Thursday, October 1, 2026
A continued decline in enrollment has the Olympia School District looking at the possibility of school consolidation as a means to address funding issues.
Olympia School District (OSD) Superintendent Patrick Murphy discussed a school consolidation timeline with the OSD Board of Directors at a meeting on Aug. 6.
The decline in enrollment is not a reflection on the quality of the district’s tools, Murphy said, but a “structural reality that creates annual funding dilemmas,” as the state funds students and not buildings.
Murphy said an average elementary school in the district has 319 students, compared with other districts at an average of 449 students. In middle schools, the district average is around 518 students, while the average of comparable districts is 733.
Murphy said he is scheduled to present a school consolidation proposal in September to help ensure there are more resources to support the district’s strategic plan.
“We might possibly want to run a capital bond in the winter and spring, which could help with our strategic plan in making facilities more conducive to authentic learning, and help with consolidation by improving those receiving schools, while at the same time meeting a large list of needs that our buildings need that we're going to talk a little bit about today,” Murphy said.
Murphy said the strategic plan, school closure and bond complement one another.
“The vision is to have excellent instruction and strong relationships for every student in every single one of our schools. And when we do that well, our students will learn authentically, and they will live in a healthy way,” Murphy said.
The vote to close schools is scheduled to take place in November.
During the Aug. 6 meeting, Murphy referenced a 2023 study from Western Demographics, which was used to rank schools considered for school closure.
In 2023, the district formed a 31-member committee to decide which schools should be closed. The process was later halted after a court ruling deemed the school board’s decision to open a 90-day window for public comment without first providing a written analysis of the proposed closure ran afoul of state law.
The committee ranked schools based on parameters a consultant's study identified, including school utilization, facility condition, prior investment, socio-economic factors, school size, combinability of boundary areas, future development, potential and walkability.
The schools considered for closure in 2023 were McKenny Elementary and Madison Elementary. There is no school or number of schools mentioned in this year’s round of closure talks.
Murphy presented the closure timeline, which is divided into four phases. During the first phase, the board would undergo a decision and planning stage to develop a project framework, gather community feedback, and establish transition team processes and success metrics.
The second phase would start in October and run through January 2027. The phase involves finalizing boundaries and schedules, designing staffing, transportation, operational and transition plans. Key steps in the stage would be to finalize operational and transition plans.
The third phase is expected to run from January to September of next year. It involves implementing student, family and staff transition plans through student orientations, family nights and staff collaboration.
The final step would take place in the summer 2027 to close former sites and open consolidated schools for the 2027-28 school year. Metric tracking and support for affected students and families would also be provided.
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Honestyandrealityguy
So many parents are enrolling their children at private and/or Christian schools. They cost more but the still teach reading, writing and arithmetic. Little to no hate and report on the children to their moms and dads. Just can't believe it. Sad but true.
Wednesday, August 12 Report this
JulesJames
Perhaps boundary line adjustments might make sense? Like move Boston Harbor Elementary draw area into the North Thurston School District. This would place the whole peninsula under one school district and reduce bus rides for high school students to Olympia High School.
Wednesday, August 12 Report this
Holdyourground
It is not just parents opting for private schools or homeschooling; declining enrollment is happening everywhere. The US population has seen a 23% decline since 2007 and it is not going to magically bounce back given the state of things (in spite of Elon Musk trying to produce his "legion" of progeny!). OSD enrollment will continue to decline and consolidating underutilized schools, while painful, is a necessary, prudent step for the board to take.
Wednesday, August 12 Report this
salishseatrees76
Three aspects of this situation that need to be kept in mind are: (1) the new housing in the region is mostly not being built in OSD (not benefiting from the in migration), (2) the state funding formulas since the McCleary decision benefits larger schools (hence the reference to OSDs more but smaller elementary and middle schools), and (3) the extra funding from the Covid era has run its course. There aren't many good options and continuing to kick things down the road probably isn't an option for much longer either.
Thursday, August 13 Report this
Holdyourground
CORRECTION to my comment above^. The birthrate in the US has been declining since 2007, not the population! I did not see an option to edit my comment. Sorry. First time leaving a comment here! Here is a link to read: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-potential-impacts-of-the-u-s-birth-rate-decline
Thursday, August 13 Report this
jimlazar
Indeed, birth rates have been dropping -- in most of the world. China, Korea, and many countries in Europe are declining in population. The US would be declining but for immigration -- and that is currently a net out-migration due to federal policies.
Indeed, the Olympia School District needs to "consolidate" some schools. Too bad they did not see this coming when the "new" Madison School was built.
The Tumwater School District, which IS seeing a lot of new residential construction, is ALSO forecasting declining enrollment.
The idea by JulesJames, to move Boston Harbor peninsula into the North Thurston School District, is an interesting one that deserves study. Or, perhaps, consolidating all three school districts (Olympia, Tumwater, and North Thurston) into one district should be considered.
