Thursday, October 1, 2026
Parents and students sounded off on proposed school closures ahead of a looming decision on the issue by the Olympia School District (OSD) Board of Directors.
OSD Superintendent Patrick Murphy released a written analysis earlier this month detailing the proposed closures of Madison Elementary School, McKenny Elementary School and LP Brown Elementary School.
At a Sept. 24 board meeting, students and parents from the affected schools voiced concerns about the proposed closures.
Wally Kingsmith, a student from Madison, read a statement that was signed by 120 students at the school.
“Dear school board, we, the students at Madison, demand you to keep Madison open. We think you should keep Madison open because we want to go to school in our neighborhood. We have great teachers here. Small kids are small. We like going to school in our neighborhood. Madison is a community. Signed by 120 kids,” Kinsgmith said.
Arrow Sloan, a fifth grade student from Madison, said his family moved to Olympia to join Madison because of its smaller class sizes, diversity and acceptance.
“I feel like it would be a bad decision to close the schools. The schools mean a lot to the neighborhood, and Madison means a lot to me,” Sloan said.
Brooks Crawford, a district parent with experience in throughput modeling and risk management, said closing schools carries risk.
“I want to acknowledge upfront that you're operating in a difficult position. School districts nationwide face post-pandemic enrollment drops, and Olympia is no exception. … While I respect the fiscal challenges, permanently closing three elementary schools rests on incomplete math and introduces more risk than it alleviates," Crawford said.
Brianne Leverenz, a McKenny parent, reiterated the contents of a letter sent to the board and The JOLT, outlining her concerns.
“My primary concerns center on equity, educational outcomes and community impact. The district study identifies language diversity, socioeconomic factors and equity as important considerations in evaluating school closures, yet two of the district's more linguistically diverse elementary schools, McKenny and Madison, are among those (schools) proposed for closure,” Leverenz said.
Referencing an experience in leading risk adjustment strategy for the combined MultiCare Health System and Physicians of Southwest Washington, Leverenz emphasized the use of data to improve outcomes, increase efficiency, and ensure responsible stewardship of limited resources.
“Enrollment forecasts, utilization rates, and financial considerations are important. Yet, they should be considered alongside educational outcomes, equity, community stability, and the unique characteristics that make individual schools successful. McKenny's value cannot be measured solely through its utilization rate,” Leverenz said.
The district is holding a public hearing for McKenny on Oct. 12, LP Brown on Oct. 15 and Madison on Oct. 19. The board is scheduled make a decision on the closures at a meeting on Nov. 12.
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TheVirtualOne
Dear students of Madison (and other schools): We, the taxpayers of Olympia, cannot afford to subsidize your neighborhood school to the tune of an additional $3 million. Let this be a lesson in the real world about how public resources are not endless. There are limits and fiscal constraints that must be addressed, just like your parents limited budget at home. While we sympathize with your desire to have a neighborhood school, that requires a minimum level of enrollment to justify keeping it open. Unfortunately, your school(s) have not maintained that minimum requirement. We wish you the best in adapting to this reality. You will have to learn to adapt to the real world for the rest of your lives, so let this be a part of your education.
2 days ago Report this
meowrika
Dear THE VIRTUAL ONE,
We wish you the best in proving to us that our children are a drain on the system. Our school has been a core part of the SE for 70 years, and what is the minimum requirement? THERE IS NONE. What a child needs may not be what the legislature allows, but your ability to patronize elementary school children doesn't bode well for your ability to understand that we aren't in a financial crisis.
LOVE,
The Most Resourceful School in Olympia
2 days ago Report this
TheVirtualOne
“The Olympia School District projects student enrollment to decline by roughly 50 to 100 students annually, totaling a drop of about 1,000 students over the next decade.”
2 days ago Report this
TheVirtualOne
meowrika - “Dear parents of Madison students (and other schools)…”
* Fixed *
;-/
2 days ago Report this
meowrika
And the district also thinks no one is going to leave the district when they close schools.
2 days ago Report this
TheVirtualOne
You, and all other parents, have the right to do just that - leave the school district if that makes you happy. If you have specific ties to Olympia for some reason, family, job, etc., there are other nearby cities that might be a better alternative - Lacey, Tumwater, etc. If I were in your position, I might do the same. That’s one of the things that makes our country great - the right to move freely. It doesn’t change the fact that the Olympia administration has a job to do, whether you like it or not. Either way, I’m pleased to see the superintendent is taking responsible, well thought actions. Seattle schools have a $100 million budget deficit, something they have been avoiding for years. If you think Olympia is bad, move to Seattle. I think you will be back sooner rather than later.
Yesterday at 12:38 AM Report this
BCC2000
TheVirtualOne:
While I disagree with your position on school closures, I absolutely appreciate and respect the commitment to fiscal responsibility you stress in your comments. I'd like to add some context and tell you how that same value led me to the opposite position.
