Seattle to 'consolidate' 5 schools to plug $100M deficit

Seattle Public Schools releases proposal to close 5 schools

Seattle Public Schools just released a revised recommendation about how to fight their $100 million budget deficit.

SEATTLE - After weeks of parent protest and uproar, Seattle Public Schools will move to consolidate five public schools for the 2025-26 school year.

SPS Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones announced the decision Tuesday evening. The move is a far cry from the district’s proposal last month to close more than 20 schools to plug a $100 million budget deficit for the next school year.

Backlash from parents and students was such that the school district canceled upcoming community meetings to rework the proposal.

"After taking some time to reflect on your feedback, I have developed a revised plan that will support addressing the budget deficit for the 2025-26 school year while taking steps to right-size our school system," wrote Jones in a note to parents and staff. "Under this revision, I intend to propose consolidating five schools for the 2025-26 school year. What we learn from this initial set of schools will guide our future action."

Jones promises the new proposal will "moderately lower" the $100 million deficit.

SPS has not clarified what is meant by ‘consolidation’ — if five schools will simply be closed, merged into a certain number of other schools, or otherwise. The district has not yet determined which schools will be consolidated, but they will make preliminary recommendations to the school board "by the end of October."

Notably, the consolidation process will not apply to K-8 schools or specialized options like Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Dual Language Immersion.

Jones says the selection process for consolidation will be weighted against building conditions, learning environment, enrollment and capacity, minimizing disruption for students and staff, and keeping student access to specialized service models.

The announcement comes as the school board approved Jones' employment agreement, which gives him a double-digit pay raise. According to state data, during the 2021-22 school year, Jones made more than $323,000. And in 2022-23, he made nearly $335,000.

"The base salary increase is the same cost of living adjustment that was provided to other administrators in Seattle Public Schools," said Riza Rankin, SPS board president.

Jones' salary is expected to jump around 6% with the latest agreement. Despite reports that the district budget would need to be cut by nearly $100 million, the board unanimously approved the employment agreement, along with a new evaluation instrument.

Jones said he was supportive of the changes, and also offered to take unpaid furlough days in solidarity with other central office staff.

"I’m willing to have five furlough days to make sure we are in alignment," he said.

You can read the announcement about the SPS schools consolidation on the district's website.