Stanford Faces Angry Parents From Coho Elementary -- They Want School To Move To Allow For Expansion

John Stanford has met his first batch of angry parents.

About 25 of them, along with a half-dozen of their children, made the drive from the Broadview area in northwest Seattle to West Seattle High School last night to wave fish-shaped signs in the back of the auditorium as the new school superintendent conducted the second of a series of four "meet John Stanford" public meetings.

The parents from Coho Alternative Elementary School made the trek to the meeting because 10 days ago, Stanford told them he wouldn't let their school expand.

At present, Coho - named for a salmon, hence the fish-shaped signs - shares the Broadview-Thomson Elementary campus. Coho parents say there's no longer enough room for either program, and acrimony is growing between Broadview-Thomson families and Coho.

Coho, the newest of the city's five alternative elementary schools, was formed by parents interested in progressive, child-centered education and opened in fall 1992.

Coho parents hoped they'd be able to move their school to the Bagley Elementary School building near Green Lake, an idea they say was floated last spring by school district staff members. If they don't move - 155 Coho youngsters have the use of four large classrooms at Broadview-Thomson - there won't be room for a new kindergarten class next year.

"If they cut off kindergarten, they're basically telling us we're going to wither on the vine," said Roger Kluck, who has one child already in the school and hopes to send his 4-year-old there.

The parents say the kind of support they give their school should be a model for others and for Stanford, who frequently points out that it's the parents who are truly responsible for children's education.

After several Coho speakers had their say, some of the West Seattle parents among the 150 who attended last night's meeting shouted them down. "Can we come to your meeting?" they asked.

Responding to the Coho parents' complaints, Stanford gave two major reasons for his decision.

One, it would be unfair to displace another existing program and inconvenience other parents such as those whose children are already enrolled at Bagley Elementary. And with a budget predicted to shrink by $10 million next year, there wouldn't be money to open another building for Coho.

After the meeting, he added another. Significant changes are being planned in the "controlled choice" student assignment system. When they take effect in fall 1997, "it's going to produce space," said Stanford, adding that if he moved Coho now or next fall, he'd probably be criticized for moving them again in 1997.

Nevertheless, he told the Coho delegation, "we will work that (problem) out. I know you've got a going program," and promised to meet with Coho and Broadview parents Tuesday evening at the school.

He also said one of their ideas, finding a corporate sponsor to pay the school's rent in a private building "would be fine if somebody else can pay for it."