BELLEVUE, Wash. — The Bellevue School District released its recommendation for consolidating elementary schools Thursday, suggesting students at three different schools be sent to other schools in the district.
Under the recommendation, students going to Ardmore Elementary School would be sent to Bennett Elementary, Cherry Crest Elementary and Sherwood Forest Elementary.
Students going to Eastgate Elementary would be sent to Spiritridge Elementary and Somerset Elementary. The Advanced Learning program at Spiritridge would be moved to Woodridge Elementary.
Students going to Wilburton Elementary would be sent to Clyde Hill Elementary and Enatai Elementary.
"Feel a little ambushed... feel a little ambushed," said Chad Thomas, a father of two students at Eastgate Elementary. "They adore their teachers. They adore their administrators. They adore their janitor."
A Phantom Lake father said he was relieved they were not on the list for consolidation but said he sympathized with the parents of the chosen schools.
"Very mixed feelings," said Stuart Reynolds, a Phantom Lake father.
Lindsey Hartzel has two children attending Eastgate. She said they are not dealing well with the news and that there needs to be more accountability from district leaders.
"The people running the school board, running the school district have gotten us where we are. Not my nine-year-old, not my five-year-old," said Hartzel. "We stayed in Eastgate as renters, pay exorbitant rent making sacrifices to stay in this neighborhood, stay consistent for our kids to be in this beautiful school."
A spokesperson for the district, Janine Thorne, told KING 5 Thursday that the final decision on this has to be made within the next three months, but will not happen before community listening sessions are held for impacted schools.
Thorne also said that the school buildings that are left behind under this plan will stay within the district and will be used for instructional purposes. Specific plans are still being developed, she added.
BSD originally announced that seven elementary schools with "declining enrollment" were under consideration for consolidation, including Ardmore, Eastgate, Enatai, Phantom Lake, Sherwood Forest, Woodridge, and Wilburton.
According to the district, enrollment has been dropping since the 2019-2020 school year and they expect numbers to continue to drop for the next 10 years.
The district cited declining birth rates, increased housing costs, impacts from the pandemic and recent tech layoffs in the area as main contributing factors.
The BSD also cited concerns for the district's budget and pointed to the upcoming stop to emergency relief funds from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In addition to the funding loss, enrollment decline currently leaves us with empty seats and classrooms. In the elementary schools in Bellevue, there is a surplus approaching three thousand seats, which translates to 100 empty classrooms or more," Interim Bellevue Superintendent Dr. Art Jarvis wrote in a release announcing the plan. "We do not need eighteen elementary schools at the moment, or in the next decade."
If the consolidations do not happen, there could be districtwide layoffs, according to Deputy Superintendent for Financial Services and Operations Melissa DeVita.