BELLEVUE, Wash. — Hundreds of students in Bellevue said goodbye to their schools for the final time on Thursday.
This fall, students from Eastgate and Wilburton elementary schools will attend other schools as part of the Bellevue School District’s consolidation plan.
Next year, students attending Wilburton Elementary will be sent to Clyde Hill and Enatai elementary schools, and students attending Eastgate Elementary will be sent to Spiritridge Elementary. Advanced learning at Spiritridge would be relocated to Woodridge Elementary.
Chad Thomas, a parent of an Eastgate student, hired a band for the school’s final day. Students were greeted with a sad tune before things became more cheerful.
Thomas and others asked the school district not to close the school.
“We lost the battle, but not the war,” he said.
In March, the Bellevue School District voted to consolidate the schools over concerns about declining enrollment. Three board members voted to approve the plan and two abstained from voting.
The Bellevue School District had initially proposed consolidating three schools but changed plans after holding a series of formal hearings and gathering feedback from the community.
District officials realized in October that enrollment wasn’t returning to pre-pandemic levels and would impact the district’s financial position. Over the past three years, the Bellevue School District has declined by more than 1,500 students and that trend is expected to continue for years to come, according to Bellevue School District Interim Superintendent Art Jarvis.
When the initial consolidation plan was announced in February, Deputy Superintendent for Financial Services and Operations Melissa DeVita said there could be district-wide layoffs if the consolidations didn’t happen.
Enrollment dropped due to declining birth rates, higher housing costs, more educational options, including private schools, lower immigration levels and families moving to more affordable areas, according to the district.