SCHOOL CLOSURES? ‘Save Our STEM’ rally before board meeting tomorrow; citywide opposition group mobilizes; other updates

Six days after Seattle Public Schools announced two options for closing schools to save money, school closure opposition is intensifying.

‘SAVE OUR STEM’ RALLY: That flyer is being circulated on behalf of Louisa Boren STEM K-8, the Delridge option school that is on both of the proposed closure-option lists. The rally is just before tomorrow’s school board meeting, 3:45 pm Wednesday outside district HQ, the John Stanford Center, at 3rd and Lander in SODO. Organizers ask supporters to bring signs with the SAVE OUR STEM message. (9:30 pm update – As noted in comments as well as at a neighborhood-group meeting we attended tonight, Lafayette, which is on one of the possible-closure lists, is organizing too, and closure opponents have set up this website.)

BOARD MEETING: The school board then meets at 4:15 pm tomorrow inside the Stanford Center. The agenda has a long list of people signed up for the public-comment period (116 just on the waitlist!), as well as business items including an update on the closure proposal (aka “well-resourced schools”). The agenda item for that includes this summary of what’s currently under consideration.

‘ALL TOGETHER FOR SEATTLE SCHOOLS‘: This group is organizing citywide to oppose closures. A West Seattle parent who went to an off-peninsula organizing meeting over the weekend shared a photo and notes:

All Together for Seattle Schools identified two essential paths to save our schools:

1. Say NO to the School District DRAFT
-Oppose budget cuts and school closures.
-Our steadfast goal is to maintain great community schools for all children without compromise.

2. Take Legislative Action
-We are mobilizing to demand fully funded schools from representatives, candidates and more.
-Applying pressure on the legislature to secure full funding for our schools is imperative.

Key Points:

Current Situation: Closing schools will address only $31 million of a daunting $91 million deficit. The remaining $60 million will need to be cut from the schools that remain open, leading to under-resourced schools, potential teacher layoffs and no guarantee of support for the influx of students moving from closed schools.

Funding Trends: Pre-pandemic, Washington State dedicated 50% of its budget to funding schools. That figure has now decreased to 42%. We must urge legislators to restore full funding.

Timing: The school district is set to vote on school closures this fall, with closures to take effect within a year. The state legislative session begins in January, with budget approval expected by spring. The school district is moving too soon to apply pressure in Olympia.

Community Mobilization:

All Together for Seattle Schools aims to sidestep the efforts to pit schools against each other and instead unify all communities.
-Highlight stories from families, especially those who struggle to attend board meetings and require vital services.
-Distribute fliers outside schools, at farmers markets, and local sports events.
-Network with sympathetic public figures, board members, and local political candidates.
-Involve local businesses that will be affected by reduced community foot traffic.
-Organize families willing to speak to the media.
-Advocate through letters to school boards and state legislators.
-Foster hope and belief that collective action can save our schools.

They’re looking for volunteers to help with all of the above; here’s their contact form.

UPDATE – COMMUNITY-MEETING DATES: The district has yet to send out its promised list of upcoming community meetings on the closure proposals (according to West Seattle’s school board director Gina Topp, 6:30 pm September 25 is the tentative time for this area’s meeting). 9:30 pm update – Thanks to the parent who forwarded what the district sent parents but has not yet posted online nor sent to the media. Here are two meeting times of potential interest to people here:

Online: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 6:30 p.m., Zoom Meeting (Families and staff will soon receive the Zoom meeting link, and the link will be posted on our website.)
Southwest Region: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m. Genesee Hill Elementary, 5013 SW Dakota St.

(back to original) After those meetings, Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones is expected to settle on a final proposal next month, followed by hearings at schools proposed for closure, and final board action by year’s end.

Ex-Westwood Resident September 17, 2024 (7:51 pm)

I wonder what the ratio of administrative staff to students is today vs. when SSD was one of the most successful in the nation during the 80’s.

Let’s not forget, it is admin staff that costs the most, esp. staff at the district HQ.

Zoe September 18, 2024 (5:06 pm)

I really hope that things are getting to a point where the admin at SPS are disbanded in some way. We are not in the district anymore but I really feel that the entrenched over paid admin have nothing but disdain for families that are white and middle class. They won’t be happy until every relatively well resourced family is gone. Sorry I said it. They need to be taken over by the State.

