SCHOOL CLOSURES? Seattle superintendent now says he’ll propose five for next year, and none will be K-8 or option schools

Another development in Seattle Public Schools‘ winding road toward possibly closing schools to save money. Last month, West Seattle/South Park school board director Gina Topp suggested that the superintendent come up with a Option C – closing a handful of schools for starters, rather than the 20+ in the officially unveiled Options A and B. Late today, superintendent Dr. Brent Jones did just that, saying he’ll propose five schools for closure in the 2025-2026 school year – though he didn’t say which five, though he did say the list will NOT include K-8 or option schools. Here’s his full message:

Dear SPS families, staff, and community,

Thank you for taking the time to express your thoughts about our plan to develop a system of well-resourced schools. I heard you loud and clear, and I understand the many valid concerns you have about the plan in its current form.

We know we need the support of our students, families, and staff to uplift a large-scale change such as this. 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.

After taking some time to reflect on your feedback, I have developed a revised plan that will support addressing the budget deficit for the 2025-26 school year while taking steps to right-size our school system. Under this revision, I intend to propose consolidating five schools for the 2025-26 school year. What we learn from this initial set of schools will guide our future action.

It is also clear our families value many of the offerings we have in our district. 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.

Like many districts, SPS is facing declining enrollment and very real budget challenges. This new approach aims to reduce disruption while helping us balance budgets in the coming years. We are working hard to close an approximate $100 million budget deficit for the 2025-26 school year. Each consolidation will moderately lower this deficit, contributing to our long-term financial stability.

Selection Criteria for Consolidations
Over the next few weeks, the Well-Resourced Schools team and I will determine the five schools recommended for consolidation for the 2025-26 school year. A third-party expert will validate the evaluation process to ensure transparency and accountability.

The selection process is based on the following 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

What’s Next
We expect to share preliminary recommendations with the Board by the end of October.

We encourage you to stay engaged and share your thoughts as we navigate this important decision together. We will be hosting community gatherings for both general information purposes as well as to share specific plans and transition supports for impacted schools.

We are listening, and we value your input — it is critical in shaping a stronger future for our students.

Please submit your questions or feedback through our Let’s Talk form.

Thank you for caring so deeply about the future of our schools and for your continued support.

This means two West Seattle schools that were under consideration for closures or changes – Boren STEM K-8 was on both closure-option lists, and one list would have changed Pathfinder K-8 to a regular elementary school – have a reprieve, for now. But two other West Seattle schools will have to wait and see if they are still being considered – Sanislo Elementary was on both closure option lists, and Lafayette Elementary was on one. Meantime, while trying to address a $100 million budget gap, the district was meeting today to consider a contract extension and raise for Jones, and is scheduled next week to consider sending $2.4 billion worth of levy renewals/expansions to voters (as reported here last night).

28 Replies to "SCHOOL CLOSURES? Seattle superintendent now says he'll propose five for next year, and none will be K-8 or option schools"

  • HpE family October 1, 2024 (6:15 pm)

    The superintendent is currently asking for a raise from the school board while trying to get support for closures. I don’t think so… 

    • Derp October 1, 2024 (10:16 pm)

      Ya, too bad we don’t get to vote on that raise. It is voted by the School board, not the general public. And that vote has already been taken and approved. 

    • Zoe October 3, 2024 (2:51 pm)

      How can real change happen when the people at the top and at the admin level downtown have no incentive or demand to be competent. It doesn’t matter if they come in at the last minute with a half-baked plan they still get a raise and job security. It just isn’t right.

  • Bradley October 1, 2024 (6:24 pm)

    Classic Ready? Fire!  AIM. 

  • Comment October 1, 2024 (6:37 pm)

    Dr Jones had since spring to work on the plan and all he has is “I’m working on a plan with 5 schools”. We can lay off him and all the directors and nix his consultants and the board could have done that for free. Matter of fact we could save $5 million a year by laying off a couple dozen of the directors for that solution. Amd they can’t be troubled to hild the meeting in person? Get rid of their oversized headquarters while we are at it. Plenty of office to sublease for pennies on the dollar if they want to hang their hat somewhere when they’re not joking around on zoom. 

  • Paws October 1, 2024 (6:53 pm)

    So if Pathfinder remains K8 and Lafayette closes, where will all the Lafayette kids who were supposed to go to Pathfinder under Option A go?

    • ST October 1, 2024 (7:59 pm)

      I think this means Lafayette is no longer on the closure list. 

