Heaven forbid the district try to use a district owned school as an actual school! For shame!

If the district was trying to use this as extra admin space or a pilates studio, I could understand some outrage; but, returning a school building to its designated purpose? Come on.

Non-profits lose leases all of the time for a variety of reasons, most not as sound as this one. Get over it and get on with finding another building.

In Socialist Seattle building squats in you.

#2 You are the reason the powers the be have so much power.

"Get over it and move on" HEARD THAT BEFORE.

Yes, but what are Kshama Sawant's thought on this matter? Does she support their efforts to just take buildings they see fit for use?

@5: That's a funny thing to read coming from someone on occupied Duwamish land.

Quite a change from the 70's when Latino occupiers took over the abandoned Beacon Hill School. The school district not only did nothing to evict them, it later sold them the building for a small fraction of its value.

The local Asian community on Beacon Hill had been working to obtain the building for an Asian community center, but they were playing by the rules. And they got shut out as a result.

@7 — was this an example of Mr. Garrett's effort to integrate himself into Seattle's political machine?
http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.c…

"I don't think that was necessary," he adds. "The negotiations are still underway... We have a lot more support than we first started. We've never been on hostile terms with the district. And we're moving forward."

Wasn't necessary? The district got date after date for the "departure" which wasn't going to happen until the district gave them another space they liked. Meanwhile, the district has run up what is likely to be hundreds of thousands of dollars in late contract fees to contractors.

And more support? From who? Not the Central Area community because a lot of neighbors were VERY unhappy.

Maybe the group was not hostile to the district (although telling Banda to his face that he would have blood on his hands if things didn't change does strike me as "hostile") but they were to KIRO-tv.

I am glad no one was hurt and SPD got it done professionally. We move on BUT remembering that the district needs a plan to close the achievement gap.

I went to Nova years ago, long before the program left the Mann building. The building really was a part of the school, as it was covered in student artwork (both inside and outside). When the school shakeup started several years ago, Nova did not want to leave the building. However, that was not their choice.

Now, Nova does not want to move back to the building if it means kicking other neighborhood programs out. The art that once covered the walls is now gone, and with an extensive remodel planned, the building will only really share the location of the prior school.

That said, it is again out of the hands of Nova. This is a district decision. Nova, for its part, has been trying to talk to the current occupants of the Mann building to see if they might be able to work out a space sharing program (as many of the current uses are weekend and evening, which is after school hours). My understanding from talking to my old high school teachers is that the current occupants find such a proposal unacceptable.

But the stupid thing about all this is that the people in the building don't want to leave and the people who will be moved into the building don't want to move there, so the district should just leave things as they are. I was sad when Nova was forced out, but it was done, and forcing Nova back in there is only going to cause an even bigger rift between the predominantly white alternative school and the neighborhood that houses it.

I understand what you mean, @11, but it's a matter of space for kids. Remember the kids? It's about the kids! The fact is, Nova got moved into Meany Middle School, and now that enrollment is bouncing higher, the district needs that building to be a middle school again, so yeah, Nova gets to play another round of musical chairs. But the point is, the district right now needs its school buildings for, you know, SCHOOLS.

There's no question the district has done a shitty job by its minority students - not just African-American, of course - but the occupation of the Mann Building never seemed to have anything to do with that. The district has had several commissions over the years to come up with ways to address this, and they always come back with the same list of ideas, and the district promptly shitcans them. They need to get off the stick, no question, but the Mann Building needs to be a school.

@15 Nobody cursed at you. They used a mild swear word to characterize your claim as implausible. And even if your claim were correct, it would be irrelevant, as "the community" isn't the few square blocks around Horace Mann but the entire city of Seattle which paid for and owns the property and runs the district which has to serve every child in the city.

Not to mention the fact that if Bullhorn Omari is one of the principals, they've lost all credibility amongst the non-lunatic-fringe.

This would be the third building the district would have lost to activists. Of course they aren't letting it go. Time to think up a new strategy,

But while we are talking about real estate, why can't these organizations move in at the old MLK elementary, which was sold to First AME for a suspiciously low price?

@17: "This would be the third building the district would have lost to activists."

What are the others, out of curiosity?

@18,

1) The old Beacon Hill School is now El Centro de la Raza. It was occupied for years and the school district finally sold the building for pennies on the dollar. El Centro didn't make the payment, the City did.

2) The old Colman School is now the Northwest African-American Heritage Museum. It was occupied for years by a group of activists and the school district finally sold the building for pennies on the dollar to a different group that had usurped the occupier's group name. Instead of going to grassroots activists it went to The Urban League. Again, the money for the purchase came from government sources.

