• Age: 59
• Marital Status: Married to Shari Eglington
• Children: Two adult children, both graduates of Eastlake High School
• Education: Master’s degree, Public Administration, University of Puget Sound; Bachelor’s degree, Political Science, Whitman College
• Occupation: Senior Policy Analyst/Cultural Resources Specialist, King County Office of Strategic Planning and Performance Management
• Campaign Web Site: www.doug4schools.org
• Campaign e-mail: doug4schools@gmail.com
• Top 3 endorsements: Jackie Pendergrass, President, Lake Washington School Board; King County Women’s Political Caucus, Lake Washington Education Association.
• What is your opinion of Superintendent Chip Kimball’s hope to change the configuration of LWSD schools to create four-year high schools? (200 word limit)
I support Dr. Kimball’s plan to reconfigure our schools to a middle school model so that high schools would serve grades 9-12, middle school would serve grades 6-8 and elementary schools would serve K-5.
Based on our survey data most parents favor (63 percent based on a random survey last June) this plan as well.
The rationale for the plan is two-fold. First, to best serve our students as we prepare them for college and the workplace. Secondly, to address classroom needs for our growing school district.
Grades given in ninth grade “count” towards college admission. There is a “disconnect” for our students, not realizing that they are accumulating high school credit while in junior high school.
We must address this disconnect, if we want to give every student the best opportunity for success.
While we must build eight more elementary schools and one half of a junior high by 2019-20 if we continue with the current schools configuration, we can reduce the elementary need to four elementary and some additional secondary space with the middle school model.
• How would you convince taxpayers, especially those who don’t have current or future students in the LWSD, that it is worth spending money for improvements/expansion projects to coincide with the district’s growing enrollment? (200 word limit)
People who sell real estate know that good schools help maintain or even increase property values. That helps everyone in a community, even property owners who don’t have children in schools. Quality education goes hand-in-hand with a community’s economic health. A well-planned school construction and repair program provides good construction jobs in the community, as well. Finally, providing a quality education for children who aren’t one’s own is part of a “social” contract that also provides stability and prosperity for a community.
