Alternative schools won't open on time

Marysville

Opening dates for three Marysville alternative schools have been pushed back at least two months because of design and permit delays.

Arts and Technology High School, scheduled to open for the start of the school year, is now expected to open Nov. 17. Tulalip Heritage School will open Nov. 27 and 10th Street School on Dec. 31.

A backlog in permit applications at the county meant the school district couldn't proceed with roads, foundations and utilities for its new secondary campus until July 9. The schools will be assembled from modular, pre-built classrooms and trucked to a site south of Quil Ceda Elementary School on the Tulalip Reservation.

Until the new schools are completed, Heritage and 10th Street will continue to operate at their current locations. Ninth-graders entering A & T will start the year in a dedicated wing at Totem Middle School.

Mill Creek

Japanese a flop at Jackson High

Efforts to add a Japanese class at Jackson High School suffered a setback when only two students signed up.

Parents had urged creation of classes in an Asian language to complement the foreign languages currently offered by the district. Everett Community College agreed to sponsor a start-up class this fall at the high school.

Everett School District spokeswoman Mary Waggoner said information about the new classes may not have been publicized early enough for students to add the class this fall. She said the district will work with the college and hopes to offer the class second semester.

Compiled by the Times Snohomish County bureau