Seattle Public Schools unanimously approved a proposal Wednesday that could eventually close more than a quarter of the district’s nearly 70 elementary schools.
The move, which could force thousands of students to switch schools in the 2025-26 school year, is aimed at curbing the district’s more than $100 million annual budget gap.
The district is hoping to dig itself out of a deficit caused by years of spending more money than it took in: Federal COVID relief dollars have dried up, the district has lost more than 4,000 students since pre-pandemic years, and a three-year teachers’ union contract inked in 2022 was projected to cost the district about $231 million over its term and add $94 million to the deficit.
The district’s superintendent, Brent Jones, asked the board on Wednesday for permission to start drafting a school closure plan. Jones and his staff are expected to draw up a preliminary list of about 20 schools that could be shuttered or consolidated.
Such school closures would be by far the largest in Seattle in recent history.