Lafayette leopard September 17, 2024 (8:00 pm)

Lafayette is inviting people to do the same, for all schools. https://www.lafayettesavesschools.org

WSB September 17, 2024 (8:20 pm)

I am at the Admiral Neighborhood Association meeting and just learned about that website. Anybody else, PLEASE let us know, since as we did in previous years (dating back to the mid-2000s round of closures), we’ll be covering all this wall-to-wall. (Including going down to Stanford Center for tomorrow’s protest) – TR

Cole Peterson September 17, 2024 (8:12 pm)

https://magnoliacommunitycouncil.com/meetings

Magnolia Community Council monthly meeting:

Sarah Clark says she will vote “NO” to both proposals to close our schools.

Sarah just said she would like to hear from other school advocacy groups and wants to support them. She’s definitely against the plan right now

sarah.clark@seattleschools.org

She said she wants to meet with and talk with those schools being closed outside of her district and doesn’t think that anyone on the school boards has actually gone and visited the schools up for closure.

McGilvra Elementary School PTAThe Seattle TimesThe StrangerSeattle Public SchoolsSUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS!

STEM Parent September 17, 2024 (8:16 pm)

It looks like TOPS K-8 parents hit the School Board Meeting testimony list right as it opened. I’m #108 on the waitlist so I guess STEM K-8 will need to wait until next time.

Potential WSHS Parent September 17, 2024 (8:35 pm)

There are also speakers signed up to give public comment about West Seattle High School overcrowding/resources. Can someone elaborate about what is going on there?

WSHS parent September 18, 2024 (6:32 am)

West Seattle High School has been hit with the opposite problem: serious over-enrollment. Enrollment is over 1500 students, which is more than 100 students over projections and budget, and 150 more than last year (which by far was the most kids ever at the school).Everyone is taxed to the limit. My sophomore has classes with more than 40 students, and later enrollees were not able to get into AP classes. Twenty-nine teachers are above their contractual limits of 150 students, including seven with more than 170. As a result, they are turning down club supervision due to overloads and having trouble offering retakes of tests. Education, extracurriculars, and personalized attention all take a hit in this environment. Because overall SPS enrollment is below projections, no more money is coming from the state and the school has been told not is unlikely to receive any relief. SPS talks a big game about “well-resourced schools.” At the high school level, where there is a huge enrollment bubble, schools like West Seatte HS are under-resourced. Speakers tomorrow will be asking for a few additional resources, like a CTE teacher and History teacher, to address this issue.

Admiral Resident September 17, 2024 (8:37 pm)

Isn’t September 25th the same day as one of the west seattle light rail informational sessions? You would hope they’d be cognizant of other important community events happening that people may want to attend.

WSB September 17, 2024 (9:32 pm)

September 25 is a confluence of a large number of events:
-Washington State Ferries periodic community meeting (online)
-HPAC’s regular meeting
-first Sound Transit info session on WS light rail
-School Board director Gina Topp’s community meeting
-SPS West Seattle school-closure meeting (now confirmed, update above)
-WestSide Baby annual fundraiser

Consolidate Schools September 17, 2024 (9:18 pm)

A budget shortfall will require either cutting costs or raising taxes, or both. Enrollment is down, the cost of living is very high in & around Seattle, & teachers can not live on $40k, they want more money.

They need to close schools & consolidate … cause I’m tired of my property taxes constantly going up to “solve” homelessness, infrastructure, crime, public transportation (none of which have been money well spent) and next they’ll need more money … TAXES … to keep schools open that should be closed … enough, this is the new reality.

Resident September 17, 2024 (9:53 pm)

Sure no problem. It’s all about you and your tax bottom line. MAGA strong!
- Derp September 17, 2024 (10:47 pm)
  
  That’s funny, Maga raised taxes and it is still in effect until 2025, but blame who you want.
  - Brian September 18, 2024 (11:43 am)
    
    Is maga in the room with us right now?
- Bradley September 18, 2024 (5:40 pm)
  
  Maybe if Progressives governed better this wouldn’t be a problem.