  • Admiral Mom October 1, 2024 (7:32 pm)

    I have said this before and I will say it again: Consolidation and right  sizing the district NEEDS to happen to sustain this system and close the horrific budget deficit. That is the cold truth. However, we are now facing the closure of a handful of schools. This will NOT close the budget gap and will NOT improve the learning experience of any students. What Jones did was to entrust the very important task of coming up with a plan that would improve student outcomes in the hands of Marni Campbell. Marni is as incompetent as you will ever find in SPS. This mess is all on Jones. He was incapable of keeping his staff accountable to delivering a plan. Now he can say “but we listen to community!” So we all get a false sense of accomplishment. But in reality nobody wins. None of r schools are well resourced like SPS made us claim so they would not shut down our under resourced, under staffed, many housed in crappy buildings schools. We all lose.

    • Annoyed in Alki October 1, 2024 (10:00 pm)

      Yep. NIMBYism just made this problem worse and stretched it out so we’ll have to deal with it for more years.

    • G October 2, 2024 (2:23 pm)

      Exactly. This isn’t a win for students. But Brett Jones just got a raise, so the only one winning is him. 

    • Genesee Mom October 7, 2024 (8:56 pm)

      Although my children’s school wasn’t under consideration, I thoroughly believe this to be true. Now we will all have under resourced and underfunded schools, instead of closing ones that have lower enrollment and leasing spaces that could help close the budget deficit. Closing 5 schools will NEVER solve this issue, and I wish Seattle would elect leaders that could be decisive and stand by their choices. This back and forth does no good for anyone. 

  • Alki resident October 1, 2024 (7:52 pm)

    Meanwhile the Sup just got a fat raise to $400,000 a yr and will take five days off for furlough..

    • Derp October 1, 2024 (11:14 pm)

      It was appx $25k per year raise, not what you called fat.  If you look at the bigger school districts in Washington, it is in line with the other schools. 

      • Alki resident October 2, 2024 (3:30 am)

        Who needs to be making $400 k a year when teachers have to provide supplies every year for their classrooms? They’re cutting schools out of the equation but making sure the Sup is well compensated. Yes, $25 k is a fat raise. Incredibly bad timing. 

        • Derp October 2, 2024 (9:35 am)

          Ok, do a Google search for pay level for school sup. $400 is barely the top.  Mukilteo sup. makes $354k. They need to be compensated for running these schools.  Just  because you don’t agree. It’s wrong.  Grow up,  people in high positions make $$$$. 

          • Alki resident October 2, 2024 (3:13 pm)

            You grow up. This was bad timing to be getting a raise and it’s not going over well with the parents. 

  • Mike October 1, 2024 (10:34 pm)

    Now it’s 5 schools instead of the 17 or 21 that was announced not long ago.  It’s a miracle!  Does anyone believe the SPS leaders?  The Board?  What a bunch of dingdongs.

  • payscale October 1, 2024 (11:18 pm)

    Meanwhile the Sup just got a fat raise to $400,000 a yr……so he is earning more than the President of the United States of America??and more than the Governor?how can that be?? mind boggling!!

  • Debra October 1, 2024 (11:28 pm)

    Boy I’m thankful we made the decision and the sacrifice to send our kids to private school this situation is a mess with no leadership apparently to evaluate the problem and guts to make a correct decision not everyone will be happy but leaders need to lead

    • Amy October 2, 2024 (4:41 am)

      Good for you

    • ST October 2, 2024 (11:35 am)

      Good for you.  You do realize that not everyone has the means to send their kids to private schools, right?   

      • KatMama October 2, 2024 (2:09 pm)

        I’m sure they know not everyone can afford to put their children in private school. The thing of it is, they don’t care. Not their child, not their problem. 

    • Fed up October 2, 2024 (2:58 pm)

      Why are you even commenting?

  • Perplexed October 2, 2024 (6:49 am)

    Closing five seems like the most painful and aggravating way to fill such a small percentage of the deficit, unless they believe that the state won’t bail them out without closing at least some schools.

  • flimflam October 2, 2024 (6:58 am)

    This feels a bit like they’re making this stuff up as they go….

  • snowskier October 2, 2024 (9:15 am)

    They’ve thought about formulating ideas of a plan.  Wish they hadn’t approved the bonus.  A bonus is supposed to be for doing a good job, not just showing up.

  • Out of curiosity October 2, 2024 (11:14 am)

    When the Wii U sales were shorter than expectations, the CEO of Nintendo (Iwate) took a PAYCUT because he would rather save jobs and shore up the faith in his company. Remember, you vote for these board members who closed door installed this superintendant. They all need to go. Do the right thing. Or they will just keep patting themselves on the back while yelling at a dead horse and wondering why the cowboys are mad during their “public meetings” that they reschedule in times where it will be less of an impact…for them. Remember, you should be mad, your tax dollars pay his salary whether you are in private school or not.

  • Leonard Valenti October 2, 2024 (12:43 pm)

    Sounds pretty messed up. The audacity of the superintendent raise is an insult to parents 

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