The
Seattle School Board has voted to close five schools and move all or part of eight others. The vote ends two months of difficult and often emotional debate. The changes will affect 1,775 students. The district has said it needs to cut expenses by at least $25 million for the 2009-10 school year, and as much as $37 million, depending on how much legislators cut school funding.To read
The Seattle Times article, click here. EARLIER:
Seattle's planned school closures are expected to address only a small portion of a projected $25 million budget gap, and board members got are looking at further cuts, including layoffs. The equivalent of 123 positions -- including some teachers, library assistants and custodians -- will be eliminated, according to preliminary recommendations. The cuts will lead to slightly larger fourth- and fifth-grade classes, and affect an array of operations, such as where high school lunches are prepared and where students will wait for Metro buses.
To read
The Seattle Post Intelligencer article, click here.
Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson has unveiled her final recommendations for school closures. She is proposing to shutter five schools and relocate eight academic programs. The recommendations weren't drastically different from previous versions but were scaled back a bit. The biggest changes:
Montlake Elementary and
Alternative School No. 1 were spared, but Alternative School No. 1 will be restructured and must show academic progress, or face closure again.
To read
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer article, click here.
FROM DECEMBER 2008: Faced with the potential relocation or elimination of several
Seattle alternative schools, some parents are questioning the district's commitment to alternative education. In Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson's most recent proposal, four of the eight buildings being considered for closure are home to nontraditional programs. Several school programs recommended for relocation also are considered nontraditional, as are three of the six programs that could be discontinued. For some schools this will be the second or third time in the past few years they've been slated to close or move.To read
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer article, click here.
The list of possible school closures in Seattle has risen from seven to nine. Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson says the district is considering whether to recommend merging Rainier Beach and Cleveland High schools into Cleveland's building, and closing another elementary school in the south or southeast part of the city. Just last week Goodloe-Johnson unveiled a plan that called for closing seven schools.
To read The Seattle Times article, click here.
FROM NOVEMBER 2008: Seattle Public School officials have proposed closing six buildings and moving nine schools — or parts of schools — to different buildings. The proposals are the latest effort to bring the number of schools in Seattle in line with the number of students. They are intended to save money, but district staff also say they worked to strengthen the district's academic offerings and give students in some neighborhoods better access to specialized programs.
To read The Seattle Times article, click here.
FROM OCTOBER 2008: The
Seattle School Board has agreed to begin discussing another round of school closures. Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson asked the board last week for authority to consider closing or merging schools as early as September. The goal would be to cut costs. The district expects to have a revenue shortfall of at least $24 million for the 2009-10 school year.To read
The Seattle Times article, click here.