3) This might be a reference to the old Martin Luther King, Jr. School which was sold to a low bidder, the First AME Church in a truly screwed up bid process filled with intrigue and malfeasance. The high bidder was the Bush School, but the school district instead chose the bid from FAME which included promises to use the building as a community center. Funding for the purchase came largely from the State. A legislator got a bill passed for this single purpose. Funny thing, the bill was intended to benefit a different bidder, a grassroots community group. The FAME copied their bid and used their State money.

Schools have also been sold in Phinney Ridge, Wallingford, Fauntleroy, and the University District to community groups. Probably also for pennies on the dollar. Queen Anne High School was sold to developers for a fraction of its value.

Thanks for the detailed history, Charlie. To be sure, I have no problems with schools being repurposed when they are determined to not be of value to the district, and I have absolutely no problem with them going to community groups. I don't even have a problem with them going for less than market value (or free) if the groups provide benefit to society at large.

The occupation of Beacon School was innovative, and a product of the times. El Centro is a positive influence on North Beacon. The Urban League has done a fine job with NWAAM. But it's not fiscally responsible for any public organization to let their real estate transactions be dictated by activist occupation. That's why I say it's time for the activists to find another tactic.

@19: Thanks a lot. I'm friends with a few of the FnBers who were temporarily in the Mann building before things got heated so it's interesting to get a better feel of the politics of the area.

@14: PS What up, gurrrrrl.

The problem with the school district selling buildings should now be apparent. Enrollment has risen to 51,000 and there isn't enough space for all of the students because the school district has sold buildings. They either have re-opened every building they have north of the Ship Canal or they are planning to re-open them. This includes Sand Point, McDonald, Cedar Park, and Wilson-Pacific. They could really use that space they sold at Phinney, the University District, and, especially, Queen Anne High School. They may even soon have to recover a school in Ballard that is now home to the Nordic Heritage Museum.

Once a school property is sold, it is nearly impossible to replace it. Even a long-term lease is irrecoverable. They can't very well take back Oak Tree or Jefferson Square, can they?

Being a childless loser, I realize I have no place whatsoever to comment on the schools, but I do anyway.

I think part of the problem regarding inventory is that the architectural industry has gotten ahold of the conversation, and now every building has to be "world class"

I recently remarked that I thought it was a shame that they are demolishing Genesee Hill elementary, for I think it is a handsome building. I was told by an extremely pompous educator that I had no idea what I was talking about, and how impossible it was to educate children in a building from that era. By that logic, the entire UW campus should be demolished, but I let it go. Besides, all I was advocating for was preservation of the shell, or just the facade.

@ 9: "Not to mention the fact that if Bullhorn Omari is one of the principals, they've lost all credibility amongst the non-lunatic-fringe. "
and
@ 16: "was this an example of Mr. Garrett's effort to integrate himself into Seattle's political machine?"
I'm a witness ...
In my opinion, YES, MOST LIKELY to both comments. NO CREDIBILITY will come from listening to or following Dr. Strangelove (Tahir). He also wants to be somebody to City Hall, but hard to do if you lost touch with reality from the 60s and 70s by his actions! He is naturally oppositional; nothing to be done about that but ignore him, but people react to his antics anyway. From the eviction video, he seemed to enjoy even the bad press! Never a good sign, is it? Were he a Kardashian, I'd understand.

I lived nearby. I'm into this. I came to a couple of meetings. Asked around. Met cool folks who were also ... drawn in by optimism, hope ... assuming things were cool and professional, truly innovative ... I called about maybe using space from them. They wanted to know how much $ I could pay BEFORE asking what I had to offer, and were weird about the contract, weird about calling back. Everyone spouted the same lines like it was a script. I even dared go to a community meeting, hoping to talk to someone in person about the space and get a handle on the situation. Just the same folks I saw the last time. No one dared disagree with Tahir or his son, no one spoke to me, no one explained anything to the visitors. Just wanted a show of hands of what you'd do for them NOW. One woman, raised some good points, but was violently shouted down and called names, and the group acted as if nothing had just happened that was truly fucked up! True! She left in disgust and, I thought they gave a really bad first, and second impression on me. She told me she volunteered and was a teacher, just wanted some answers, just as I did, so of course I asked no questions. I heard her lament that the alternative teachers there didn't have certifications of any kind, weren't enough educators to compete, etc., and that it would work against them. Prophetic. This was news to me, with all the big claims made. But her standing up? Priceless. Hot, but out into the night she went anyway. I left, too, and didn't follow up on the space.

