REDMOND, Wash. — Monday marks the start of back-to-school for the Lake Washington School District, which means almost 30,000 kids are starting a new year of classes. With the new year comes new policies and even new school buildings.
Students will see a strict new tech policy along with new cameras in school zones looking for speeders.
Lake Washington Schools Superintendent Jon Holman said the cameras are needed to protect the students who are walking and biking to school.
Those cameras are at:
- Redmond High School
- Redmond Middle School
- Rose Hill Middle School
The fines for speeding through those zones:
- 6–9 mph over: $110.00
- 10–14 mph over: $220.00
- 15+ mph over: $250.00
Also new to the district this year is the strict technology policy: no personal devices of any kind in the classrooms.
“It isn’t about anything against those devices it really is about the environment in the classroom. Human to human interaction is key for instruction,” Holman said.
Rockwell Elementary Principal Adam Couch said each student has a district-issued laptop for classwork.
“We want our kids prepared for middle high school and also for society . That’s one of the tools we want them to have,” Couch said.
Another big change comes in the form of a new school. Norman Rockwell Elementary got a major upgrade over the summer.
It boasts large windows, a cafeteria space, turf field, and outdoor bathrooms with field access.
“The amount of natural daylight in every single space is probably the most noticeable and commented on feature we can have lights off and there’s still enough daylight,” Holman said.
They say this has been decades in the making, all thanks to voters passing a tax levy to accrue the funds.
“The team did such a great job of designing this school they maintained their budget throughout but it feels like they delivered on everything they were asked to do,” Holman said.
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