I have had children in the Lake Washington School District for 24 years with two still in Junior High. I am extremely concerned about racial and social disparity impacts the increased pay to play proposal of $275 per sport will have on Juanita High School and the surrounding feeder Junior Highs of Kamiakin and Finn Hill. The $50 per sport policy will negatively impact these schools, as the JHS student body is unique.

Six years ago I wrote a grant for Juanita and I had to assess the population of the student body at the school compared to the other high schools in the district, the contrast was alarming. While it is rich in ethnic diversity, the socioeconomic are such, that with multiple public housing areas feeding into the school, this policy is extremely inequitable for Juanita; much more so than let’s say a school from Redmond or Sammamish. I would put forth that this policy in fact is the perfect example of institutional racism at work. Engaging many of these kids in sports after school is the only way the community has to keep them safe and out of trouble. It widens the gap between the haves’ and the have nots’. Will paying that much for a school sport for family such as mine effect my athletes participate? Probably not, though it will hurt the pocket book, it does not make the sport unobtainable for my children…it does for nearly 60 percent of rest of the student body.

I am a team member of King County’s Child Death Review, as well as in Snohomish, Kitsap and Pierce County. We are a multi-disciplinary group of professionals that examine and review the mechanisms of unexpected deaths for all children under the age of 18 in the county and study trends across the country in order to implement prevention strategies. We review the totality of the circumstances around each local death to see if we can identify systemic issues that may have contributed to risk factors that led to the death. After school activities such as sports are a critical component in keeping kids safe, it’s a proven best practice strategy in keeping kids engaged and safe. This extremely large increase in the pay to play policy unfairly places students at JHS at risk. I fear the unintentional bi-products of this policy will be increased crime in the Juanita-Kirkland area, youth violence will increase and we will see the demise of a culture that we will not be able to get back.

In consideration of the pool closure, I would also put forth that drowning is a major cause of death of King and Snohomish County youth. With Hispanic and Native American males having a higher disproportionate rate of death due to not knowing how to swim. We have found that access to culturally appropriate swim lessons is critical in keeping kids safe from injury or death. I would suggest implementing more swim classes actively engaging the diversity of our citizens to help offset the costs instead of closing the pool. I would predict you will see an increase of drowning and water related injuries without the ability to learn how to swim locally.

In closing, I respectfully request that you reconsider this policy or provide provisions by which all children in the district have equal access to a quality education that includes a rich and robust athletic department. As you know, athletics are not only important for completion but rather for preparing children for adulthood through discipline and perseverance.

Deborah & Jack Robinson, Juanita