Big turnout at forum to save Maple Lane school, other JRA facilities

More than 100 Local 1926 members and community supporters turned out for the Dec. 4 forum to save Maple Lane School-and other juvenile rehabilitation facilities expected to be offered up by the Legislature.

A consultants report mandated by the 2009 Legislature reluctantly called for the closure of Maple Lane School in south Thurston County, which houses about 190 juveniles and employs about 250 people.

Maple Lane School Local 1926 sponsored the forum. One major focus was rejecting "wedge efforts" to pit one community with a JRA facility against another. All four JRA facilities (Maple Lane, Green Hill School in Chehalis, Naselle Youth Camp and Echo Glen Children's Center in Snoqualmie) are vital parts of the continuum of care.

"It's a team and each has a role to play-and if you take one part away, you mess the whole thing up," Local 1926 President Chad Raish said.

"We get pitted against each other and it's tough," he said. "It wears on you. And it's tough to be a state worker. You hear the gloom and doom. And it affects us, but also the surrounding communities."

Legislators from both parties backed Maple Lane and all JRA facilities.

"You perform a vital role in our community and I want you to continue to do that," Sen. Dan Swecker, R-20th Dist. said.

"We've made investments, you've made the facility world-class, the study was flawed," Rep. Richard DeBolt, R-20th Dist. said. DeBolt is House minority leader.

Closing Maple Lane and sending the young offenders elsewhere is not an option, said Rep. Gary Alexander, R-20th Dist. Alexander is the top Republican on the budget-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

"The investments we've already made are significant," Alexander said. "The populations are so different. It simply doesn't make sense as a safety issue."

"You're a model across the country," said Rep. Tami Green, D-28th Dist.