As reported here last month, Seattle Public Schools promised to set up a “hub” starting this week with information about the next steps in its plan to close/consolidate schools to save money. More than a “hub,” the district has just announced “two plan options” for potential closures – and two schools, Louisa Boren STEM K-8 and Sanislo Elementary, are on both potential closure lists. From the district announcement:

Like many districts, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is facing declining enrollment and budget challenges. As a result, many of our schools are struggling to provide the resources our students deserve. To address this, we are working to ensure our schools are the right size and have the resources needed for preschool through 5th-grade students to succeed.

We are considering two plan options:

Proposed Option A: Operates 52 attendance-area elementary schools. This option closes 21 elementary and K-8 schools. [Saves $31 million]

Proposed Option B: Operates 56 schools, including attendance-area elementary and one K-8 school per region. This option closes 17 schools. [Saves $25.5 million]

On our website, you can explore the details of each plan, including which schools are being considered for consolidation in each region.

Here’s how Option A would affect West Seattle/South Park:

Southwest and West Seattle: Option A

Southwest Operating Schools:​ ​Alki, Genesee Hill, Fairmount Park, Pathfinder, Gatewood, West Seattle, Roxhill, Highland Park, Concord, Arbor Heights​

Closing:​ Lafayette​, Boren STEM K-8​, Sanislo​

School Type Changes: Pathfinder K-8 becomes an attendance area K-5 school

Here’s how Option B would affect West Seattle/South Park:

Southwest and West Seattle Option B

Southwest Schools that Remain Open: Alki, Genesee Hill, Fairmount Park, Lafayette, Pathfinder K-8 (option), Gatewood, West Seattle Elementary, Roxhill, Highland Park, Concord, Arbor Heights​

Closing:​ Louisa Boren K-8, Sanislo

The links to each option take you to pages that also include draft maps of how boundaries would be revised as a result. Meantime, the district stresses that these are draft plans, not final

WHAT’S NEXT: The district’s announcement lists these dates:

Sept. 24: Online information sessions to provide an overview of both options.

Sept. 25-Oct. 8: In-person meetings in each region for families, staff, and community. Separate SPS staff meetings will also be held.

Mid to Late October: Superintendent announces the preliminary recommendation.

November: Public hearings on each proposed school closure.

December: Final School Board vote before winter break.

We’re now reading through the rest of the new online “hub” to look for other details such as where students from the schools considered for closure would be moved to.

ADDED 5:35 PM: Here are the draft maps showing the elementary “attendance areas” that would be the result of each option – first, the Option A map (including an attendance area for Pathfinder if it became a regular neighborhood elementary):

Second, the Option B map:

If you are a Seattle Public Schools elementary family, even if your school is not on either possible closure list, it’s important that you browse the “live” maps (both linked above) – because there are attendance area changes proposed for other schools, too. Click and zoom way in on the striped areas to see what’s proposed (or if you’re just interested in your specific address, use the search tool provided for that).

ADDED 9:40 PM: In addition to the upcoming meetings and hearings (dates TBA), you can send feedback via this form. The next School Board meeting, 4:15 pm September 18, also will have the usual public-comment period.

For thousands of local students and their families, the new school year starts tomorrow – the first day of classes at Seattle Public Schools and the independent schools that haven’t already launched 2024-2025. Here are some local SPS-related notes:

SAFETY AND MENTAL HEALTH: The district has promised an intensified focus on this, and the city has committed some funding for new or expanded programs. Advance announcements mention “focused intervention” for safety and security at high and middle schools including Chief Sealth and Denny – that means a variety of programs explained in the announcement, as well as – at Sealth and other “focus” high schools – police presence before/after school and during lunch “as staffing allows.” For mental health, city dollars will expand resources at school-based health centers, including seven West Seattle campuses (listed here).

NEW PRINCIPALS: Three West Seattle SPS schools start the year with new principals — Fairmount Park Elementary, where Sara Davis is now principal; Arbor Heights Elementary, where Nooria Miskell is interim principal; and Louisa Boren STEM K-8, where Kimberly Noble is now interim principal.

INTERIM SITE: Alki Elementary is holding classes at the former Schmitz Park Elementary for the second of what’s expected to be three years. Construction of the new, larger Alki has begun after the second zoning-exception appeal was rejected, as covered here in detail. Meantime, the school board voted last week to approve a 20 percent increase in the “maximum price” of the construction contract – previously $53 million, now $63 million. District documents say the added cost will be covered by the levy that is funding the project, along with federal dollars.

WSES ‘BE THERE’ RALLY: West Seattle Elementary in High Point will start the new year with this tradition on Wednesday morning, community members lining a red carpet to cheer for the students as they arrive, as they’ve been doing since 2016. They’re gathering starting at 7:15 am, at the entrance that was dedicated along with the school’s added classrooms on the first day of school last year.

What else is new? Whether you’re a teacher, administrator, staffer, parent, student, neighbor, we hope to hear from you throughout the year – 206-293-6302 (text/voice) if it’s urgent, westseattleblog@gmail.com when it’s not – thank you!

Though Wednesday is the biggest back-to-school day this week, three schools and an adjacent district return tomorrow (Tuesday, September 3): Holy Rosary, Hope Lutheran, and Our Lady of Guadalupe. According to their calendars, all three start with half-days, ending at noon.

