Which Schools Might Close?

One item - A reader said that the district really should use clear language in what is happening.

The message to parents talks about “consolidating” five schools, without actually saying what “consolidation” means. Closing? Merging? 

Good point as San Francisco Unified School District is even considering co-locations (although that has not been mentioned in Seattle Schools at all). 

I believe, legally, these will be closures. But the dispersement of students from a closed school is key along with the transition plan for the receiving school (s). It would be great to keep students together but we would know if that's possible once they name the closing schools as well as the possible receiving schools. 

In fact, keeping students together may influence which schools are picked. The district tweaked the list of criteria to include this factor. 

I do want to point out that the district - and the district alone - is responsible for the condition of every single building. That is not something any school community has control over except possibly their playground. 

I do believe it will only be K-5 elementaries as the district said K-8 and Option Schools are off the table. 

Preliminary List

NW - There was just one K-5 on the list and that is North Beach Elementary.

NE - On the other hand, there are many in this region. Green Lake, Decatur, Sacajwea, Laurelhurst

Central - John Hay, McGilvra, Stevens

SE - Dunlap or Rainier View

SW - Sanislo or Lafayette 

One wild card will be if the district tries to act in every region to look fair or be ruthless with the criteria and let the chips fall where they may. I suspect the former. 

Enrollment numbers from 2023-2024. 

Predictions

NW - North Beach. They are in an old and tired building that long ago seemed poised for a remodel. But my intel is that it's a close school community; they may fight back. They have 367 students who would likely go to Viewlands which is newly renovated for 650 and currently has 267.

NE - Decatur. Only because it is so very close to Thornton Creek. Decatur is currently at 231 and Thornton Creek is built for 660 but has 455.

I note that this map updated 6/26/2024 doesn't even have Decatur on it. 

I could see them also closing Cedar Park (272) or Sacajwea (229) and moving one into the newly rebuilt John Rogers (currently 188). I also saw this notation about the rebuild of Roger which is due to be done by summer 2025:

Once complete, the school will provide an equitable learning space for up to 500 K-5 elementary students and an area to expand the school in the future as enrollment grows.

So they could expand it even more.  

Central - Stevens (152) or McGilvra (216). Why? Because they sure can't fill that newly renovated Montlake Elementary (168) on their own. I think John Hay is off the hook. I think the district is taking a big gamble on renovating Montlake, seemingly on the premise that "if we build it, they will come." Because putting current Montlake enrollment with say, McGilvra, you get 374 students. That's not filling that space. 

SE - Dunlap.  That's simply because RVE is so isolated. There are schools all around Dunlap. And, if they can't get South Shore K-8 to fill (and they never have), it's likely to change to a K-5.

 

SW - Sanislo. I say that ONLY because I cannot believe that the district would close Lafayette and send their kids in multiple directions. If they closed Lafayette (505), where would all those kids go? Alki Elementary's rebuild won't be done until 2026. You could send some of Lafayette's students to the interim site at Schmitz Park with Alki kids but they couldn't all fit. The other nearby school is Genesee Hill but they appear to be nearly full.

It just wouldn't make sense and cause a lot of pain.

But even though Lafayette is near full and has a strong community, again, the district is not rebuilding Alki (271) for nothing. I think the rebuild of Alki will turn out to be folly and they should have redone Schmitz Park.

Thoughts?