Seattle Public Schools is putting off any decision on campus closures that might be needed due to predicted budget shortfalls, the district announced in a statement in advance of Superintendent Brent Jones’s appearance in front of the Seattle School Board Wednesday night to present his budget plan for the coming school year.
“Superintendent Jones will not be recommending any school closures or consolidations for the 2024-25 school year,” the statement reads. “SPS is working to right-size the number of schools to accommodate lower student enrollment. This may include school closures or consolidations as an option for 2025-26.”
“We know it takes time to plan and implement large-scale changes and will include our community to provide feedback as we move through the process,” the statement concludes.
CHS reported here on the worry and confusion around the district as SPS undertook a “Well-resourced Schools” effort to gather feedback from “students, families, staff, and community partners” in a painful budget process it said could result in campus closures. A looming budget deficit had 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.
The new statement delays the timeline and credits pushback from families for holding off on any closures, saying Jones “based his decision not only on financial realities but also shared community priorities and values learned from community engagement.”
It could also buy more time for state lawmakers to secure funding to help districts.
The uncertainty has been stressful for public school students and their families. “Save Stevens Elementary” flyers were 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,” the posters read. “Stevens Elementary is on the chopping block. We need your help to save our school!”
SPS last went through rounds of campus closures a decade ago that included cuts for Capitol Hill and Central District communities. CHS reported here in 2013 as plans began moving forward to reopen Capitol Hill’s Meany Middle School campus after it had been shuttered during a round of economic belt tightening. In previous cubacks, the district closed schools but kept campuses busy by shifting programs or leasing the properties to private and charter schools. By 2016, the district was reopening its shuttered or repurposed Capitol Hill and Central District area campuses. During the shuffling a decade ago, private schools like Hamlin Robinson leased buildings like E Union’s TT Minor building until the district said it needed the properties back.
Today, Seattle Public Schools system has grown to more than 100 schools serving more than 50,000 students. But enrollment in private schools has climbed with 20% of the city’s kids enrolled at private and Catholic campuses as of mid-2020 — a number that has grown during the pandemic and further tipped the demographic mix in the public system. Around 60% of Seattle is white. 60% of its public school kids are not.
The district’s latest preparations for economic crisis and dropping enrollment come as it also prepares for future growth. Long-term needs and more solid funding for non-operations investments like campus upgrades and new buildings means projects like a massively expanded Montlake Elementary are moving forward.
That Montlake expansion eventually could be part of any conversation around closing Stevens as the 19th and Galer campus enrollment has continued to drop.
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