Tomorrow is also the first day for students in the Vashon Island School District, to which hundreds of off-island students commute by ferry.

Two West Seattle schools are already back in session – Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School since last Wednesday, and Summit Atlas since August 14.

The Seattle Public Schools Board meeting for August (agenda) is happening right now (livestream here), and it began with an update from Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones on where he’s at with the long-expected plan for closures/consolidations. After reiterating the reasons he believes it’s necessary – including a nine-digit annual budget gap – Dr. Jones offered an updated timeline:

*The week of September 9, an online “hub” will open, a website with an “inventory of buildings” and information on how closures/consolidations might affect families

*After that, they’ll “continue to gather feedback” via meetings and other “engagement” opportunities

*At the September 18 board meeting, Dr. Jones will present an update on the process

*In October, the “preliminary recommendations” for elementary-school closures/consolidations will be presented

*After that, site-based (specific school) hearings will be held

According to the superintendent, the closure/consolidation plan would save $30 million a year. He reiterated, “Maintaining the status quo is simply not an option.”

P.S. After asking a followup question, the school-board director for West Seattle and most of South Park, Gina Topp, announced that her next community meeting will be at 6 pm Wednesday, September 25, at the West Seattle (Admiral) Library, so that’ll be an opportunity to discuss what’s emerged by then.

(WSB file photo)

Tomorrow (Wednesday, August 28) is the first day of classes at the next West Seattle school to start the 2024-2025 year, Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School. The new year already has begun at two area schools, Summit Atlas – the charter middle/high school in Arbor Heights (since August 14) – and Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien (since August 21). Here’s when other local schools start:

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
Holy Rosary
Hope Lutheran
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Vashon Island School District

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
Bridge Cooperative Elementary
Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor)
Highline Public Schools (grades 1-12)
Seattle Public Schools (grades 1-12)
Tilden School (WSB sponsor)
West Seattle Montessori
Westside School (WSB sponsor)

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
Seattle Public Schools (pre-K and kindergarten)

Whichever school(s) you’re affiliated with, we’d love to hear what’s new, now and as the year progresses – new principal? fundraisers? events open to the community? successes? – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!

By Jason Grotelueschen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Photos by DIWAS Photography

For most public elementary schools, having a strong parent-teacher association is a crucial goal. However, the available PTA funding often varies widely between schools. One grassroots West Seattle group has been working hard to change that.

The West Seattle Public School Equity Fund (WSPSEF) celebrated its third year earlier this summer with a community event (pictured above and below) at West Seattle Elementary, and the group has also released its new 2024 Impact Report online, declaring, “We have strengthened all our schools and increased opportunities for all our students …” 

 
The WSPSEF group was founded in 2021 by Andrea Dimond, Kristen Corning Bedford and Shannon Woodard with a focus on “fundshifting” – working to equitably distribute community contributions to narrow the gap so that well-funded school PTAs don’t keep getting richer while less-funded schools struggle. (see our WSB coverage of the group’s progress as of the summer of 2022)

For the upcoming 2024-25 school year, Kristen Corning Bedford said that WSPSEF expects to be able to distribute about $51,000 in PTA funds to Sanislo, Roxhill, Highland Park, Concord, and West Seattle. PTA funding was approved by schools during their June meetings, and is expected to be delivered early in the school year (by October at the latest).

In its first year (2022-23) the group distributed $20,917, and in 2023-24 WSPSEF distributed $49,566. To put this in a per-student perspective, each recipient school received $36 for each student for the most recent school year.

According to the WSPSEF website, the group’s goal is “To create an equitable resource of PTA funding for our West Seattle public gradeschools (including K-8).”

The West Seattle Public School Equity Fund operates simply: a portion of the PTA budgets from well-resourced public elementary (and K-8) West Seattle schools is contributed to a shared fund, which is managed by parent and/or staff advisers from each of the participating schools. The funds are then distributed annually to historically under-resourced public elementary (and K-8) West Seattle schools.

The group was launched after its founders discovered that when examining the area’s “redlining” map from the 1930s (see it here), the highest percentage of students from low-income families (which are now Title I schools), are in the “redlined” areas.  The group hopes to disrupt these historical inequities by bringing West Seattle’s neighborhoods and school communities together.

The group’s current fiscal sponsor is the Alliance for Education, and all financial contributions and distributions are managed by their staff and board (see their Fiscal Services page for details). In the group’s first year, their founding fiscal sponsor was the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association (DNDA). 

Corning Bedford said that one of the most impactful changes she’s witnessed is the creation of new partnerships and friendships between PTAs, which leads to more sharing of knowledge and resources.

“This increases the internal capacity to meet individual student needs day to day, while creating bold leadership to advocate for an equitable education for all of our kids,” she added. “We know that the public school landscape and our neighborhoods and the needs of our students are always changing, but our goal remains to sustain the momentum of this community allyship.”

According to Corning Bedford, some additional key points about the program are:

Seattle Public Schools and many local independent/parochial schools don’t start classes until after Labor Day. For one local school, however, this is back-to-school week. Classes start Wednesday (August 14) at Summit Atlas, the middle/high school in Arbor Heights that’s West Seattle’s first and only charter school. (Last day of the school year is earlier, too – that’ll be Friday, June 6, 2025.) After Summit Atlas, the next school to start classes will be Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School, on August 28.