Seattle Central Plans to Sell and Close Wood Technology Center

Catie Chaplan, a longtime carpentry instructor at the Wood Technology Center (Wood Tech), was at a loss. The president of Seattle Central College had just told her in a meeting that the Seattle Colleges District plans to close the school and list the Central District property for sale. Leaders at Seattle Colleges outlined the plan on Monday, but emphasized that it was not final, faculty said.

The potential sale would fill a district-wide budget deficit, according to Chaplan, Derek Jones, and Jay Mclean-Riggs, teachers who were also present at the meeting. 

Formerly known as the Gompers Branch of Edison Technical School, Wood Tech has been around in some form for close to a century. Seattle Central spent $25 million constructing its current purpose-built Central District home in 2012.

Degree programs in carpentry and boat building would stop enrolling this fall, though the final class would complete its five-quarter studies, according to faculty briefed on the plan. A one-quarter "pre-apprenticeship" construction training program would move to another one of the Seattle Colleges campuses.

The Seattle Colleges District has faced budget crises and declining enrollment for years, though the exact numbers remain cloudy. Pressed by teachers, college leaders could not provide an exact number. 

A spokesperson for Seattle Colleges confirmed potential sale of the school but did not answer questions about the size of the budget deficit, what other cuts are being considered, or how many faculty could face layoffs.

"We are considering the sale of Seattle Colleges' properties, including Seattle Central's Wood Technology property, and relocating the programs, where applicable, to sister colleges," wrote Barb Childs, associate vice chancellor of public relations, in an email to the Emerald. "We are exploring this decision due to structural funding challenges facing community colleges across our state, including declining state funding and rising operating costs."

Wood Tech narrowly escaped closure in 2022. That same year, Seattle Colleges announced a $17 million deficit before walking it back to just $3 million. Legislators ultimately stepped in, and companies, including Lowe's, donated to keep Wood Tech open. 

Dozens of students sporting tool belts and safety glasses gathered in the school's atrium Monday morning to watch through glass-paneled doors as Seattle Central College interim President Chantae Recasner and interim Vice President Chris Sullivan met with teachers.

When Recasner and Sullivan left, students chanted "shame" and "cut wood, not education." A security guard escorted the leaders to a car.

Recasner, who was recently offered a job to serve as president of Olympic College in Bremerton, did not respond to an email requesting comment on the plan on Monday. Seattle Colleges' chancellor and board of trustees also did not respond to emails from the Emerald.

High enrollment, plentiful job opportunities, and long waitlists for new applicants make Wood Tech an odd choice for closure, students and faculty said.

Chaplan, an instructor at Wood Tech since 1998, and the lead instructor in the carpentry program, says closing the "irreplaceable" school would eliminate pathways into high-paying union jobs in a fast-growing city. 

"When you look at AI kind of wiping out a lot of white-collar jobs and the need for housing, the fact that these vital workforce training programs are on the chopping block is incredible," Chaplan said. "We should be expanding these programs."

No other Seattle Central programs were targeted for elimination, she noted. And leadership did not cite state funding issues as a factor during the meeting. "A lot of the financial difficulty is Central's own doing," Chaplan said.

Chaplan says she pressed leadership on the details of the budget deficit, but they could not provide a firm number. She asked for an audit before a decision is made to sell the school.

Chaplan came away from the meeting with the impression that leadership sees an opportunity to close the district-wide deficit by offloading valuable real estate in an area that will soon be served by a new Judkins Park light rail station. She called the plan "shortsighted."

Able only to see, but not hear, the meeting from beyond the glass-paneled walls, carpentry student Lizbeth Chaidez, 20, watched with confusion as the fate of the school was discussed. 

"We're thriving as a school," Chaidez said, noting a two-year waitlist for applicants and alumni who have gone on to start companies in Washington's busy construction sector. Wood Tech enrolls about 120 students, she added. 

McLean-Riggs, a biology teacher at Seattle Central who attended Monday's meeting, says she remains optimistic that the school can stave off closure, as it has before.

"It's a stupid way to solve the budget problem," said McLean-Riggs. "We need noise from everyone, as well as legislators, to say 'What are you doing?'"