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Well Resourced Schools Plan Impacts to View Ridge 

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Seattle Public Schools has released its latest update on their plan for “Well Resourced Schools” to help close a $100M budget deficit by consolidating elementary schools across the district.  This latest update provides details for two draft options for school closures, consolidations and boundary re-alignment as part of their plan.  Full details of this plan are available at https://www.seattleschools.org/resources/well-resourced-schools/.   Based on our review, the impact to View Ridge Elementary is the same under both Option A and Option B. 

Timeline 

  • September 11th, 2024: Proposed option plans that identify school closures. 
  • September 24 through October 8 2024: SPS hosting several Community Meetings 
    • Online: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 6:30 p.m., Zoom Meeting (Families and staff will soon receive the Zoom meeting link.)
    • Southwest Region: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 6:30 p.m. Genesee Hill Elementary, 5013 SW Dakota St., Seattle, WA 98116
    • Southeast Region: Thursday, Sept. 26, 6:30 p.m. Wing Luke Elementary, 3701 S Kenyon St., Seattle, WA 98118
    • Central Region: Tuesday, Oct. 1, 6:30 p.m. Kimball Elementary, 3200 23rd Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98144
    • Northeast Region: Thursday, Oct. 3, 6:30 p.m. Olympic Hills Elementary, 13018 20th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98125
    • Northwest Region: Monday, Oct. 7, 6:30 p.m. James Baldwin Elementary, 11725 1st Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98125
  • October 2024: Superintendent preliminary recommendation to School Board 
  • October-November 2024: Public review and hearings at each school. 
  • November-December 2024: Final recommendation by superintendent and school board vote to be completed by winter break 2024. 

School Closures 

As a community we feel very fortunate that under both plans that View Ridge Elementary is planned to remain open.   

Option Remaining OpenClosingType Change
Option AOlympic Hills, Hazel Wolf, Olympic View, John Rogers, Wedgwood, Thornton Creek, Bryant, View Ridge, Sand Point  Green Lake , Decatur , Sacajawea , Cedar Park , Laurelhurst  Thornton Creek Elementary becomes an attendance area school, Hazel Wolf K-8 becomes an attendance area K-5 school ; while Laurelhurst building serves as interim site for Sand Point 
Option B Olympic Hills, Hazel Wolf K-8 (option), Olympic View, John Rogers, Sacajawea, Wedgwood, Thornton Creek, Bryant, View Ridge, Sand Point  Green Lake , Decatur, Cedar Park, Laurelhurst  Thornton Creek becomes an attendance area school. Laurelhurst building serves as interim site for Sand Point 
  • Under Both plans: 
    • Thorton Creek transitions from option school to neighborhood school 
    • Updated boundaries of Sand Point and Laurelhurst will combine as Sand Point elementary at Laurelhurst campus while Sand Point undergoes renovation. 
  • Option A:
    • 5 school closures
    • Hazel Wolf converts to K-5 neighborhood school from K-8 
  • Option B:
    • 4 schools closed
    • Sacajawea elementary remains open
    • Hazel Wolf is retained as a K-8 Option school. 
NE Seattle Option A Option B 
# of schools 9 10 
Option schools 0 1 
Students 4,363 4,363 
Average students per building 483 436 
Savings $31.5 million $22.5 million 

Impact To View Ridge 

SPS has yet to share specific numbers moving between boundaries and final school sizes.  At the beginning of 2024-2025 school year, we have just over 300 students, and on average two classes per-grade.    Under both plans View Ridge Elementary will remain open with the following changes: 

  • A portion of the north-west existing boundary for View Ridge will be re-zoned to Thornton Creek. 
  • Thornton Creek will shift from an option school to a neighborhood school. 
  • View Ridge boundaries are extended to the south and east that were previously zoned for Sand Point elementary. 
  • A small area previously within the Bryant boundary will become part of View Ridge. 

For official reference and the ability to check your specific address, detailed boundary maps are available: 

What Can You Do? 

We acknowledge that many students within our own school, and greater community will face potential changes in their neighborhood school assignment.