Closure Follow-Up

I watched some of the Seattle School Board meeting last night. It was unruly, contentious, and heated. I wouldn't expect anything less to be honest. I see both sides, albeit from afar. In my eyes... Families and school communities don't like to see that they will close. Who would really? They think they are being singled out, and that the district is closing schools instead of collaborating to improve existing schools. The school board and superintendent see closing schools as a better option than slashing teaching positions, and the goal is to fill buildings.

The last thing heard on the broadcast last night was, "You are pathetic." People are angry, but is the board pathetic? What alternative do they have? Do they close north end schools and send kids south? Not quite sure how that would go over, but I would guess not so well (and probably lots of white flight). Does this look bad racially? Absolutely. But I don't think the moves are racially motivated. I'm not quite sure how to describe it. What I do know is that this process pitted schools against each other, and got ugly very quickly. Is that what we want for kids? Do we want schools, families, and teachers to say that they shouldn't be closed but that someone else is more worthy of closing? Ugh. No one wants to be on the bottom.

School Closures

Today is a big day for the Seattle School District. The front page of the Seattle Times has a an article about the looming school board decision on closures. It won't be an easy decision, nor should it be. A great resource on this is the Save Seattle Schools blog. But there are some interesting nuggets from the Times article like...

Closing buildings does reduce many costs. One building with 500 students, for example, requires less heat and electricity, and office, janitorial and other staff than two schools of 250. By closing older school buildings, the district also avoids some major maintenance work such as new roofs or major heating and plumbing repairs. That's perhaps where the biggest savings lie.

Closing schools can't be easy for anyone, particularly the families at the schools in question. But the reality is that the district faces a massive budget shortfall. Where else can they save money without compromising the quality of instruction? I would probably be swayed, at least for a short time, that the smaller buildings are better for students because of the closeness students can feel to the teachers and staff. A 500 person elementary school seems massive. I went to a school of around 250, and it was K-6! But if not schools, then the question is where do the cuts come from? Teachers? Supplies? Food service?

A sidenote is that my wife is having her school closed in a different district. Does she like it? Not particularly. But we've had conversations about how ultimately the district can't keep open buildings with low or declining enrollment, particularly when there are nearby buildings that could absorb these students. She should have a position in the fall, at one of the schools where her kids are going to be moved to. But it doesn't make it hurt any less.

But hey, Seattle Schools is creating 100 teaching jobs for next year, and is committed to that (see the above Seattle Times article, towards the end). At least i've got that going for me...