Seattle Public Schools Postpones Vote on List of Closing Schools

by Nimra Ahmad

The Seattle School Board is now scheduled to vote June 26 on the district budget — which holds in the balance the district's plan to close 20 elementary schools. The board was to vote Monday, June 10, to determine which schools would close, concluding a recent series of four community engagement sessions where the school board met with the public to hear feedback and discuss concerns.

The school board announced in May its plan to close about a quarter of its K—5 schools due to a $105 million shortfall in the 2024—25 school year budget and a $125 million shortfall in 2025—26. The district has also said that enrollment is down, with 29 elementary schools currently serving fewer than 300 students, and it projects a continued downward trend.

According to Superintendent Brent Jones and Seattle Public Schools (SPS), continuing to support its current number of approximately 70 elementary schools would have to result in a reduction of services. Jones has introduced the concept of "well-resourced schools" — schools that offer accessible, high-quality education, inclusive curriculums, are safe, and provide social and emotional support. Consolidation, he says, would allow for schools to have more resources concentrated in each building.

Alison Underdahl, a math teacher at Meany Middle School, disagrees. She notes that larger class sizes make it more difficult for students to build relationships with their teachers, and families will likely struggle to engage in school activities if the schools are further away from their homes.

"What I hear the district saying is do more with less," Underdahl wrote in an email. "The only way they will close the budget deficit through closures is with deep cuts in staffing. This means fewer staff at fewer buildings with more kids."

In terms of saving the district money, the closures will only save about $1.5 million per building, and there aren't any plans to sell the buildings. In short, it's not a hard-and-fast solution to the budget issue — other things would have to happen, such as staffing reductions.

Parents are concerned too. A group of SPS parents formed an advocacy group, All Together for Seattle Schools, when the board began to review its budget deficit last October, and have been vocal in their opposition to school closures.

"The core issue is that closing 20 elementary schools will not come close to addressing the budget deficit," Jen Lavallee, a South Seattle parent volunteer with All Together, wrote in an email. "Public schools across the state are not being funded appropriately, so even if closures are needed in the future, listing them as the way to fix the budget seems to be a red herring. The best alternative is for the state legislature to fully fund our public schools. That's the only way to deal with the budget deficit in a way that doesn't disrupt our kids, families, educators, and communities."

In the South End, the effects of school closures with the current plans could be dramatic. The board says they'd look to reduce from 70 to 50 elementary schools, with 10 in each "region" of Seattle — meaning the Northwest, Northeast, Central, Southwest, and Southeast.

In the Southeast region, there are currently 13 elementary schools and two K—8 option schools, which could also potentially be closed. This means that the Southeast could theoretically lose five schools.

"I don't think the budget is as dire as they are making it out to be," Underdahl wrote. "It feels like [SPS is] playing politics with the education of our students and with our livelihoods. It feels like we are just numbers to them. It's demoralizing. Our students deserve better."

The board says they're considering a myriad of factors, such as right-sized capacity (the capacity of the school without having to bring in external portable classrooms), enrollment as of Oct. 23, 2023, and the schools' equity scores.

School closures would affect all types of students — but educators and parents alike have been especially worried for marginalized, vulnerable students.

Dustin Cole, a special education teacher at Graham Hill Elementary School, on South Graham Street and 51st Place South, worries about the effects of school closures on vulnerable students, such as those with disabilities. He noted that it took him two years to get grab bars installed in his students' bathrooms.

"There are few district wide guidelines for the unique expectations of how we support students with significant disabilities," Cole wrote in an email. "Each building and/or program is expected to make decisions around toileting, inclusion, behavior support, prevention of injuries, curriculum and most other matters. If the district closed my school, what [would] the expectations [be] at a new building? Will teachers have to re-establish guidelines? Will teachers have to bargain or seek permission to provide the same level of care, support, physical accommodations, access, and inclusion with a new administrator?"

The superintendent will present the board with a drafted list of proposed schools to close on June 26.

📸 Featured Image: Parents talk at table groups during the Southeast regional "Well-Resourced Schools" engagement meeting at South Shore PK—8 in Rainier Beach in August 2023. The meetings were designed to gain feedback to guide the Seattle Public Schools on how to meet staggering budget deficits for the next two years. (Photo: Ari Robin Mckenna)