This necessary "idea" was never new in the black community, it didn't come from M4M because its been pulled like taffy between black education and cultural groups and orgs for years (so claiming they are original is a lie), but there's never been enough money or capacity, or creative ideas, because those folks get bitched out by the M4M crowd, or hustled by the career black organizational leaders who offer empty promises because someone downtown was already in their back pocket from the first, ordering their steps (and they usually go to jail; check the news). Or the local and state governments just starve these groups out until they can't hold up against them anymore, as the rest of the city evolves into this century as everyone should expect and have a right to. Its just being heard aloud now from the bullhorn, the bombardeers, the blowhards at Mann by everyone else. And maybe that's what such neglect has done in Seattle; created Omari Tahirs. What's next? The white and black career politicians and "cultural consultants" will come in to "fix" it, but do they ever? So far its a smaller building further south, in an even more "colorful" community, away from the rapidly gentrifying CD. It'll really be just a bunch of wheeling and dealing, and a building that will go to yet another unqualified leadership group smelling itself for the first time. The black community will have to, and will, "work with" them, but didn't ask to, or necessarily want to. Just that its all there is. That explains M4M's "community support" in a nutshell. Desperation, piped dreams, hail marys. Apartheid-like, ironically. Seattle needs shaking up, but not this way, not by them. Those who say this isn't the case simply don't have any other models to work with, have a clue about, or believe in supporting something just because the people are black, not examining whether the people are as capable as they are willing.

Shame on Banda, and shame on Seattle, for thinking black community concerns can be only mediated across a canyon literal and civil neglect; neglect in the end, of the minds of marginalized black kids. Thus leaving adults to act like the real kids here. To engage Tahir on this when more rational, effective, creative folks are around (and they're all under 50! not stuck in some other era in their heads), is just going along with the charade to avoid SUBSTANTIAL REFORMS.

The upside? It bullies officials into giving up stuff some crumbs on some level, long overdue in the black community (tis the true, unintentional purpose and legacy of Strangelove), but usually the spoils go to the clowns, cut-outs, or the crazies, not the courageous and critical minded. How's that for alliteration!? So, the black community sorta? wins (ie NAAM; if Tahir hadn't raised a fucking ruckus, would the museum be there, vacuous though it still is, because of the UL's lack of vision once the powers bequeathed it to them over Tahir's head and heavy breathing? Or the directors' lack of resources to pull in better exhibits like Wing Luke can so effortless with help from SAM? But its there--and the black community is still grateful to have a piece of museum with very little in it. Good work on that bit, at any rate, Pinky Strangelove, but still: no soup for you!

Now they wanna go to court and make a real circus out of this, huh? Wanna play wounded warrior, victim? Swearing its not over? His son is missing from the dialogue all of a sudden. I guess he slipped under the radar rather than face arrest, too; free from public view to emotionally blackmail their own community, and the larger one, over something else, some other day. They are the same person, if you take certain laws of physics into account lol. For instance, Tahir distracts yet acts, while his son distracts and reacts. When Tahir is around, his son is not, vice versa, etc. lol

Someone mentioned Sawant. Being a socialist doesn't make you crazy, and she'd be crazy to get mixed up with them. She'd see right through it, probably already does, probably already got a call from them, but she'd get politically burned. Besides, there are plenty of black Sawant-stylers out there--largely and consistently ignored by the powers that be, because the powers ... be ...

Tahir has a record of intimidation by any means necessary and often he gets what he wants because others in the black community are, if not over the top like he is, totally apathetic, or drink his koolaid. Little middle ground that does not involve black class divisions (because the gray center is hard to figure, but where all the good stuff is. So maybe they're as lazy as the district?? Everyone I called in the black community, to be honest, said "Oh, yeah, Omari ... hmm". Everyone else is just on the outside looking in, and from various perspectives they see different things, but not necessarily THE thing.

A new model is needed entirely to address what definitely needs addressing, but not in the ways the district or M4M does. Seattle and SPS have shamefully ignored the marginalization of black people and black students too long, leaving a vacuum for Strangelove to manipulate the scene in their (black kids') name. Poverty and culture pimps of every stripe and feather prevail in this city. As far as the black community is about standing up: Demoralized, broke, burned out, chicken, you name it, but that doesn't mean, despite the vacuum and the marginalization it caused, that Tahir's OR the school district's tactics are righteous or working. I'd rather talk to the cute teacher disrespected in public without divulging to the public their plans, but compelling the public to follow them blindly and take hits for nothing. For those who know a generation of minds is at stake, still, this is the true dilemma ...