SPS Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones announced this week he is withdrawing his proposal to close schools in 2025 and the Seattle School Board sealed the deal on Tuesday. The parent activists behind All Together for Seattle Schools (ATSS) pushed Seattle Public Schools to drop building closure plans for next year but the parent-led school advocacy group says its work is far from over — the group will continue to oppose any Seattle school building closures beyond next year and they will take the fight for adequate funding for all public schools to the state legislature in January.
“Along with thousands of families I feel enormously relieved,” said Erin MacDougall, an ATSS founding organizer. “Our coalition stands strong in our belief that we fought tirelessly to be on the right side of history for our kids. After a brief rest, we’ll be recharged and ready to continue to advocate for the district to prioritize student learning and academic excellence for all. I feel so much gratitude to every parent who made the time, shared their stories, and worked through the stress of this situation to support the future success of all of our students.”
Opposing student-facing cuts
During the November 26 Seattle School Board meeting, board director Michelle Sarju stressed that the board’s vote on Tuesday was to rescind only their request that the superintendent bring a preliminary plan for school closures for next year to the board. She voiced concern that an email to parents announcing four targeted schools will not close in 2025 “has left people with the impression that we’re not, we’re not ever going to consider school closures again.”
“I want to make sure that that we’re all clear that it’s just for this year,” Sarju said. “I think we need to be transparent and clear with families that the district is not saying we are not going to ever consider school closures again. What it is saying is that we will not be making or accepting recommendations for closures for the next school year, which would be 2025-26.”
ATSS parent leaders said in a statement Tuesday that while the decision to keep all Seattle schools open next year is a win for all, they will stay vigilant to future attempts to close schools to balance a budget deficit. SPS is expected to face a $100 million deficit for the 2025-26 school year.
“While this decision is a step in the right direction, we will continue to oppose school closures and student-facing cuts,” the ATSS statement said. “SPS must abandon plans to ‘right-size’ the district by closing schools in the future. Instead, we call for an audit of the entire budget, prioritizing non-student-facing cuts, including central office leadership and external consulting contracts. We will oppose any effort to pit parents against educators and staff. We stand in solidarity opposing cuts that harm students, including cuts to educator positions.”
ATSS parent activists say they plan to use what they’ve learned in their Seattle effort to rally the state lawmakers to “amply” fund public schools in Washington. If that were accomplished, parent activists say, districts across the state, including Seattle and Bellevue, would be less likely to face deficits. Washington’s Schools Superintendent Chris Reykdal has requested lawmakers approve a $3 billion increase in school funding for the next biennium. It’s an ask that faces an uphill battle in the form of a $10 billion state budget deficit.
A demand for state lawmakers
Still, the Seattle group has shown that parent advocacy has power.
“The collective advocacy of families and communities across Seattle has successfully pushed SPS to reconsider its plans,” All Together leaders said. “By partnering with communities across Washington, we will continue to demand that the legislature fulfills its commitment to education, ensuring that budgets are no longer balanced at the expense of our children and schools.”
The group’s parent leaders say the district has a lot of work to do to rebuild trust with parents, teachers and the broader community after a year of school closure planning.
Follow the Seattle vision
“SPS’s and the board’s actions over the past year have eroded public trust and caused significant parental and student stress–this was avoidable and unacceptable,” the statement said. “The district must commit to meaningful engagements with families and communities, ensuring transparency and accountability in all decisions. Building trust is essential to restoring public confidence.”
Among other things, the organization urged SPS to take it’s lead from the City of Seattle’s “world-class city” vision. Toward that end, parents called on the district to:
- Demonstrate strong leadership and accountability by developing multi-year, transparent plans that align with the city’s growth and community needs.
- Actively focus on strategies to grow enrollment and increase revenue while enhancing educational offerings.
- Expand and sustain innovative, evidence-based programs that families value and students need, such as dual language immersion, Highly Capable Cohort, option schools, and K-8 models.
- Provide an array of schools that reflect the diversity of our students, prioritizing student learning, and equitable access to opportunities.
- Commit to schools that are walkable, located near new housing expansion, and integrated with comprehensive and transportation planning. Reimagine investments within the BEX Levy to reflect community engagement and student outcomes.
“We recognize that solving these challenges requires more than just local efforts – statewide action is essential,” the All Together statement said. “The state legislature must fully and amply fund our public schools.”
Let the bake sales begin
All Together for Seattle Schools is partnering with parents and caregivers across Washington to launch the Billion Dollar Bake Sale campaign, a movement to urge lawmakers to put school funding first. Communities across the state will host real or symbolic bake sales in December to raise awareness of the school funding crisis. The campaign will culminate in a statewide Advocacy Day in Olympia on Jan. 30, 2025.
Read more:
No Seattle Public Schools closures in 2025
Is $3 billion education increase possible? Inslee calls for cuts
