A new complaint has been brought on us at Salmon Bay
hey everyone - just passing along an email I just received from the principal of Salmon Bay and my response. It was a very civil note, but its intent was quite strong and so everybody knows, from what I understand, the principal does have the power to prevent us from using the grounds. Does anyone with school board/legal experience want to step up and deal with this? I'm happy to represent, but I can't speak for my effectiveness...
Here's the exchange (in reverse order as it's an email chain):
Hi Neil – hope your school year has been going well!
We realize your position in this is a difficult one, yet one that carries the ultimate capacity to decide the direction on this. Given the space between complaints and the positive conversations we’ve had with many neighbors since then, we’re disappointed that we’re back at this place. We are, however, committed to ensuring that we’re a positive influence in the community so we welcome the opportunity to discuss our options. Is it possible you can provide us with the list of liability concerns raised so we understand what’s being brought forward?
I know last time we researched and reached out to the ombudsman we received an answer that was different than the one presented by you, so we’ve done the following:
- Looked at FSD org categories – we assume we’d be either Group 1a – Community, Rent Waived or Group 1b – Community, Paid Use – We believe that this is at your discretion as these fees can be waived if a fee waiver request is submitted and accepted?
- Looked at Salmon Bay Saturday usage at www.communityuse.com and it appears to be unreserved through the remainder of the school year (and it’s understood that general community use is the ‘lowest priority’ when it comes to reservations)
- Read the procedure as outlined at https://www.seattleschools.org/cms/one.aspx?portalId=627&pageId... as follows (our understanding is that playground space would be included under ‘building rental’ for the sake of our discussion):
- Identified the potential cost, unless waived, of accessing the space if we need to move in a more formal direction (although confused about the ‘per use/day’ vs. ‘hourly rate’, as well as the fact that we only use partial space):
Will you please confirm that this information is correct or if not, where we should be looking? We believe that we’re not incurring any additional costs to the school board or the school itself beyond normal wear and tear. Also, we’ve been leaving the nets at the school per our last discussion and have repainted them when needed. (We also have new nets recently purchased and plan to swap out the existing nets in the immediate future.) Is this arrangement included in the complaint?
I’ll pass along your email to the group and either I or a representative(s) of our group would be happy to meet with you and any concerned district decision makers to discuss rules and alternatives. Please let me know what time works for you and your group and I’ll ensure we have someone there. We’re looking forward to a quick and mutually-beneficial resolution to this!
Sincerely,
Rob Sorensen
From: Gerrans, Neil T [mailto:ntgerrans@seattleschools.org]
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2016 4:57 PM
To: 'bob'
Subject: RE: seattle street hockey and Salmon Bay
Hi Bob,
I am writing in response to another community complaint that I have received around the use of Salmon Bay/Seattle Public School Facilities for Street Hockey. I’d appreciate if you can put me in touch with the appropriate organizers.
At this point due to the complaints we have received and liability concerns stemming from them, we need to formally address/make arrangements for continued use of our lower playfield for street hockey. I have a number of district decision makers in light of current concerns and have been asked to convey this to you. This space along with indoor spaces and our upper field can be requested and reserved through the building rental process. City Parks and Recreation also manage a number of spaces in the city.
I would be happy to meet with you or others from the group.
Neil Gerrans
Salmon Bay Principal
Views: 324
Comment
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Comment by vp on February 4, 2016 at 2:20pm
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Thanks Rob. Let's just be civil and keep on playing.
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Comment by Erik on January 22, 2016 at 11:41am
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Thanks Rob, as always. I was there when the mom got hit with the ball. She entered the court from the NE side and walked behind the net to the playground area with her head down looking at her cell phone the entire time. We stopped play as she slowly meandered across the court. I don't think she lifted her head once to notice there was a game going on. She was a good 30-40 feet off the court when she got hit in the leg. I think she would have walked right into the dumpster otherwise. I overheard her asked Calgary Darren if we play there every week because she has never seen us there before (?). She was hit pretty hard so understandably angry. I am not surprised she complained.
It is indeed a shame that we play along side hundreds of kids and parents each year without incident but when one complains it turns into an issue. As you said Rob, the best we can do is explain we have the right to play there and apologize if anyone gets hit. The most important rule as always - don't be a dick.
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Comment by rob sorensen on January 21, 2016 at 5:24pm
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So right after my post, Neil called me and we had a good discussion - appears that the mom who got hit in the leg last week was the one who posted the complaint... fair enough. Neil was very cordial and I didn't get the sense that he wanted us out, just off of his plate (my words.) That I can understand. I spoke with the city and I'm starting the process of filing the proper forms - not sure if we'll end up being charged a rental, but if we are then we actually have control over the space and can tell people that the blacktop - even the playground - is reserved. I think we'd still want to allow people in and out like we currently do, but if we were ever forced into a confrontation by a parent who thinks we shouldn't be there, we could simply explain the process and let them work with the city.
In the meantime, Neil has indicated we can continue to play there as we go through the process, if only to ensure that all the SSH players are made aware of the situation. Continued respect of the neighbors and playground users should be maintained, and if confronted by a parent please simply explain that we're moving forward with the rental process and have the principal's authorization to play while we do so.
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Comment by ML on January 21, 2016 at 3:32pm
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Whittier's surface is mush less level than SB's. Like, the ball would roll away way from if you dropped it from waist height. My opinion is the best plan is for Rob and whomever else (I'm happy to join him since my wife works at SB) to meet in person with Neil to discuss the liability concerns. I can't see how those concerns would be any different than a family using the facilities for basketball or the monkey bars.
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Comment by Jim Kirk on January 21, 2016 at 3:20pm
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Rob, as always, thanks for being a valuable voice in the community for us.
I really don't think we should be moving until we understand (1) "current concerns" and (2) what legitimate processes are needed to reserve the space at Salmon Bay.
I feel like this is a bit of deja vu. Didn't we already determine that we were exempt from the reservation process? If not, I think we would all favor organizing and paying any fees to actually ensure that we had a space and time to play on Saturday.
The concept of "liability concerns" is something I'm really interested in. I hope this is clarified with some specifics in future correspondence. I assume these concerns would also apply in cases where the playground space has been routinely used for bicycling, skateboarding, and other team sports.
Happy to also represent the group as a Ballard resident as needed.
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