IMPORTANT: A School Board Work Session on October 29 (3-6pm) and Special Meeting (8pm) will now discuss not only capacity management options in certain clusters in the school system but also a resolution on starting up a school closure process.

From: Office of Public Affairs [mailto:publicaffairs@seattleschools.org]
Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 5:38 PM
Subject: Superintendent Goodloe-Johnson: Addressing our budget and capacity imbalances

________________________________

October 22, 2008

Dear Seattle Public Schools staff members:

I want to let you know about important discussions today at the School Boardʼs Executive Committee meeting about the steps we must take to balance our budget and address the imbalance in our District between where we have classroom capacity and where school aged children live.  It is clear to us that we must consider building closures and repurposing.

Excellence for All, our Districtʼs strategic plan, provides the framework for us to work together to raise academic achievement for all students and improve the operations throughout the district that support student success.

Capacity planning is one of the priority strategies included in Excellence for All.  In the course of our engagement with the community and internal stakeholders over the past months, we have worked to develop options to address our immediate capacity challenges in specific clusters for the 09-10 academic year.  We planned to begin the needed longer term district-wide capacity management work this coming January.  However, recent national and state-wide economic developments demand that we take significant steps now to protect the Districtʼs long-term financial health.

The following realities combine to create the urgency to consider building closure and repurposing:

• Seattle Public Schools budget gap projections for 2009-10. We must address the stark reality of an estimated $24 million funding gap for 2009-10. This figure is an early estimate of the anticipated gap between costs to maintain current levels of services and expected revenues.  This estimate may prove conservative. The financial analysis now underway will identify a variety of strategies to eliminate the known funding gap while protecting classroom funding to the maximum extent possible.  We know we will have to make additional cuts if that gap worsens.

• State and federal budget challenges. We also know that the state and federal governments, on which we depend for the bulk of our funding, are facing intense budget challenges. It is prudent for us to prepare for a scenario in which government funding for education would be reduced.

• Excess capacity and too many buildings. Multiple recent external audits and peer reviews of Seattle Public Schools (SPS) point to the need for us to close facilities in order to address excess capacity.  SPS has operated for many years with substantially more capacity than needed for the number of students enrolled; and we have more school buildings than other districts with comparable student populations. Many of these buildings are costly to maintain due to their age and amount of deferred maintenance.

• Geographic imbalance between school capacity and where school-age children live, and desire for quality schools close to home. Some parts of the city have current and projected capacity shortages while others have excess capacity available.  Families have told us that they want quality schools available close to home, and a greater degree of predictability about where their children will attend school. Matching the amount of seats with the school aged population in each area of our city is a key component in delivering on that desire. Ensuring that available resources are not spread too thinly over too many schools will enable us to better support high quality in every school.

I know that you are likely to have many questions about the timeline and process for building closure and repurposing. We anticipate further discussion and direction from the Board at the upcoming work session and special School Board meeting that has been called to follow the work session on October 29.  We acknowledge that careful planning is critical to ensure that we have considered all of the steps that need to be taken to make the process as smooth as possible.

My commitment to you is to provide you with the facts and updates as they occur. Whenever possible, we will send information to you in advance of release to the general public. We will set up a Web site to provide information, seek feedback, and notify you of other ways to be engaged.

We must face together the facts that compel us to consider building closure and repurposing. I know this comes at a time that is already challenging for our staff, families, and broader community.  In the long-term, we will best serve our students and families when we stay focused on why we are here: to create schools where all students meet or exceed grade-level expectations and graduate from high school prepared for college, career and life.

Sincerely,

Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, Ph.D.