Got a Little Free Time? Like to Pore Over Data? Have I Got Some Information for You (Part One)

I was privileged, absolutely, to have served on the CAC with some really smart people. One of them, who is going to remain nameless at this point (she's a little shy), found some data that I know many of you will find interesting and possibly useful to our discussions.

First up, a document called School Closure Update by Holly Ferguson, Manager for Strategic Alignment dated Dec. 4, 2007. It's fairly eye-opening. It gives an overview to where students who attended closed schools ended up, closing costs, expenditures and savings. From the report:

"In the end, only 377 (50.7%) of eligible students actually were enrolled in the expected receiving school on October 1. Of the 366 students who are not attending their expected receiving school, 154 chose to leave Seattle Public Schools. If the percentage of students who enrolled in the expected receiving school is a reasonable indication of the success of the planned merger, the Viewlands/Broadview-Thomson merger was the most successful, with 58.3% of Viewlands students enrolling in Broadview-Thomson. Conversely, the Martin Luther King merger was the least successful, with only 36.2% of Martin Luther King students choosing to enroll in T.T. Minor."

What they learned:

"The difference between these two mergers shows the positive impact that the communities themselves can have on the outcome of school closures. Should closures be contemplated in the future, staff are encouraged to keep this in mind, while also considering the reality that, if given the choice, most people will not volunteer to close their school, and so it will still fall to District staff to develop recommendations and propose them to school communities."

"It is clear that, especially in Seattle, where we have contracts that require people to be paid to move and where costs in general are higher, closing buildings is an expensive endeavor. However, these one-time costs are not so great that they detract from the overall savings (both general fund and capital fund) of having fewer buildings to maintain and staff. Honesty in the closure costs, along with an acknowledgment that we are committed to making closure a successful process for all involved, will make future budgeting for closures an easier and more."

"Clearly the capital department did an excellent job anticipating the real costs of the closure related activities. On the general fund side a significant number of necessary activities were not budgeted for in the closure document, although the actual line-item budget included additional dollars. School closures will save money (both general and capital) in the long run, but there is no question that it does take money to close schools. In order to have a positive transition for our students, staff and families, it will be important to appropriately budget for these activities if future closures are contemplated."

"The goal of closing schools was to make the District more efficient and save money, while offering students larger schools that would have more services available. In this particular case we were able to merge schools together, although the emotional part of the merger is still being worked on. In the future straight mergers may not be possible, depending on where excess capacity lies. Even if the result looks different in a future closure process, however, the elements reported above, and the other comments that principals and staff have made, will be relevant. Honesty and transparency in budgeting, early clarity in staffing, and clear project management by central staff will be necessary in any school closure process to ensure that students, families, and staff are provided the environments necessary for academic success."

Of special interest:

"Early in the closure process the School Board approved a resolution dedicating half of the anticipated savings to academics so, during the 2007-08 budget cycle an additional million dollars was added to the budget. These dollars were spent specifically on the receiving schools by giving them an additional staff member for the 2007-08 year. Dollars were also spent on the elementary math adoption and the creation of the K-2 libraries, both of which positively impacted the receiving schools. In addition, every school received an increase in their Weighted Student Formula (WSF) Foundation. Elementary schools and non-traditional schools received an additional $3,696.00, middle schools received an additional $7,812.00, and high schools received an additional $10,000.00.

By creating an academically-driven budget for 2007-08, especially with the flexibility that the additional $1 million brought, resulted in more dollars being targeted specifically at academics than has historically happened."