Massing of the Colors 2016

The Massing of the Colors is a patriotic ceremony honoring those who have served in the United States of America and honoring the youth of today who carry on the patriotic tradition.

The world-class I Corps Army Band, which creates bonds between the United States Army and the Pacific Northwest community, will be playing their inspiring selection of music celebrating George Washington, our first patriot in the long line of patriots who have served our country well.

Massing of the Colors began in 1919 by military officers who served in the Great War (World War I/WW I).  In 1923, the Military Order of the World War assumed responsibility for the Massing of the Colors nationwide and still has the responsibility across the nation.

Attendance is free to the public.

Youth and adult organizations can participate by contacting Col. Carroll Dickson by Feb. 12. 2106.

Last School Gets Final Funding

Today, the Depart- ment of Defense announced that it has awarded a $40 million grant to Clover Park School District to rebuild Evergreen Elementary School.

Last year, Sen. Murray, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and Rep. Heck, whose district includes Joint Base Lewis-McChord, fought to secure federal funding for defense projects in Washington State, including the construction of new schools that serve military families.

“This investment is a significant step toward fulfilling our promise to support our local military communities and their families,” Senator Murray said. “These schools are not only a place for children to learn, but also serve as a support system for our military families. As the daughter of a World War II veteran and a former preschool teacher, I will always fight to make sure our schools are getting the investments they need, especially those serving families that sacrifice so much for their country.”

“Our community can’t wait for this critically important project to break ground,” Congressman Heck said. “Many children of servicemembers stationed at JBLM attend Evergreen and we want to make sure this school is well-equipped to handle each student’s education needs.”

“For years our community has worked together to secure funds to support our servicemembers and their families,” said Congressman Smith, Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee. “All children in the Puget Sound region must have access to a high quality education and I am pleased that these DoD funds will be used to ensure that our students needs are being met.”

“Clover Park School District is extremely excited to receive the news that funding to replace the sixth and final school on JBLM is approved,” said Debbie LeBeau, Superintendent of the Clover Park School District. “These school construction projects would not have been possible without the advocacy and determination of Senator Patty Murray, Congressman Denny Heck (and before him Congressman Dicks) and Congressman Adam Smith. They wanted to ensure that military dependents have state of the art learning environments to go along with the high quality instruction provided by our teachers.  Evergreen is a very special school serving students with disabilities that requires specialized instructional spaces. Updated technology, classroom spaces and improved access for physically challenged students will greatly improve the quality of education for our students.”

The grant comes through the DOD’s Office of Economic Adjustment Public School Recapitalization program, which has supported extensive school construction efforts at Joint Base Lewis McChord. Previous projects include Hillside Elementary School, Carter Lake Elementary School, Beachwood Elementary School, Meriwether Elementary School, and Rainier Elementary School.

Evergreen Elementary Receives Funding at Last

Language released today in the Fiscal Year 2015 Department of Defense Appro- priations Act includes $139 million for the construction, renovation, repair, and expansion of elementary and secondary public schools on military installations, including nearly $40 million for Evergreen Elementary located on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Debbie LeBeau, superintendent of Clover Park School District, said We are extremely excited about the prospect of Evergreen Elementary receiving funding at last, and look forward to breaking ground on a new school for these students.

Funding was restored with the help of Rep. Denny Heck after sequestration cuts prevented original project.  Evergreen Elementary is a school recognized in the military community for its attention to students with special needs in education, and many service members request a compassionate assignment at JBLM so their child can attend Evergreen, Congressman Denny Heck, D-Wash., said. JBLM is located in the new 10th Congressional District, represented by Heck.

On April 4, 2014, Heck testified before the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, requesting the subcommittee fund the remaining schools on the list.  We need to complete what began in 2011, and fix the remaining school buildings originally identified as no longer sustainable. It is unacceptable to allow sequestration cuts to prevent the kids of our men and women in uniform from receiving an excellent education in a safe and updated facility.