Teachersrock September 17, 2024 (9:42 pm)

No teacher makes $40,000. Look it up. It’s public knowledge. Our 4th grade teacher made over $130,000 last year. Quit spreading lies. $67,603 was the base pay of an SPS teacher with just a BA and no experience in the 2023 school year. Mind you, that is for a job that has summers off & all breaks and national holidays off. Our teachers most definitely deserve to make good money for what they do. They are amazing. But they make enough to live here. And if they don’t, they need to adjust their lifestyle or move somewhere they can afford. This is how life goes.

Bbron September 18, 2024 (12:02 am)

“Our 4th grade teacher made over $130,000 last year” only way that would happen is if they had a PhD and had taught for 15 or more years which would definitely be a low salary for that level of expertise and experience.
- STEM September 18, 2024 (8:34 am)
  
  It’s publicly available information. Teachers deserve the compensation they have (and then some). Dr. Jones and his $334k compensation is ridiculous. He has done a terrible job at everything except negotiating his own salary, apparently. https://openpayrolls.com/rank/highest-paid-employees/washington-seattle-public-schools
  - Jay September 18, 2024 (2:14 pm)
    
    I had no idea that admin role salaries were that high. An assistant principle making $230k? A “professional” making $196k? That top 100 list is the budget shortfall and a lot of it seems absurd. Looking at their responsibilities, credentials, and experience vs their pay is shocking. Jones has a PhD in Leadership from UT Austin, a program I’m familiar with and can say it’s an absolute joke. And his experience is mostly fluff human resources jobs. In private industry I’d bet he could hustle $130k to $180k. $334 is wild. As you go down the list the pay rates are appalling. I should get a job at the school district, I’d be looking at a 100% raise in a role with about equivalent responsibility and experience and unlike any of the SPS administrators I’ve actually worked as a teacher. A career I quit due to low pay. Digging into this is really upsetting me.
  - Bbron September 18, 2024 (8:37 pm)
    
    yes; however, I was talking about teachers, not admin staff.
- June September 18, 2024 (8:35 am)
  
  Thanks for correcting this question and commenting that the person had on how much a teacher makes. My husband was a teacher and also had a second job in the evening and weekends in order to pay household bills because after things are taken out of his monthly paycheck there was enough money to pay all of our expenses and we were a family who never went on vacations. A beginning teacher on step 1 of with a BA makes $72,908 and a teacher with a BA with an additional 22 college credits on step 4 makes $79,000 a year. A teacher salary is based upon the degree that they have in addition to college credits beyond their degree and plus how many years that they have been a teacher. Teachers salary is then divided into 12 monthly payments and that’s the reason why they receive a paycheck in the summer. When my husband first started teaching for the Seattle School District and if he was married with a child at the time his salary was so low that he could have qualified for reduced and free lunch for his child at the Seattle School District if he had a child at that time.
jj September 18, 2024 (4:48 am)

There is no way your 4th grade teacher is making more money than my physician
Teacher September 18, 2024 (12:41 pm)

I’m a teacher. I work at least 14 hours per day during the school year. I’m usually grading papers on weekends and still working on classroom curriculum. I spend my summers attending every appointment that I can’t attend during the year. I also spend them attending trainings and working on curriculum for the upcoming year. I have two graduate degrees in addition to a bachelor’s degree. I am highly educated and work as much, if not more than any person who has a different vacation schedule. There is a teacher shortage. If you think that you’re going to attract people to a very difficult profession by calling them names and suggesting that what they do does not deserve to be compensated, you are mistaken. If you have never taught in the classroom, you have no idea how challenging it is. If you think parenting a couple of children is difficult, imagine being responsible for 200. We spend more direct time with your children than most parents. The fact that our country undervalues public education does not mean that educators have less value. Why is it that when it comes to education, if the people in charge can’t manage a budget, it’s always the fault of the people on the ground doing the work. We don’t assign this kind of blame to any other industry. People wonder why there is always a teacher shortage.

Kyle September 18, 2024 (6:34 am)

All the no plans will need to propose an alternate plan. They can say that the plan proposed by the district is not good, but the budget deficit is real and without another plan (besides lobby for more money from the state) they risk there opposition being cast aside as reactionary to their interests only.

