Before closing Olympia schools, let's fully examine the options

As an Olympia resident and parent of a student at McKenny Elementary School, I’m deeply concerned about the Olympia School District’s (OSD) proposal to close McKenny, Madison and LP Brown elementary schools.

I understand the district faces real financial and enrollment challenges. OSD projects a structural budget problem and estimates that the three closures would produce approximately $3.1 million in recurring annual savings.

My concern is not that these challenges should be ignored. It is that the OSD Board of Directors deliberations should be based on a thorough, student-centered comparison of all available choices.

Board Policy 6883 calls for analysis of enrollment, impacts on other facilities and educational programs, student and staff displacement, renovation, financial considerations, alternative uses, and the potential impact on other district programs or supports.

While the current analysis addresses these topics broadly, I’m concerned that the practical impact on students and staff, and the effects on the schools receiving hundreds of additional students, have not been examined deeply enough.

How will larger schools affect class sizes, staffing, student support, special education, shared spaces, school culture and day-to-day operations? What will happen to the students and staff already in those receiving schools?

A truly student-centered approach should consider the impact across the entire district, not simply whether another building technically has room for additional students.

There are also important financial questions:

What positions are actually eliminated versus transferred?

What will the savings look like after one, three and five years?

What other recurring reductions or revenue strategies could be considered?

Could available reserves provide time to evaluate those options more fully?

These are consequential decisions affecting thousands of students, educators, staff and families. As a parent, I hope the board will slow down enough to fully examine the alternatives and the broader impact before making an irreversible decision about these neighborhood schools.

Kristin Booth is a resident of Olympia.

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