Renton School Board votes to delay opening Honey Dew Elementary School for one year

The ability to teach students at current schools and the nearly $2 million in annual operating costs, were cited as reasons for postponement.

June 10, 2009 — Renton School Board members voted at tonight’s meeting to delay the opening of Honey Dew Elementary School for another school year. Board members were presented a plan by the district to continue to house students at existing schools. The presentation also emphasized that the cost to open and manage a new elementary school could be as much as $2 million per year; money the district would have to find in its current operating budget, even as the budget was reduced for next school year by $5.3 million. Board members will again review the use of the school sometime in the coming school year for the 2010-2011 school year.

Honey Dew, located at 800 Union Ave NE, Renton, has not been used as a neighborhood school for the past 10 years as it housed students from other district elementary schools as those schools were rebuilt. Thanks to voter support, all of the district’s 13 elementary schools have been completely rebuilt.

Student enrollment throughout the district remains stable at about 13,700 students. The district welcomes about 100 new students each school year.
Although some neighboring schools are nearing capacity, district numbers show that students who would attend Honey Dew can continue to receive quality instruction at other local elementary schools, located within about a one-and-a-half mile radius of Honey Dew.

Honey Dew Elementary is currently undergoing modernization to meet the needs of a 21st century school. The work is part of a bond measure approved by voters in 2003. The construction project is on time and on budget. Many elements of the existing building will be reused to be environmentally friendly.

Improvements to the fields at Honey Dew also continue. The new fields, which are widely used by neighborhood and community sports teams, will be ready by the summer of 2010, and will include: a new baseball field with dugout and bleachers, 2 softball fields with backstops and 2 soccer fields. The field will also benefit from replacement of the sod and infield dirt mix; raising of the field and improved drainage to keep water from standing on the surface; and, installation of an irrigation system.

The district held true to its promise not to increase tax rates with the approval of the bond and levy measures to renovate Honey Dew, add a classroom wing at Hazen High School, and many other classroom and field improvements throughout the district. The district’s tax rate remains among the lowest in the region.

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