Thursday, October 1, 2026
A written analysis has been published to give the Olympia School District (OSD) Board of Directors and residents an overview of the proposed closure of three elementary schools.
OSD Superintendent Patrick Murphy published the district’s School Closures and Consolidations OSD Policy 6883 Analysis on Sept. 17, the same day as the board’s work session at which the document was discussed.
Washington state law requires school districts to publish an analysis within the 90 days before a vote to close schools. The analysis must detail factors and effects of the proposed closures.
The analysis examines the educational, operational, financial, facilities, enrollment and student and staff impacts of the school closures proposal.
Murphy discussed the written analysis at the work session, stating the board of directors has the final say in the matter.
“All of the analysis findings, scenarios, recommendations contained in this report, any proposed school closures, consolidation, boundary changes, all related actions, are contingent upon a formal approval by the school board of directors,” Murphy said.
OSD Policy 6883 states public hearings will follow the analysis, no sooner than 10 business days after the analysis was made public. The first hearing will be held at McKenny Elementary School on Monday, Oct. 12.
The policy also mandates that comments from the community shall only be used for advisory purposes.
Based on the analysis, consolidation would result in the receiving schools also getting enough staffing and resource allocations to support the additional students.
The resources include basic education staffing, special education, multilingual learners and other student support. Music, physical education and library services would be allocated using established enrollment-based staffing formulas.
Receiving schools may also fill more classrooms based on enrollment projections. For example, Hansen Elementary School is expected to fill 11 additional classrooms.
Staff reassignment would be done in accordance with collective bargaining agreements, including requirements related to seniority, qualifications, placement, involuntary transfer, notice, layoff and recall.
OSD board member Hilary Seidel commented about the possibility of letting consolidated schools choose a new name.
“I do not think that it is solely the responsibility of receiving schools to make community. It is our responsibility to bring everyone together, to talk about what does community look like for us in this new school,” Seidel said.
She added it would be a “really powerful experience” for the transferees to have an opportunity to design new traditions, bring some values and collaboratively select a new name and brand spaces as a part of a new community.
Parent-run nonprofit OSD4All released a statement supporting school closures if certain conditions are met — something it believes the analysis does not support.
“We’re open to school closures. … If the data demonstrates that closing schools is necessary, that the savings meaningfully address the problem, that students will be better supported, and that reasonable alternatives have truly been exhausted, then we should be willing to have that conversation. But that is not the conversation we believe the current 6883 analysis supports,” the nonprofit stated.
OSD4All also stated having “serious concerns about the analysis,” specifically the assumptions behind the numbers, inconsistencies between the district’s messaging and tables, the coverage, and whether the proposed closures solve the district’s actual problems.
After being established in 2023 when school closure talks first started in OSD, the nonprofit regularly holds information sessions related to closing schools.
CORRECTION, September 22, 2026: A previous version of this story misattributed a comment made by Director Hilary Seidel. We regret the error.
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JW
Close the schools and return money to the hard-hit taxpayer that is paying out the ears to support the poorly-performing dinosaur government school system.
Tuesday, September 22 Report this
Tanker1982
I sorta agree with JW. However, I would change the discussion to programs versus closures. Meaning, focusing on fundamentals and eliminating/reducing programs beyond the 3Rs and civics. Do not get me wrong, I had the privilege of band and sports growing up. I am just saying we need to prioritize programs first, then, give in to the long term problem of fewer kids and shutting down schools
Tuesday, September 22 Report this
OlyBlues
OSD4All will never agree to a school closure, let's be real. They are choosing to not live in reality that OSD's massive declining enrollment does not provide enough revenue to pay for all the current school buildings to remain open. If these parents want to pay extra money for these schools to stay open, go for it. Taxpayers should not be overpaying and subsidizing OSD to keep underutilized buildings open. Superintendent Murphy is doing an exceptional job in his fiduciary responsibility to OSD. No Superintendent wants to see school buildings close, but that is reality where we are at with enrollment numbers like it or not. Let's get these buildings closed and then sold.
Wednesday, September 23 Report this
Jamama
How does Jolt report on OSD closing 3 elementary schools, and NOT mention the schools in the article at all?!
We read the news to find out the major points, but this story actually repeats minor details and ignores informing us of the central point.
Wednesday, September 23 Report this
DudeGuyOly
Jesus christ Jamama click on the link in the second sentence of the article and it has them listed after the cover sheet, additionally, click the statement link that goes to OSD4All's facebook post that lists them there as well. This is the 12th-teenth article on these schools and has been all over reddit, Olympian, JOLT, MyNorthwest, ThurstonTalk, NPR's KNKX, and many more. You took 5x longer to type your comment than it would have taken to find the names.
Wednesday, September 23 Report this
Mugwump
I have always supported public schools "as a matter of course". I'm beginning to think that either public schools have lost their way or we as a society have lost our ability to administer them. If you can I would urge you to read Nikole Hannah-Jones' piece in the New York Times Magazine (Sept 20).
Link here: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DVE.CHdC.DVFyZP9IuVqJ&smid=url-share
Perhaps the next iteration of education for our youth should be smaller schools, privately run, tax-subsidized by payments provided directly to parents, and tightly managed by local school boards.
It's seems that the institutionalization of schools has rendered them unable to perform their primary function, teaching kids and enriching their lives.
Wednesday, September 23 Report this