Yes, the Superintendent says closing three elementary schools would save $3M annually. But there are MANY problems with that unverified figure. First, it doesn't take offset costs into account (increased bussing, portable buildings at receiving facilities, maintenance on closed schools). Several people who have looked into this say the total savings would actually be between $850K to $1.5M. Second - and most importantly - the Superintendent has NOT modeled or accounted for families leaving the district as a result of school closures. Why does that matter, you may ask? Because 85% of school funding comes from the state and is tied to the number of kids enrolled. A 2026 Stanford study showed that school closures RARELY improve district finances because families end up leaving and that offsets any modest savings produced. So neither the Superintendent nor the board actually know how much this would save, AND they don't know if the resulting student loss would wipe out those savings (but the research says it probably would). Third, even if these school closures didn't lead to student flight and miraculously produced some savings, that theoretical savings would not go back to taxpayers. It would go to the OSD operating budget - which is currently operating in the black. Any savings (again, unlikely) would increase the district's operational reserve from about 3% to about 5-7%.
To recap, the Superintendent doesn't know how much would actually be saved in the short term. He doesn't have an idea of how many families would leave, and therefore has no idea if the loss of state funding would wipe out those savings. And if any savings WERE to be produced, the end result would be a miniscule change in the district's operating reserves.
They haven't done the research. They haven't done the legwork. They don't know enough to justify something this consequential.
I manage risk for a living. School closures are risky, ill advised, and financially NOT WORTH it.
Yesterday at 1:46 AM Report this
TheVirtualOne
Nearly all school districts are going through this same exercise in one form or another due primarily to demographics. The current generation is not having as many children, immigration changes, migration patterns, etc. The larger cities are being impacted the most, so Seattle and Spokane are experiencing more drastic changes than smaller cities. Tumwater has experienced $4 million to $7 million deficits, while North Thurston has seen up to $10 million in negative budget impacts. Olympia has not completed cost assessments yet, but is expected to present further staff cutback projections in November. Doing some simple math, taking the longer term estimates of 1,000 fewer students and dividing it by 30 kids class size gives about 30 fewer teachers needed. That’s not right away, but rather over ten years. Using an average salary of $100,000, that would make about $3 million just in salary savings alone. There would obviously be additional savings associated with closing schools, for example three fewer principals and vice principals, lower facilities maintenance etc. With taxpayer contributions per student at $20,000 in today’s dollars, that ends up being $2 million lower. The state contribution is about 75% wile the rest is federal money and local levies, so this is substantial. When you look at this kind of money in a statewide basis, across all school districts, now you’re looking at some significant numbers. This is a reality that’s been trending for some years now and must be addressed. Moving out of the Olympia school district is not a likely solution due to the fact that this is a state and national trend, so parents should not kid themselves into thinking it’s better somewhere else. Continuing without any adjustments would be sticking one’s head in the sand.
Yesterday at 10:44 AM Report this
TheVirtualOne
Typo correction - With taxpayer contributions per student at $20,000 in today’s dollars, that ends up being $20 million lower.
Yesterday at 11:56 AM Report this
JW
Too bad. The taxpayers are getting absolutely fleeced on their property taxes for schools. I'm not paying more just for your convenience of the neighborhood school. Close them down.
Yesterday at 12:51 PM Report this
longtimeresident
Is there a financial report out there that shows the costs for janitorial work, lighting, heating, grounds maintenance, counseling services, office staff, etc. for each of the schools? All kinds of other things should be considered besides just salaries for teaching staff and principals. The house I was growing up in in the 1950s had to be moved from the
southeast corner of the current Madison School playground to enlarge the playground for what was then Washington Junior High (now the home of Avanti and other school personnel). Within a couple of years (!), a new Washington Junior High School was built in another part of town. The Olympia School District is not immune from making poor decisions. Think through this current suggested plan very carefully.
10 hours ago Report this
SilenceD
At this point, I'm not convinced closing McKenny, Madison, and LP Brown will save any money long-term, let alone the $3 million short-term savings estimated by OSD. Even if the district's estimate is correct, we are going to put hundreds of families through the burden of changing schools (and hundreds more whose school will need to absorb additional students, and all the adjustments that come with that) for a relatively small amount of money in terms of OSD's total budget, when we should be focusing on using the schools we have to reduce class sizes and provide outstanding education.
Schools are easy targets for those who feel like their tax dollars are wasted, especially those who haven't attended public school in a while (or at all) or didn't send their kids to school in the district. My family has three kids in OSD schools. Is it perfect? No, but no school district is. Are my kids getting a great education in a safe environment? Absolutely. Our tax dollars are well-spent at OSD, which is why I don't want to see them make the mistake of unnecessarily closing neighborhood schools.
8 hours ago Report this