SEATTLE — After announcing a plan that could potentially close 20 elementary schools, Seattle Public Schools will hold four informational meetings for parents starting Saturday, May 25.
"To ensure SPS families have the greatest opportunity to take part, each meeting will present the same information," the district wrote when announcing the meetings.
"Parents just want some answers. We go to the school and they just can't say anything. Our principal just doesn't know. Hopefully the meetings give us the information that we need," said Joanna Ellis, whose daughter attends John Hay Elementary.
While the district has not identified which schools could close, Ellis believes John Hay could be at risk due to low enrollment.
"I feel sorry for the kids and teachers at those schools, especially John Hay. It's a great little school. They're doing everything they can to get enrollment up," Ellis said. "I'm not sure if closing a school is the best solution. We tend to have the problem that we close schools because the kids aren't there, then [when] the kids come we're looking for schools."
On May 8, SPS Superintendent Brent Jones announced a preliminary plan to consolidate schools as part of his "well-resourced schools" vision.
According to SPS, the elementary schools are only at 65% capacity. The new plan would increase the school utilization to 85%, which is closer to the usage of middle and high schools in the district.
Essentially, students would be moved into larger schools where they'd have more resources.
There are close to 23,000 elementary students in the district. Under the proposal, they would be divided between approximately 50 schools rather than the nearly 70 that are currently open.
The upcoming informational meetings are listed below:
- Saturday, May 25, 10:30 a.m. – noon, Garfield High School, 400 23rd Ave.
- Tuesday, May 28, 6 – 7:30 p.m., Roosevelt High School, 1410 NE 66th St.
- Saturday, June 1, 10:30 a.m. – noon, Chief Sealth International High School, 2600 SW Thistle St.
- Tuesday, June 4, 6 – 7:30 p.m., Zoom meeting