Following the trend of a national decline in enrollment, Olympia School District is expecting about 10% fewer students over the next ten years. Our funding as a district is based on our enrollment, and without the enrollment to fill all of our schools, we can’t pay for everything. Consolidation of schools is something that the district is considering, but they have asked the community for input. The district hired a facilitator who is experienced in right-sizing school districts to organize a School Facility Efficiency Review Committee.
According to their charter, The School Facility Efficiency Review Citizen Action Committee (CAC) has the stated purpose “To assist the Board of Directors in right-sizing the school district for current and projected enrollment and within the context of expected state funding.” They will study the data, dialogue about different perspectives, and provide a variety of recommendations. The committee is made up of about two community members from each school in the district, with an effort to have a staff member and students. There are parents, as well as technical staff on the committee as well.
How do we know that enrollment is going to decline, and is there anything we can do about it? FLO Analytics, a data consulting company, provided our district with a demographic report that showed declining enrollment due to multiple factors like low birth rates, unaffordable housing, and lasting effects from the pandemic. Even on the high end of predictions, students would decrease by the hundreds. A Seattle Times article by Gene Balk titled “Declining public-school enrollment: Here’s how WA compares” shares that Washington’s public school enrollment is expected to fall 5.4% from 2023 to 2030, which is slightly higher than the national projection of 5%. Unfortunately, this is an issue that is far beyond the scope of our district, and all that the board can really do is adjust.
Mr. Alonso, a member of the committee from Capital, said the meetings have “been extremely informative as far as data is concerned”. He thinks “We’re going to lead to the possibility of closing one or two schools down and consolidating”. He says “We definitely need to look at closing one of the schools down that will have minimal impact not just for the children in that school but also the community.” Another comment he made was “One of my concerns is Boston Harbor. What’s going to happen to the property values for these people if you close their school down?” He left with “My concern also is how is the district going to spend money in the future, knowing that our children population is seriously going down”.
Olympia School Board President, Darcy Huffman, came to Mr. Alsonso’s class to recruit students for the Citizen Action Committee, and student Kai Labuda thinks “[the board] is really passionate about getting student support and feedback”. He says the issue “seems mostly like an economic problem, and there’s no right answer.” His family moved to Olympia from Seattle, and he said “ One of the big reasons why we chose it is that it is such a good school system.” His last comment was that it “Sounds like it’s going to be challenging, but I trust that there will be experts in the room, and hopefully students.”
This issue is unfortunate and heavy, as the prospect of closing a school is not something that’s ideal for anyone. However, it is good that the district is getting in front of the issue, and planning for the future. What will the CAC recommend to the board in November?
