SHORELINE, Wash. — Parents upset with a plan to possibly close a Shoreline School District campus packed the district’s headquarters Tuesday night.
Like many districts in western Washington, Shoreline is looking for ways to balance its budget.
Highland Terrace Elementary School, a K-5 school on 100 N 160th St., will be presented to the board next week for potential closure. The decision was announced Tuesday night by a committee of mostly staff and parents, who were assigned the difficult task of recommending a particular elementary school for the board to consider. A final vote will come in roughly three months.
That task force acknowledged the pain that may come from their decision.
"It's awful," said parent Vincent Martinez. "I mean, the task force was set with an impossible decision.”
Brian Polis, who has a son in the district, said, "It's gonna tear apart the social aspect of their lives."
Polis added, "We still don't even know what COVID did to the mental health of children."
Parents across the Shoreline School District are furious.
"We need to go take this to Olympia," said Martinez.
It's the same painful decision being made in meetings across Washington’s public school system.
"That's pushing districts into positions that are impacting hundreds and hundreds of families, if not thousands, and it's terrible for everyone," said Shoreline parent Hannah Blackbourn.
Like other districts, Shoreline School District leaders cite inflation, lower enrollment and the state’s funding model as the reasons for the closure consideration.
This district wrote on its website that closing an elementary school would save $1.3 million dollars in the first year, and it believes that number would increase with time.
Families are hoping they do not close any schools. More than 500 have signed an online petition to advocate against it.
Additionally, many parents across Washington have signed a letter addressed to Gov. Jay Inslee, asking that a special session be called in the legislature to address school funding.
"I know it's hard to call for a special session when, you know, the governor is on his way out, but we need a special session to address the emergency that is school funding in Washington," said Blackbourn.
Brookside and Syre Elementary Schools were taken off the list Tuesday for recommended Shoreline closures. The board will likely make their final decision Jan. 28 and will continue accepting public feedback in the meantime.