(Image: Seattle Public Schools)

Capitol Hill’s Stevens Elementary might have the opportunity to change its name, afterall.

The North Capitol Hill campus is off the list — for now — as Seattle Public Schools has changed its plans from cuts that would have sliced more than 20 campuses to a cutback that will shut down five following public outcry over the district’s efforts to overcome a looming budget deficit.

Superintendent Brent Jones announced the new, less aggressive plan for cutbacks Tuesday, saying his office heard complaints about the initial planned closure of up to 21 elementary school campuses “loud and clear.”

“We know we need the support of our students, families, and staff to uplift a large-scale change such as this,” Jones said in the announcement. “My hope is that we can work together to re-establish a level of trust that allows us to move forward in a way that honors our school communities.”

The new plan comes a week after Jones and the district put the initial cutbacks on hold just as community meetings to discuss the closures were about to begin.

CHS reported here on the district’s Option A and Option B proposals. Each option would shutter five elementary campuses in the Central Seattle area including Stevens and McGilvra. SPS says the closures would have saved between $25.5 million and $31.5 million a year.

Cuts in state funding and a forecast for a continued near-term drop in enrollment has the district scrambling to cover a $131 million budget deficit for the current school year with continued financial shortfalls expected over coming years.

Under the new proposal, SPS would identify the five campuses targeted for closure and turn to a “third-party expert” to “validate the evaluation process to ensure transparency and accountability” based on five criteria:

• Building condition: Physical building safety and health levels  

• Learning environment: Facility’s design in support of all types of learning 

• Analyzing enrollment and capacity: Facility’s ability to hold 400+ students, including space for intensive IEP services and preschool classrooms 

• Minimizing disruption for students and staff: Facility’s ability to keep as many students and families together as possible 

• Maintaining student access to specialized service models: Facility’s ability to house the resources students need to thrive 

How that would shake out for the schools that made the initial cut lists remains to be seen but for North Capitol Hill’s Stevens, some metrics could line up. The campus reached a peak enrollment of more than 400 in 2013 when the district adjusted area attendance boundaries to address concerns about overcrowding at the school.

K-8 and option schools targeted in the initial cuts are safe. “It is also clear our families value many of the offerings we have in our district,” Jones said Tuesday. “Under the revised plan, K-8 and option schools – including those with specialized service models like Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Dual Language Immersion – are not under consideration for the upcoming school year.”

The initial plan for cuts of up to 21 elementary schools was met with strong public outcry. Family groups said other cuts should be considered and argued that campus closures produce less cost savings than projected. In an op-ed on CHS, the McGilvra Advocacy Committee said that the district’s effort to close campuses “divides communities, zoning neighborhoods into different schools and dividing classmates, families, and friends, including the deaf and hard-of-hearing community at TOPS.”

A community meeting in September to organize to help save TOPS from cuts was attended by Seattle City Councilmembers Joy Hollingsworth and Tanya Woo.

A Stevens shutdown would end more than 100 years of public education on the campus and raise questions of what will happen to the landmarked property where a Stevens school has welcomed children since 1906. The campus buildings have been overhauled and seismically improved in recent decades. Its large blacktop schoolyard is surrounded by single-family style homes in one of the wealthiest areas of the city. Just a few blocks south, the private Catholic St. Joseph School has been working on expansion plans but those have been expected to focus on its existing land and nearby properties around its 18th and Aloha campus.

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 cutbacks, 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 facilities like E Union’s TT Minor campus until the district said it needed the properties back.

Stevens-area kids would mostly be split to E Mercer’s Lowell Elementary — or Montlake where Seattle Public Schools is making its capital investments in the area. With long-term projections showing continued demand in Central Seattle, SPS is overhauling and expanding the Montlake Elementary campus as a centerpiece in the system.

Jones said the district expects to share “preliminary recommendations” for the new closure plan with the school board by the end of October. He has not said how much cutting the five campuses is expected to save.

You can see full details of the updated plan and leave feedback at seattleschools.org.

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