SEATTLE — Seattle Public Schools (SPS) held the first of several on-site meetings Thursday evening to address the superintendent's plan to close four elementary schools next school year.
The first meeting was held at Sacajawea Elementary.
A panel of district officials fielded questions from mostly parents and a handful of teachers who packed into the school's cafeteria.
"There are a lot of concerns from parents. Hopefully this is the first step in that dialogue but there's a lot of frustration," said Anders Hammersborg, whose son is a second-grader at the school.
The district described the event on its website as a community meeting and included a wide range of questions and comments from the audience.
"A lot of people were quite angry, actually. It seems like they talked about very poor communication from the [panel]," said Alessandro Bittow, who has twin third-graders at the school.
As part of a broader plan to address the district's $94 million budget deficit, Superintendent Brent Jones identified Sacajawea, Sanislo, Stevens and North Beach elementary schools as the four slated to close. The district has labeled the potential closures as "consolidations."
Students at Sacajawea would attend John Rogers, Sanislo students would move to Highland Park, kids at Stevens would attend Montlake and North Beach students would move to Viewlands.
"We want to face these challenges together. I'm here to be part of this community and [to] listen, to understand what we need to do to make this potential opportunity possible," Jones told the audience on Thursday. "We are committed to ensuring students have access to programs and services and staff and enrichment in ways that are comprehensive."
SPS has scheduled in-person meetings at each of the schools slated for possible closure:
- Sacajawea Elementary – Thursday, Nov. 7, 6-7 p.m. at Sacajawea
- Sanislo Elementary – Tuesday, Nov. 12, from 6 to 7 p.m. at Sanislo
- Stevens Elementary – Friday, Nov. 15, 6-7 p.m. at Stevens
- North Beach Elementary – Monday, Nov. 18, 6-7 p.m. at North Beach
A fifth meeting has been scheduled for the entire district but will held virtually Thursday, Nov. 14, at 6:30 p.m.
A second round of on-site meetings will be announced at a later date, with formal public hearings scheduled for December.
The Board of Education will have the final vote on whether to approve the superintendent's plan.