School closure list announced
The school closure/consolidation uproar has been going on forever, it seems, with parent advocacy groups holding meetings and making website and trying to keep their school open. This afternoon, the superintendent ultimately recommended five schools for closure: Genesee Hill, home to Pathfinder K-8; Mann, which houses Nova Alternative High School; T.T. Minor and Van Asselt elementaries; and Old Hay Elementary, which houses the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center [PI]. This takes Montlake Elementary and Alternative School #1 off the list.
The superintendent also recommended discontinuing a handful of program and relocating students from a number of other schools. They’ve provided this handy graphic for what is going where.
They want to try and get everything closed and shuffled around by next fall to redistribute student loads and save money, although closing and moving kids around will also cost money. Right now, the school district is looking at a $37.1 million budget deficit for next year. The School Board is set to vote on January 29. Parents and other concerned parties can sign this petition objecting to the superintendent’s plan.
I think this is not well-phrased. Those are just the five buildings slated for closure. There are programs that will be eliminated as well, but their buildings will be used for other programs, so they aren’t in your list, but the program closure can be just as traumatic for the families. Summit K-12, the African-American Academy, and Cooper are some examples — all are recommended for elimination, though the buildings will be given to other programs.
You did say "The superintendent also recommended discontinuing a handful of program and relocating students from a number of other schools", but I think that the post implies that only the buildings being closed are important.