Ingraham High School

Letter from Eric Jaeger to Seattle Times

Dear Mr. Broom,

I read with concern your article in the Seattle Times dated March 22, 2008. I have been sitting on the design committee for over nine months and as written your article contains many misleading statements and incorrect facts. There appears to have been no attempt to check the facts and statements provided by Mr. Zemke, Ms. Leonard, and Ms. Wong before printing the story.

The design committee was formed approximately 9 months ago and is made up of school staff, community members (which I am one) and design experts. Contrary to Mr. Zemke, Ms. Leonard, and Ms. Wong there has been significant community input. The issue of saving as many trees as possible was discussed early on and given high priority in the design considerations. Part of the reason for placing the addition at the west end of the school was to take advantage of the existing trees to shade the building thereby reducing the solar gain on the building which will reduce the utility costs for the lifespan of the building. In addition, meeting the educational and safety need of the students, good stewardship of tax dollars by maximizing the class room space for the dollars spent, reducing the foot print of the building on the lot to reduce surface water run-off, taking advantage of the topography of the site to reduce the excavation needed for construction, placing the addition so that the safety of the students and staff can be maintained during construction were also identified as high priorities. These and many other design considerations were taken into account and are reflected in the decision to site the addition on the west end of the property.

As currently shown on the drawings, there will be slightly more than 2.5 trees planted for every tree removed. Mr. Zemke requested and received a one on one meeting to discuss the tree issue. As the result of that meeting, 43 additional evergreen trees were added to the design which brings the number of trees being planted to almost 2.7 for every tree removed. The drawings are in the process of being revised to show these additional trees. Contrary to Ms. Wong and Ms. Leonard, the addition of the street trees and the planting of evergreens to infill the stand of trees at the west end of the site will continue to provide the screening they desire.

The picture printed on page B2 is captioned incorrectly. The trees were not removed as part of any renovation project. They were dead madrona trees that were in danger of falling over and were a safety hazard. A simple phone call to the school office can confirm this and should have been done prior to running the story.

Mr. Zemke has repeatedly brought up the parking spaces that are being created. It has been explained to him several times that the parking requirement is completely out of the control of Seattle Public Schools. The creation of parking spaces both on street and on site are being mandated by the City of Seattle. The current lot used for student parking at the east end of the school belongs to Seattle Parks. The school district has an agreement with the parks department that allows the use of this lot during school hours. This agreement can be terminated at any time by either party and therein lies the problem. The City of Seattle will not allow those parking spots to be counted toward the required number needed for the school as there is no permanent use of this lot guaranteed. The parks department is unwilling to give up potential future use of the land to the school district so there is no choice but to bring the parking onto school district property. This however creates a great opportunity to design and build a parking area where the management of the surface water runoff will be handled on site rather that sending it directly and untreated into Haller Lake. Plantings have been included to reduce the heat gain from un-shaded pavement. Ingraham High School will be significantly greener upon the completion of this project.

My experience on the design committee has been very positive. I have enjoyed working closely with the other members of the committee who I have found to be extremely thoughtful and intelligent. People who have great respect for the environment and who have worked hard to reduce the impact to the neighborhood while providing the best possible facility for the students of Seattle Public Schools. I encourage you spend some time confirming the information above and to consider writing another article for the Times that presents a more balanced view of the improvements to Ingraham High School.

Sincerely,

Eric J. Jaeger