Parents protest against school closures in Seattle

More than three dozen parents and children gathered outside Sacajawea Elementary School in Seattle early Wednesday morning with signs and chants to protest the planned closure.

Sacajawea is one of four elementary schools recently approved by the Seattle School Board to close before the 2025-26 school year. Next year, Sacajawea students will attend John Rogers Elementary instead.

Here is a breakdown of the other schools and students affected:

• North Beach Elementary students will attend Viewlands Elementary School.
• Stevens Elementary School students will attend Montlake Elementary School.
• Sanislo Elementary students attend Highland Park Elementary School in Highland Park.

Seattle School District Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones, recommended the four closures to the school board, citing significant budget deficits. In an Oct. 24 letter to parents, Jones said the district is facing a $94 million deficit for the upcoming 2025-26 school year, due in part to declining enrollment caused by rising housing costs ongoing impact of COVID etc. is due to shift towards home education and private schools. However, Jones primarily blamed the lack of needed government funding.

Background: Seattle Public Schools announces closures and consolidations

“We are in a critical financial situation,” Jones said in his letter to families. “Despite these challenges, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) remains a place where excellence thrives. We are proud to serve nearly 50,000 students and provide enriching academic experiences, extracurricular activities and essential special education services. Our goal is to preserve these opportunities and ensure that every student in every school has access to high-quality education and the support they need to thrive.”

During the rally and protest at Sacajawea Elementary School, organized by the school's parent-teacher association, parents also blamed a lack of state funding, but they are not letting the Seattle School District off the hook. Several parents want the district to cut administrative budgets rather than close schools.

All four of Joshua Newman's children attended or are currently enrolled in Sacajawea. He said both state and regional school leaders need to better balance their budgets. “The district needs to look at its own operations and its own administrative costs and not shift the burden to where, quite frankly, the value is actually being created, and that is the teachers and the individual principals and staff who are involved in the lives of the “There are children involved,” Newman said.

In other school news: Marysville Schools is still paying recently fired superintendent more than $400,000

The district originally developed two proposals to close 21 schools, but later scaled back those proposals. Their current plan, which impacts the four elementary schools, will be reviewed for 30 days and the district says it will support programs and services at the remaining schools such as preschool programs, support staff and additional space for students with disabilities.

The district said it will hold public hearings at the four elementary schools in November and December before a school board hearing and final vote in January. Meanwhile, advocacy groups like All Together for Seattle Schools are urging people to pressure lawmakers to secure more state funding for schools. If they can't find a solution, parents like Newman fear the community and their children will lose much more than a school. “The community is great. It's just been so supportive over the years. It's a big part of their childhood, it's a big part of their identity. You grew up here. It’s part of who they are,” Newman said.

Luke Duecy is a reporter for KIRO Newsradio.