Admiral Mom September 18, 2024 (9:04 am)

To clarify, the school board did not design this mess. They have a fiduciary obligation to balance the budget. A huge deficit was identified. They voted and authorized the superintendent to crate a plan to close schools based on the vision and values of the community, given that the current number of schools operating with the number f students we have is simply UNSUSTAINABLE. Staff crated a shame of a plan, based on buildings, NOT STUDENTS AND THEIR NEEDS. My hope and what I advocate for, is not to save schools from closing because that is a sad reality we need to face. I advocate for a plan that makes sense and looks at this issue as a system f schools.

Frog September 18, 2024 (10:35 am)

Your version is a bit too simple. The School Board (especially current board president Liza Rankin) did come into the process with an ideological vision of one-size-fits-all, and they directed staff to target option schools for closure. Plan A closes every option school in the city. Nothing is secret about the motives — the SPS website lays it out: “Option schools … draw enrollment and resources from neighborhood schools. Both option and neighborhood schools develop unique instructional models to serve their student and communities. Option schools disproportionately serve students who have traditionally had additional access to additional educational resources. Most option schools serve a smaller proportion of students who are eligible for free and reduced school meals compared to the demographics of their geographical zone.” So in other words, equity demands the closure of Boren STEM. Gag if you want to, but anyone following Seattle schools for a long time has passed the gagging stage and entered the stage of learned helplessness. Liza Rankin was endorsed by the Stranger and elected by Seattle voters, and her agenda was never the least bit secret. Interesting to see how Gina Topp will vote. (N.B. it’s also true that option schools generate higher transportation costs. ) In a broader sense, the school board did totally design this mess by eliminating advanced learning from the system, which has driven a lot of students out and created the current enrollment deficit.
- Jay September 18, 2024 (2:19 pm)
  
  The equity argument to close a school in a diverse, low-income neighborhood is wild to me. Just prioritize admissions for kids in the neighborhood.

Derrick September 18, 2024 (1:32 pm)

You know what is sad – if we took just the top 13 wealthiest people in Washington whose estimated net worth is $350,000,000,000 as of 2023, and asked that they contribute just ONE DAY’s worth of interest, the ENTIRE deficit would be erased. What a shameful system we live in where 13 people can hoard so much wealth while children in the community will suffer.

MrsImpossible September 18, 2024 (1:35 pm)

I’m curious to know if anyone is aware of whether or not Chief Sealth High School is also experiencing over enrollment in the same way that apparently West Seattle High is. It looked like they are around the same size of enrollment – though I know that doesn’t necessarily translate into the same impact of class sizes, etc.

Foot Out the Door September 18, 2024 (3:07 pm)

I completely agree with @Frog – the previous school board and district leadership are directly responsible for the enrollment decline due to their decision to eliminate advanced learning services, including the phase-out of the HCC program. This morning, I received an email from the district asking me to acknowledge receipt of information on advanced learning programs. The message claimed that “students identified as advanced or highly capable learners are provided extra support to help them grow their strengths and work on more complex levels.” It also pointed families to review school C-SIP plans for details. Yet Madison Middle School’s 2023-2026 C-SIP simply says: “In progress.” Both of my children have been identified for Advanced Learning Services since 2019, and neither has received any differentiated learning at Madison. It’s obvious the district is dumping this responsibility on individual schools with no actual plan in place—and no communication to families about how students will get the services they need. The District receives funding from the state to provide these essential services by checking a box, but no one has held the District responsible for actually telling families what their kids can expect in their classrooms. At the August 28th board meeting, Directors Topp and Briggs pushed for answers from Superintendent Jones and Director Rankin on how the district plans to meet the needs of Advanced Learning and HCC students. They asked what the long-term strategy is and why the board has yet to receive a solid plan. Director Briggs made it clear that phasing out HCC and Advanced Learning has been happening for years without any real plan for how students will be served. During the meeting, Director Topp pointed out that 34% of students have been identified as Advanced Learning or HCC, and Director Rankin dismissively joked, “It’s like Lake Wobegon—where all the children are above average, ha ha.”It’s clear to me that the previous board—including Director Rankin—and the Superintendent have no real interest in prioritizing a quality education for all students. Their actions (and lack of serious concern) show exactly where their priorities lie, and it’s not with our kids’ education.

Sorry, comment time is over.