Seattle Public Schools drops contentious closure plan following months of waffling and backlash

Updated: 11/26/24, 8:50 p.m.

Seattle Public Schools’ plan to shutter four schools next fall is dead — at least for now.

In a message to families Monday, Superintendent Brent Jones withdrew his recommendations to close four elementary schools — North Beach, Sacajawea, Sanislo, and Stevens — next year.

“After much deliberation, reflection, and engagement with our community, it is clear there is no longer a pathway for this approach for the 2025-26 school year,” Jones wrote. “This decision was not made lightly and reflects the Board and my shared priority: the needs and well-being of our students, families, and community.”

The school board unanimously approved the move Tuesday. As part of that vote, the board also canceled the legally-required public hearings that had been scheduled for early next month.

This comes after months of controversy and many twists and turns since Jones first revealed a plan in September to close as many as 21 elementary and K-8 schools to save up to $31.5 million.

RELATED: Seattle names 21 public schools to possibly close

He later cut down that list to four elementary schools, and the estimated savings dropped to around $5 million — far less than the estimated $30 million of savings in earlier plans, and a fraction of the district’s nearly $100 million budget deficit next year.

RELATED: 4 Seattle schools up for closure revealed

After the yearlong rollercoaster of closure discussions, families celebrated the end of the closure plan.

Peggi Fu, a North Beach Elementary parent, said she’s relieved the plans aren’t going forward.

“This process has caused immense, tremendous stress and uncertainty for families — not just at North Beach, but across the city,” she said. “It's been an unnecessary burden on all of us: students, parents, particularly our teachers.”

Janine Hottovy said the last few months have been tough on her son, a second-grader at North Beach.

“My son has had his nights where he goes to sleep crying, worrying about his school and his teachers,” Hottovy said.

The second-grader is Hottovy’s third child to attend North Beach, and she herself went there. “It’s kind of our family elementary school,” Hottovy said. "It’s a very strong community school.”

Hottovy’s son was ecstatic when he learned the school was no longer up for closure next year.

“My son was reading the newspaper with his grandparents this morning and came and told me ‘Mom, mom, they’re not gonna do it,’” Hottovy said with a laugh. “He did five happy dances.”

With closures off the table for next year, Jones said Monday he’ll focus on other cost-saving measures he’s outlined previously — including about $30 million of “internal efficiencies,” including staff layoffs and adding a third bell time to reduce transportation costs.

Jones has promised to target cuts in the central office, rather than schools, as much as possible.

The district is also seeking an additional $40 million in state funding for things like special education, transportation, and operational costs. In addition, Jones has said he plans to ask the state for boosted levy authority and an extension on repayment of the loan the district borrowed from its capital fund last year.

Further down the road, though, officials have hinted school closures may not be off the table for long.

Despite the public blowback and bumpy rollout of school closure plans, some board members have continued to argue they’re needed to help save money and more evenly and equitably distribute resources across the district.

“Do we need to close schools? … The answer to that is yes. We do,” Vice President Michelle Sarju said at last week's board meeting. “But we need to do it in a way that is going to benefit all of our kids, not just some of them.”

RELATED: Seattle may not close elementary schools, after all

In his message Monday, Jones defended the reasoning and vision behind consolidations, but said the decision to hold off for now allows the district to “thoughtfully determine our next steps.”

Jones also said the district remains “committed to addressing the underlying issues that drove this initial proposal.”

School consolidation was also a response to declining enrollment in Washington state’s largest public school system. The district lost nearly 5,000 students over the last five years, though enrollment ticked up slightly this year.

RELATED: Seattle Public Schools enrollment ticks up slightly as district moves ahead with closures

“These challenges remain critical to ensuring the long-term health of our district,” he wrote, “and we will continue to work together to find solutions and ensure any adjustments we make are both equitable and sustainable.”

In a statement after the board’s vote Tuesday, All Together for Seattle Schools said the decision to abandon the closure plan is welcome. But they pledged to keep the pressure on the district and state, and said they’ll continue to oppose school closures and cuts that directly affect students, like teacher layoffs.

The grassroots community advocacy group formed about a year ago in response to concerns about closures, and has since spearheaded the effort against them — from strongly-worded petitions and impassioned public testimony to the school board, to rallies that drew hundreds of people.

RELATED: 'Don't do this to our kids': Hundreds of Seattle parents rally against school closures

“SPS must abandon plans to ‘right-size’ the district by closing schools in the future,” the group wrote. “Instead, we call for an audit of the entire budget, prioritizing non-student-facing cuts, including central office leadership and external consulting contracts. We will oppose any effort to pit parents against educators and staff.”

Hottovy is nervous about North Beach being targeted for closure again in the future.

But she also acknowledges the district needs to make changes. Many schools across the district aren’t in great shape — including North Beach.

Instead of closure, Hottovy hopes the district considers rebuilding the school, to preserve the tight-knit, walkable community it’s created.

“From just a personal, emotional place, I would hate to see my elementary school close — this place that feels right for my kids,” Hottovy said.

If the district pursues closures in the future, she hopes to see a comprehensive plan that truly makes the case for why it’s necessary and also loops in other solutions, like advocating for more funding from the state.

“I think taking this idea of the table feels like a bit of a breath because it didn’t feel connected to a broader plan that would actually bring us to a more neutral budget place as a district,” Hottovy said.

Fu also wants to see changes, including more engagement with community stakeholders, and longer-term planning.

When Fu’s family moved to Seattle’s Crown Hill neighborhood in 2014, they were zoned to attend Whittier Elementary, a school within walking distance of their home. Because the district was adding on to Loyal Heights, though, the district rezoned them there. The district notified families of the boundary change years in advance, Fu recalled.

“We had years to plan for it,” she said. “And knowing that we really wanted our kids to be able to walk to an elementary school, we actually sold our house and moved into a community where our kids can walk, not only to our elementary school, but to our middle school as well.”

Fu wants to see more of that.

“We need to see long-term plans for parents and children,” she said. “No more short-term solutions for long-term problems.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the outcome of the board’s vote and reactions from parents.