Bellevue SD vs Seattle SD: Who Will Wear It Better?

Many things cross my desk and this one - about a meeting over in Bellevue SD where they are considering closing a middle school (and closing a couple of elementaries) - seemed to touch on both the Advanced Learning program AND closing schools. 

This is fascinating because - in real time - we are seeing two large districts moving to school closures. It will be interesting to compare and contrast how each handles the process. 

They had 140 participants at this forum about Odle MS. Apparently their Advanced Learning program is sited there. They had six on-line forums. Three of these online forums broke down like this -  one Korean forum, one Mandarin forum and one Spanish forum. I give them credit for being so specific. They have also had six in-person forums at other middle schools.

There were many comments on the AL program as well as on consolidation and they had themes for both.

For AL, it was cohort, keeping great teachers together for these students and distance. There is also worry that if you consolidate to another school that some advanced classes will be full from the new students and they won't be able to continue to allow, say, a 7th grader to take 8th grade algebra. 

For consolidation, the big item was trust. Do we trust the demographers? Do we trust that the AL program will be as high-level as it is now? Do we trust Bellevue SD? 

A couple of people asked a question that I have, namely, is the district going to revisit what happened the last time they closed schools? It would be good to air that out, if only to promise NOT to make the same mistakes. 

These comments I'm going to print speak to both the AL program revisions AND closures in SPS. Some comments will be partial. I highlighted some particularly cogent ones. 

Responses to Question 1: What aspects of the middle school experience are most important to you/your student?

Overall theme:

They were aligned on their commitment to the Advanced Learning (AL) program and keeping it intact at Odle. They believe the program is successful because of the quality of the teachers there. If the AL program moved, they asked that high quality educators be utilized in providing it. Students’ social, emotional well-being was described often as a priority. Some were interested in finding out more about the budget and how additional money could be raised to support the schools.

Responses to Question 2: If we were to consolidate one middle school, what priorities or factors do you think we should consider?

Discussing this question, the Odle community participants prioritized keeping the AL program intact at the school. They do not want Odle closed. They also felt strongly that the quality of the educators providing AL must be high and having high class ratios diminishes the teachers’ ability to meet the needs of every student. This group values keeping their students together in a cohort. If there were a consolidation, they would want the kids kept together with their teachers as much as possible.

Many asked about the pace of the decision-making and wondered whether this must be decided right now or if we can gather more data and decide later. Some expressed distrust of the process and the district.

Responses to Question 3: What questions do you have?

Many of the participants’ questions fell into the following themes:

Demographer’s report

• What was their methodology?
• Are we too focused on the COVID effects of enrollment?
• How do we know the data are correct?

The AL program

• If one middle school is closed, can AL be provided at the remaining middle schools?
• If we disband the program, will it be put in the other schools?
• If we close the AL program, people will leave.

Enrollment

• Why are people choosing private schools?
• How can we attract more non-resident students? (Editor's note; if SPS were smart, they would be considering this question.)

Process

• How will the decision be made?
• Will there be more community forums?
• What will happen to community feedback?
• Learn what we can from the last process, talk to parents who went through it.

Staff

• What will happen to staff in a school that gets consolidated?

Individual comments

Kids have started a change.org petition.

School meets the needs of a wide range of diverse students, AL, non-AL, kids from different families, backgrounds, etc. a very good mix of diversity.

Students’ morale. Consistent and stable environment. AL community of students who have grown up together is very strong…reason not moving out of Bellevue is because of the strength and richness of the AL community.

Student comment: Fear of having to switch schools and losing friends…how will we be able to start again at a new school without the built in support systems, like WEB Orientation activities.

Consolidation is too much for the kids after going through the pandemic.

Hard to find teacher to sponsor existing clubs.

Reduce the bar to get into AL and draw back more students from private.

If we lose the AL, most students will leave. Don’t want to see what Seattle did, they put all AL into the neighborhood schools but not AL classes. (Editor's note - this has NOT happened yet but it is the plan.)

Families living in Bellevue, income is higher so education is important, and they can afford private school.

Communication

• Competing interests during the decision-making process.
• Understanding how open enrollment works.
• What are the factors that the district is considering?*
• Share the operational savings of closing a school.
• Middle school reimagining.

Closures

The longer it takes to get to a decision can really be impactful. The waiting is very hard.

Consolidation could increase the loss of students to private schools. Closing schools creates instability and uncertainty and a loss of confidence in public schools and could perpetuate the enrollment loss.

Consolidation doesn’t address the cause of enrollment.

Be aware of the long-term implications of decision today that could have impacts for years and perpetuate the enrollment challenge.

Don’t split AL at Odle, — this attracts parents, who move into Bellevue – I’m a real estate agent and my clients choose Bellevue for the schools – not just the housing prices, it is parent expectations. 

It is too early to consolidate middle schools without seeing how the elementary school consolidation turns out. 

Consider gradually consolidating a school (no 6^th grade, one year; no 7^th the next)

I want Bellevue to figure out how to increase trust. Is what we are doing eroding trust?

Why isn’t disbanding choice schools a discussion for consolidation?

*I absolutely believe that ANY district owes parents transparency in what are the factors they are using in the process. Superintendent Brent Jones goes on and on about transparency but the district hasn't even defined "a well-resourced school" yet. 

I can say that the district is doing this closure process in a backward fashion. Meaning, the district has made the picks and are going to somehow make it look like there is a public process when they have already made up their minds. 

You can see - from the renovating of smaller buildings into bigger ones, for example - what schools are being considered. I'll compile a list. 

Want trust to take a major hit? This is how you do it.