In a 2011 analysis by the Department of Defense, 33 public school facilities on military installations across the country were classified as being in “poor condition.” As a result, the Fiscal Year 2011 Defense Appropriations Act began the process of funding the replacement of these public schools. Due to sequestration cuts, the funding only covered 28 of the 33 schools, with Evergreen Elementary as one of the five remaining unfunded projects.

There are about 80,000 students who attend public schools on military installations. Ninety-four percent of these students are the children of service members.

The Clover Park School District will construct the new school in coordination with the State of Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Joint Base Headquarters at JBLM, and will then own, operate, and maintain the newly constructed Evergreen Elementary.

Lincoln HS Seeks to Honor USMC Alumna

Lincoln High School is raising funds for the Greg (Pappy) Boyington Memorial that will be placed on the school grounds. Boyington was a highly decorated US Marine Corps combat pilot and Medal of Honor recipient who graduated from Lincoln HS.

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Military Industrial Sector Internships

Two internship positions are available in the Washington State Department of Commerce working on state-wide military affairs issues.

If you or if you know of anyone in college (undergraduate or Grad) who may be interested, please let them know.  Please, also pass this along to anyone you know who may distribute it more widely.

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NDTA Scholarship Opportunity

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More Money for On-Base Schools

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), senior member of the Military Construc- tion and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, today announced major funding from the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA).

The funding, totaling $90,768,089, addresses capacity and facility condition deficiencies at the Greenwood ($28,566,022), Clarkmoor ($30,870,778), and Beachwood ($31,331,289) Elementary Schools, which serve the Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) community. The Clover Park School District and State of Washington will match these grants with an additional $23,075,465 for a total investment of $113,843,553.  Approximately 1,550 pre-kindergarten through fifth grade students will be served by these projects. 

“When our best and our brightest put on the uniform to serve our country honorably, we make a promise to support them and their families both on and off the battlefield,” said Senator Murray. “This includes making sure their children have an adequate learning environment that promotes a positive education experience, not one that puts them in harm’s way or detracts from the curriculum. Our schools that support our military communities are not only institutions of learning, but also serve as a support system for many of our military families. That’s why I was proud to support the legislation in which this funding was included."

 “This is a great day for Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the Clover Park School District. More than 1500 South Sound students in military families from the district I have the honor to represent will have improved educational opportunities thanks to these projects. I can’t wait to see what Greenwood, Clarkmoor and Beachwood look like once the improvements are completed," Congressman Denny Heck said.

"Securing this grant would not have been possible without the hard work of Congressman Adam Smith as well as retired Congressman Norm Dicks. I am extremely appreciative of their tireless advocacy on this issue.
“This funding is the result of hard work by the Clover Park School District and many in the Washington State Congressional Delegation.  These funds are critical in making much needed rebuilding efforts for Greenwood, Clarkmoor, and Beachwood Elementary Schools.  All students in the Puget Sound region deserve access to high quality education in well maintained facilities, and I look forward to continuing to work with Congressman Denny Heck to ensure that they do,” Congressman Adam Smith said.

“Today’s announcement regarding the approval of the school construction grant will allow Clover Park School District to continue retooling the schools on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The replacement of these three elementary schools will enable our students to receive a quality education in buildings that provide for today’s educational needs and reflect our nation’s commitment to our armed services. Throughout this process, Clover Park School District has received tremendous support from our elected officials, as well as the Department of Defense.  On behalf of our students, we offer our sincere thanks,”  said Debbie LeBeau, Superintendent of the Clover Park School District.

The condition of the three schools was determined by the July 2011 Deputy Secretary of Defense “Public Schools on Military Installations Priority List” (Priority List). Funding for these awards is provided through the DoD’s Public Schools on Military Installations Program.

