District sets schedule for community meetings on Seattle’s ‘Well-Resourced Schools’ closures

Seattle Public Schools has announced a series of meetings starting next week in the city to discuss proposals to close up to 21 primary schools, including nearby campuses such as Stevens Elementary And McGilvra Elementary School to address a looming budget deficit.

The gathering focused on the city’s Central Region will take place on October 1. The series is scheduled to begin next Tuesday with an online-only session.

Community meetings

We are organizing five regional in-person meetings and one online meeting.

• Online: Tuesday, September 24, 6:30 PM, Zoom meeting (Families and staff will receive the link to the Zoom meeting soon. The link will be posted on our website.)
• Southwestern region: Wednesday, September 25, 6:30 PM Genesee Hill Elementary, 5013 SW Dakota St., Seattle, WA 98116
• South East region: Thursday, September 26, 6:30 PM Wing Luke Elementary, 3701 S Kenyon St., Seattle, WA 98118
• Central region: Tuesday, October 1, 6:30 PM Kimball Elementary, 3200 23rd Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98144
• Northeastern region: Thursday, October 3, 6:30 PM Olympic Hills Elementary, 13018 20th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98125
• Northwestern region: Monday, October 7, 6:30 PM James Baldwin Elementary, 11725 1st Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98125

Translation and interpretation services will be provided at each meeting. Interpreters will be available for American Sign Language (ASL), Amharic, Cantonese, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Following the online meeting, a recording will be posted on the district website.

We hope you can join us! Please take a moment to RSVP.

Learn more about Well-Resourced Schools’ plans, schedule, and FAQs.

“During these meetings, SPS leaders will share information about how our district is working to provide every student with the support they need in a school close to home,” the district said in its announcement. “The proposed Well-Resourced Schools options focus on consolidating resources and reducing building operating costs to provide stable staffing, arts, music, physical education, social-emotional support, and inclusive learning environments.”

CHS reported here on the district’s Option A and Option B approaches. Each proposed option would close five elementary school campuses in the Central Seattle area, including Stevens and McGilvra. SPS says the closures would save between $25.5 million and $31.5 million per year.

Cuts in state funding and a forecast of continued enrollment decline in the near term have left the school district scrambling to close a $131 million budget deficit for the current school year. Continuing budget shortfalls are expected in the years ahead.

While the plan would cut schools in neighborhoods across the city, it is particularly harsh on the system’s “optional schools,” which allow students from across the district to choose campuses based on specialized programs. A dozen optional schools would either close or be converted into neighborhood campuses.

Family groups have responded with calls to ignore the district’s proposals, saying other cuts should be considered and arguing that campus closures would yield less cost savings than projected. In an op-ed on CHS, the McGilvra Advocacy Committee writes that the district’s effort to close campuses “divides communities, divides neighborhoods into different schools, and divides classmates, families, and friends, including the deaf and hard of hearing community at TOPS.”

“We have enough wealth in Washington to solve the public school budget crisis,” the McGilvra group writes. “We just need the political will.”

The committee has drawn up a list of actions people can take to oppose the district’s proposals.

According to a recent count, the SPS was home to 22 schools with a multi-district option, 63 elementary schools, 11 grades 1-8, 12 middle schools, and 18 high schools.

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