With reporting by Kali Herbst Minino
The meetings — ostensibly — are about “well-resourced schools,” and what vital educational elements students and families say they want in their public campuses. But some Capitol Hill-area families are seeing the writing on the wall.
“Save Stevens Elementary” flyers have been posted to utility poles on the streets surrounding the Northern Capitol Hill school’s 19th at Galer campus.
“Seattle Public Schools plans to close schools beginning in Fall 2024,” it reads. “Stevens Elementary is on the chopping block. We need your help to save our school!”
The rallying cry is encouraging people to attend the district’s final “Well-resourced Schools” meeting Tuesday night — a final online-only session following a series of community meetings earlier this month.
UPDATE 9:30 PM: Tuesday’s meeting has been rescheduled. In a Monday afternoon announcement, SPS said it moving the meeting back “due to overwhelming community interest.”
Moving this online engagement to Tuesday, Sept. 26, after the school year has begun will allow for wider community participation. It will also help us prepare an exceptional experience for a larger number of people.
Seattle Public Schools says it isn’t closing any of its schools — yet.
CHS reported here on the “Well-resourced Schools” effort with SPS beginning its process to gather feedback from “students, families, staff, and community partners” as it starts a painful budget process it says could result in campus closures. A looming budget deficit has SPS promising no closures until 2024 but predicting serious belt-tightening as it expects a decade of lower enrollment. Changes in state funding and a forecast for a continued near-term drop in enrollment had the district scrambling to cover a $131 million budget deficit for the coming school year with continued financial shortfalls on the way.
SPS says the meetings about what every student in the system needs to thrive and grow are necessary before any talk of big cuts begins. The meetings, the district says, will inform recommendations Superintendent Brent Jones is making to the Seattle School Board in November.
At one of the community meetings held earlier this month at Garfield High School, community members sat down at large tables with pens and papers. The meeting covered three questions attendees were asked to write about and discuss with the help of a facilitator: What are your favorite things about your child’s school building? How can we make resources and services at each school stronger? What kinds of programs do you and your student value the most and why? Scribes sat around the tables taking down notes, and at the end of the exercise, the sticky notes would be posted on larger white pieces of paper. Continue reading →
