Item 7a Memo
PORT OF SEATTLE MEMORANDUM COMMISSION AGENDA Item No. 7a STAFF BRIEFING Date of Meeting Date of Meeting February 2, 2010 DATE: January 8, 2010 TO: Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer FROM: Diane Summerhays, Director of Community Development SUBJECT: Aviation High School Briefing Synopsis Port staff will update the Commission on the numerous ways the Port, through its tax levy and educational partnerships, supports Aviation High School. The briefing will focus on information about AHS' student body, curriculum, capital campaign and new building, and the role that AHS plays in imbuing students with intellectual curiosity and providing them with the academic tools leading to professional careers and bright futures. AHS also plays an important role in helping the Puget Sound region maintain its competitive edge in aviation, aerospace and high tech. Port staff will be joined by Highline Superintendent of Schools John Welch and AHS CEO/Principal Reba Gilman. Several AHS students will also share their experiences with the Commission. There will also be a Robotics Display prior to the meeting. School Summary Founded in 2004, AHS's goal is to become the premier school of choice for science, technology, engineering and math students and to prepare them for college, careers and citizenship in a rigorous academic atmosphere. The high school is part of the Highline School District but is open to students throughout the region. Currently 65% are students from Highline with the rest coming from other districts, as far away as Tacoma, Bremerton and Everett. AHS has been very successful in providing a rigorous, high quality education to its student body, now numbering 400. The high school prides itself in having the third highest score in the state in math and science, as well as a highly diverse population of which 21% qualify for the free or reduced cost lunch program. From the beginning, it was the School District's vision that AHS locate near Boeing Field so the students could take full advantage of all the aviation-related opportunities to extend and enrich their learning. The plan, developed in partnership with Bonnie Dunbar, the current Director of the Museum of Flight, is to co-locate the school with the new Museum of Flight building on the west side of East Marginal Way. The School District has begun an aggressive capital campaign COMMISSION AGENDA T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer January 8, 2010 Page 2 of 3 to raise $43.5 million to cover the cost of construction of a new building located next to the Museum of Flight and scheduled to open in 2012. The Port has been a lynchpin in this effort, but other funds have or will come from the federal and state government, the School District, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Paul Allen Family Foundation and others. The lead private gift of $4 million was made by James and Sherry Raisbeck. Tax Levy Commitment In June, 2004, the Port Commission authorized the Managing Director of the Aviation Division to execute a Memorandum of Agreement between the Port and the School District, committing $15 million of the Port's tax levy funds for the needs of the School District. (This MOA is separate and distinct from the 2002 Port/FAA/District agreement to fund the school sound insulation program in the Highline School District.) As part of the agreement, AHS was to receive $650,000 for each of 10 years, with the rest of the money going to School District-wide programs and school insulation and construction costs. This agreement grew out of discussions with Speaker of the House Frank Chopp and the State Legislature in 2003 about community concerns regarding the third runway. The Port's commitment was contingent on a State match of $15 million, which the State has since allocated to the School District for school insulation and construction. The Highline School District has had challenges with securing a permanent location and new facilities for AHS. As a result, School District and Airport staff evaluated the potential for allocating more of the MOA funds directly to building AHS facilities. Thus, in November of 2007, Airport staff requested that the Commission approve an amendment to the 2004 MOA allowing the remaining funds to be used for construction, operation, and other costs associated solely with AHS. The Commission authorized this amendment. To date, the Port has paid out nearly $4 million of the original $15 million, leaving approximately $11 million to be used by AHS on the new facility and on other school needs. The high school is programmed to receive approximately $9,075,000 from the Port tax levy monies in 2010. After 2010, they will receive $650,000 per year through 2013. The School District is planning on breaking ground on the new high school facilities in 2010, and the Port's approximately $9.1 million is slated to cover the construction costs for 2010. The School District has carefully developed a strategy to achieve its goal of completion of the new school by early 2012, and having the Port funds in-hand for 2010 is a critical element of that strategy. Educational Partnerships Since its opening in 2004, the Aviation Division has instituted a number of programs that strengthen the ties between AHS and the airport and expose their students to the large variety of aviation-related occupations and fields at Sea-Tac. The following is a summary list of the current partnerships between the Port's Aviation Division and AHS. COMMISSION AGENDA T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer January 8, 2010 Page 3 of 3 Airports & the Environmental Curriculum First begun in 2008, "Airports and The Environment" is a month-long program that integrates multi-disciplinary and multi-media classroom instruction with a final "Environmental Challenge." For two weeks, 10th grade high school students participate in lectures, hands-on activities, and a field trip designed by airport staff with an aviation and environmental focus. The students are given a realworld problem and asked to solve the problem based on their own research and what they learned through the airport staff-driven lectures and activities. Following the activities, student teams present a solution to the problem before a panel comprised of aviation and environmental professionals. Job Shadow Program For the second year in a row and on multiple days throughout the year, Aviation Division staff serve as job shadow hosts to freshman from AHS. The students, in groups of three, are assigned a shadow host based on personal career interest and spend the entire day observing and interacting as the host goes about his or her work day. Airport Academy Freshmen at AHS are invited to Sea-Tac Airport each year for a day of briefings and tours on the airport and on careers in aviation. High School Internship Program The Aviation Division in 2008 reestablished a formal high school internship program at Sea-Tac geared to students who live in the airport communities. A good percentage of the students who have served as interns at the airport have come from AHS. In addition to work with AHS, the Port of Seattle and the Highline School District, through a memorandum of understanding (MOU), have implemented a major sound insulation program for 15 schools. To date, 7 of the schools have been completed at a cost of $50,052,757. One school has been permanently closed. Of the remaining 8 schools, one will be closed in 2012 when AHS moves to its new facilities. Contingent on voter approval, the next 4 will be remodeled or rebuilt in the 2012-2014 timeframe. The remaining 3 will not be initiated until the 2021-2025 timeframe. Attachment: Highline School District/Port of Seattle MOA and amendment
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