our school may present some inconvenience for
neighbors. Bus routes and transportation patterns will be slightly
altered; different than what residents are used to negotiating. Finally, I
want you to know that our staff would be happy to meet with
representatives of the community at any time should they have questions.

Although the arrangement is temporary, we want our new location to be
embraced by our students, staff, parents, and the entire eastside
community. The stability a neighborhood school provides to children for
learning, and the sense of comfort it provides for families is paramount
to our mission. In short, despite the challenge our goal is to make our
eastside students feel at home.

Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions. I can be
reached at 360-596-6117. Thank you for your support as we begin our school
year.

Sincerely,
Dick Cvitanich, Superintendent

We voted to give Sidewalk $150,000, which is $50,000 more than we gave them last year, and we gave the Family Support Center $100,000, which is less than we gave them last year, because we intend to give both of these providers more money from the consolidated homeless grant later this year.

I’ve provided The Olympian a response to their editorial from last Thursday morning’s issue, in which they make a number of errors –principally, that it’s not rapid rehousing OR shelter, it’s rapid rehousing AND shelter (which is why Interfaith Works submitted both the Sidewalk AND The Peoples House proposals). I believe my response will run some time this week. It essentially says that the HOME Bd made funding recommendations that we felt struck a fair balance between capital projects (such as Habitat homes, a veterans shelter at Drexel House, facility improvements at the Yelm homeless shelter, the Peoples House, etc), and services (such as operations at Quixote Village, rapid rehousing at Sidewalk and the Family Support Center, emergency apartments for clients of the Housing Authority, and operations of both Rosie’s Place and Haven House at CYS). It also points out that we had nearly $5M in requests for only $2.1M, so of course, not everyone got what they were asking for.

I understand your neighborhood is concerned about the proposed location of The Peoples House. That’s a different matter, however, than whether or not we need a shelter. We definitely do. We’ll all have to work together on where.

Thanks for your interest in the issue of homelessness in our community. Solving it will require a lot more transitional housing, affordable housing and permanent supportive housing than we currently have. In the meanwhile, to get the homeless out of the woods and off the streets requires shelters. It’s not ideal, and it’s not the permanent solution, but it’s a humane step along the way to a more permanent solution. I’m grateful we have providers like Interfaith Works willing to step up for all of us.

Karen Messmer