"Consolidation" can be more than just closing a few schools. There are economies of scale to be had by eliminating one or more District.
Thursday, August 13 Report this
OlyBlues
After OSD attempted to deal with declining enrollment years ago and closing schools, they were met with tons of whining parents. The Superintendent was savvy to contract out a study to tell them what they already knew but would be more credible to said parents. Fast forward to now and the same problems still exist with OSD drowning in overhead costs for buildings to appease these whiny parents who cannot stand to have their child's school disrupted, even though they do not want to pay any extra to keep these empty schools open. OSD must make the tough but responsible decisions and start closing schools and consolidating buildings. OSD is a taxpayer funded, government organization and must be run efficiently like one. Let's get these closures going soon.
Thursday, August 13 Report this
GeoduckHunter
Boston Harbor Elementary transferring to NTPS would be an expensive, long drawn out process. Not only would OSD lose the FTE for Boston Harbor, they would also lose the FTE for those Boston Harbor area students feeding into Reaves and Olympia HS. They would not want to lose those enrollment numbers. In addition, they would also lose all of the property tax revenue that is generated from the whole catchment area for Boston Harbor Elementary.
Thursday, August 13 Report this
greenleaves2023
Wow, Olyblues---"whining parents?" I see where your priorities lie, and it seems that OSD school board and superintendent are right there with you. The proposition to close schools was outrageously unpopular with parents and community members last year--these are the whiners Olyblues is referring to-- but this board and superintendent are charging right ahead-- why? Curious folks can check out some of the articles on OSD4All: https://osd4all.org/statement-on-the-olympia-school-district-proposed-2027-bond/
https://osd4all.org/why-are-we-fixated-on-school-building-utilization/
And more...
My question is, who benefits from the plan to close schools and then construct expensive new buildings? The answer I keep coming back to is: everyone but the students and their families. Smaller schools are better for kids on many levels. Schools are not factories or warehouses (or they shouldn't be) and we shouldn't be running them as if they are. Schools are communities that we entrust our children to learn, grow and thrive. Other community supports for children and families have all but disappeared, so we have left it to schools to provide many levels of care for our kids-- these are the functions that decline when we consolidate schools-- librarians, nurses, counselors, art and music teachers, administrators who know their students as individuals. When those kids grow up without their basic needs met, everyone pays the price-- we are paying it now. Instead of "consolidation" schools should be seeking additional revenue sources (ECE programs, for example, which parents have been begging for, for many years), grants, partnering with community agencies who could use space, cutting admin bloat, or other creative solutions. Closing schools is a hammer looking for a nail, and that nail is our kids.
Thursday, August 13 Report this
JW
Good. Pare down this taxpayer money black hole called the school system.
The whiners that have some sort of pathological worship complex for their local public indoctrination center will be out in droves crying.
The school system is a special interest focused dinosaur of a system that needs to be torn out by the roots. It's shocking how much money is poured into the system per student for utterly lackluster and shameful results.
Thursday, August 13 Report this
GeoduckHunter
Imagine if enrollment was increasing and schools were above capacity and a new school needed to be built. OSD would have to realign boundaries and potentially take students from three to possibly four elementary schools to fill that new school. Would parents complain then? Probably not. Why? Because their children will now be attending a brand new and shiny school. The outcome is the same however with the need to close schools. Students will be uprooted from their current school to attend a different one. The existing ones just aren’t new and shiny. It’s time for parents to let OSD do what they need to do to fix all of the problems that have developed over many years due to them trying to accommodate all of the special programs and small schools just to hopefully satisfy everyone. These are public schools. It’s time they start operating as one.
Thursday, August 13 Report this
HappyMama
It was been heartbreaking to see school closures and the anger from the community 2 years ago. It was even more heartbreaking to see the educators, employees, and programs lost last year. If the choice is between the people and programs that make OSD a great place for our kids, or saving a building, I'd vote for saving the people and programs every time. My kid goes to ORLA and there are like 5 schools housed in that building. I know my child only goes in person 4 days a week, but there is a strong community there. I can't imagine having one building for each of the small programs, but combining them under one roof works; it meets the diverse needs of many different students and provides services that are essential to our community that might not be available otherwise. Putting 2 schools into one building could work if people keep an open heart. Last time this came up, community members worked really hard to keep the buildings, but that cost us our family liaisons, art teachers, custodians, and more the following year. Our community and strength resides in the people who create the spaces and serve our kids, and I truly believe that ensuring we do what we can to get class sizes down and keep the people who make our community schools great should be our focus.
Thursday, August 13 Report this
Pkt3154
Fewer children being born in the last couple of decades, combined with parents opting out of the public school system. Quality and focus appear to be the main educational factors parents are moving away from public schools. The other factors are more discipline and order based.
Consolidating the physical locations is going to be an advanced NIMBY fire drill. No one wants their cherished neighborhood school to get the axe.
Wednesday, August 26 Report this