OEA, in making these funds available, gave priority consideration to those military installations with schools having the most serious capacity or facility condition deficiencies, as determined by the Priority List. A multi-disciplined Federal Evaluation Team, with membership from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, the Military Services, U.S. Department of Education, and OEA reviewed the school projects to ensure the awards appropriately address the noted capacity and facility condition deficiencies.

WA State Steps Up Competitive Position

Today Governor Chris Gregoire announced her final proposed budget. 

 

She met with a group of local defense advocates from across the state in August, and stated the need for an aggressive time frame to conduct a report about how Washington State fits into the Department of Defense Strategic Plans, so she could make investments in her budget. 

 

You will find the final report, Retaining and Expanding Military Missions, Increasing Defense Spending and Investments (http://ofm.wa.gov/reports/mil_report.pdf).  Also here is a link to a summary brief of the Governor’s proposed investments based on the recommendations of this report (www.governor.wa.gov/priorities/economy/BRAC.pdf). 

 

The Governor proposes:

-          Hiring a Director of  Military Affairs; 

-          Creating military community support grants ($500,000);

-          Improving quality of life by improving schools at JBLM ($11.9M);

-          Continuing transportation infrastructure improvements.

 These investments are an important step in continuing the momentum begun this summer.  Thanks to Denny Miller and Associates and Hayek & Fix, Inc. for their great work on the analysis and report and thank you to all the members of the Washington Military Alliance who are supporting this project and make it possible.

JBLM's Children to Get New Schools

Because of the efforts of local organizations like Clover Park School District, offices at JBLM, Congressional leaders like Cong. Norm Dicks and Adam Smith, and the Chamber, a national program was born to replace outdated and obsolete schools on military installations.

Debbie LeBeau, superintendent of Clover Park School District said, “The ground breaking of the new Carter Lake and Hillside Elementary Schools represents a federal, state and local partnership designed to ensure our military students have access to the safe and updated facilities they deserve.”

One of the top funded school replacements, the first to break ground and we anticipate the first to open will be the Hillside and Carter Lake elementary schools on JBLM.

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Carter Lake and Hillside Elementary Schools ranked second and fifth, respectively, in the top 25 schools needing immediate attention based on an independent scoring of enrollment capacity and building conditions. Funding for the two new schools comes thru the Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) and Washington state school construction funds.

Today marked their groundbreaking at Hillside with many dignitaries including Cong. Dicks and Smith as well as military and school district representatives. The event will include a traditional shovel-and-dirt ground breaking, plus the signing of an “Education of Military Children Covenant.” Signers of the covenant included educators, senior civilian and military leaders and elected officials.  Local children were witnesses to the event.

Both schools will be rebuilt at their current locations—Carter Lake will have a capacity of 500 students and Hillside will accommodate 650 students. BCRA Design is the architect for the new schools and Skanska is the general construction contract manager. Completion of the new schools is scheduled for the fall of 2013.

On-Base Schools Lined Up for Money

As parents and school children know, the on-base elementary schools are heavily overcrowded and functionally obsolete.

That was proven in a recent DoD study which ranked Joint Base Lewis-McChord elementary schools in bands 1-2-4 and 6.  More information on the rankings and their placement on the scale is available here.

Debbie LeBeau, Superintendent, Clover Park School District, which operates but does not own the schools on JBLM, briefed attendees at this month’s Military Affairs Forum just after returning from Washington, D.C. where she conferenced with the Office of Economic Adjustment, a DoD agenda administering a $250 million fund for fixing the problem.

Clover Park S.D. expects to receive funds for replacing Hillside elemen- tary with a new 650 student facility and consolidating Carter Lake and Heartwood elementarys into one new 500 student school, because of their very high priority rankings in the study. The grant is a reimbursable program, but LeBeau consider Clover Park S.D. to have the financial flexibility to take advantage of the opportunity. 

If money continues to be available this year (unlikely), or if Congress continues to fund the program (hopefully), the next project for JBLM schools would be to consolidate Greenwood and Clarkmoor into one new 650 student school.