District tears down old Shuksan building, and more

Bellingham school district, in its facilities update last week, announced it was tearing down the old Shuksan Middle School building, ahead of schedule, in order to provide kids in the new building some playing fields this year. The plan had been to house the administration in this old building while the Roeder Administration building was being fixed this year. The Roeder project is on hold, and the district hasn't announced where the administrators will be housed when the project does begin.

Meanwhile, the teardown is under way, and several concerns have come up.
This information was shared with us by Stephanie Twiford, of the Shuksan Middle School community:

The district has demolished a 14-by-20 foot greenhouse, apparently worth about $10,000, with heater and circulation fan and equipment It could have been salvaged, given away, or the ReStore could have come in, dismantled it, and sold it. Now it is in a landfill somewhere.

The district also removed more than 25, 22-year-old Mt. Fuji cherry trees that were at the edge of the Shuksan property. It was a spectacular site in the spring to see these trees in bloom. A former principal (Mike Copeland) had students help plant them as a beautification project, and they may have been a gift from our sister city in Japan.

And the mural inside the school is in jeopardy: The new principal said he didn’t know if there was room in the new school for it, as they were going a different direction. What exactly that means is beyond me. It’s a wonderful mural that the entire school worked on, with the help of Bellingham artist Donna Wheat.

This is just another example of the district not paying attention to its constituents.
Make some noise --- don't let them think they can get away with stuff just because we're on summer break! Call school board members, call the district office, write letters to the editor at The Bellingham Herald!

The Shuksan families have a group on Facebook called Save the Shuksan Mural.
We also have a cause on Facebook for Neighborhood Schools Coalition.

Join the causes, and let's make a change!