Latest news on possible school closures

The South Capitol Neighborhood Association (SCNA) board met at our monthly meeting on Dec 13th, and one item on the agenda was an update on the possible closure of Lincoln Elementary School.

Previously, I posted a blog on this website in early November, about a proposal by the Olympia School Board to move Lincoln students to the Olympia Regional Learning Academy (ORLA) and close the school. The SCNA board sent a letter to the Olympia School Board on November 20th in support of Lincoln and opposing its closure.

At our December meeting, Howard Goldberg and Marcia David provided an update. They attended a recent Lincoln Options Community Council meeting and learned that Lincoln is no longer being considered for closure, but the school board was considering making it preschool through 4th grade instead, and moving 5th graders to middle school. Those at the meeting were relieved to hear that Lincoln was off the chopping block but concerned about other possible measures to reduce the school district’s budget deficit. 

Howard and Marcia reminded folks that the school board would be meeting again on Dec 14th and urged everyone, if possible, to attend.

I tuned in to the school board meeting via Zoom for the first two hours. The meeting lasted five. Most of what I heard during that time was testimony from kids and parents opposing any closure of schools, particularly LP Brown and Boston Harbor Elementary Schools and Reeves Middle School.

School board meetings are recorded and available to view a day or two after each meeting. You can’t really see individual faces or expressions very well since the camera is at the back of the room, but the sound quality is pretty good. The recording also includes a scrolling transcript, which can be helpful, but there are often misspellings in the transcription, making it difficult to read.

I read a fairly in-depth article about the meeting, published in The Olympian on December 16th, but I also wanted to hear what the school board members had to say themselves, so I went to the recording on the school district’s website.

Following public testimony and an update on the budget, the directors had what seemed to me a thoughtful and informative discussion on the difficult options before them. Then they took a vote.

Three of them – Darcy Huffman, Scott Clifthorne and Hilary Seidel – voted to open a 90-day public comment period to consider closing Madison and McKenney Elementary Schools. The other two – Maria Flores and Jess Tourtellotte-Palumbo – were opposed.

If you are interested in watching all or part of the meeting, I’ve added a link to the video recording below. 

Link to the Dec 14th Olympia School Board meeting recording

As the article in The Olympian reported, the school board will gather additional information and testimony on the potential closures and may consider taking action at the end of the 90-day period that ends in March.

Director Huffman did say in the meeting that closing McKenney and Madison would be the minimum amount of closures and consolidations, and there would still need to be cuts in programs and staff to make up the $3.5 million deficit. She added that they might receive some financial help from the Legislature, but with the conversations that she’s been having, it doesn’t seem like the amount would be very much in 2024, which will be a short 60-day session in a non-budget year.

The school board directors’ final discussion and vote occurs at about 4 hours, 27 minutes. The time is noted in the lower left-hand corner of the video screen. You can move through the meeting using the blue scroll bar.